Togolese Airline to fly to Ghana
New boards for Agric, National Investment banks
The GSE All-Share Index made impressive gain
Accra (Greater Accra) 30 August 2001 - A private airline in Togo, Aeromaritime - Peace Air Togo, is to begin operations in Ghana from September 22, a senior official said in Accra on Wednesday.
Mr Pelssey Norman, Managing Director of the company, told the media that the airline would operate both passenger and cargo flights.
They would operate a West Coast route four times a week using a Boeing 727 and BAC1-11 planes. It would also fly to Johannesburg and Las Palmas.
Norman said Peace Air Togo would be the national carrier of Togo, which does not have a state airline. Togo and other French-speaking West African countries own the cash-strapped Air Afrique, which being restructured.
He said the company has appointed Yamenb Company Limited as its sole cargo representative in Accra.
Norman said the company would employ 28 Ghanaians initially, rising to about 60. The employees would be trained in marketing, operations, cargo and other areas.
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Accra (Greater Accra) 30 August 2001 - Yaw Osafo- Maafo, Minister of Finance on
Wednesday urged the newly constituted Boards of Directors of two development banks to improve on their services to narrow the gap between them and banks in the private sector.
"As boards of these institutions, you must rise up to the challenge by identifying what has been the major constraint affecting performance and the way forward.
''Some of the improvement would not come from investing in additional equipment or technology but just attitudinal change by staff," he said at the inauguration of the boards of the Agricultural Development Bank (ADB) and the National Investment Bank (NIB) in Accra.
Osafo- Maafo said with the increased recognition of state-owned banks, boards and management should seriously address the issue of adding value to these institutions to make them attractive for investors.
This will free them from government control and make them benefit from new technologies and skills.
Osafo- Maafo said for Ghana to remain competitive and attract investors her institutions should be able to complement the government's efforts at macro economic management through fiscal prudence.
"While we concede that the present high inflation rate makes it impossible to lower appreciably lending rates, one cannot justify the lending rates which now range between 47 and 57 per cent per annum at the extreme."
He urged management to insist on prudent analysis of loan applications and resist lending for political purposes.
Paul Koranteng, a former Manager of the Ghana Commercial Bank, is chairman of the ADB board.
Other members are Amadu Montia, Bank of Ghana, Joseph Yamoah, Ministry of Finance, and Alhaji Abukari Alidu, a businessman.
The rest are Franklin Donkor, Ministry of Agriculture, Mr Sammy Welbeck, Managing Director ADB, Mr Edward Agyeman and Mr Yaw Opuku Atuahene both Deputy Managing directors of ADB.
The NIB Board has Dr Charles Jebuni, a Research Fellow at the Centre For Policy Analysis as Chairman.
Other members are Nii Adu Mante, MP, Dr Opoku Agyemang, Medical Practitioner, Dr Clemence Anyomi and Dr Bartholomew Armah, both Economists.
The rest are Mr Kwame Ampadu, Businessman, Miss Serwaa Oppong, Businesswoman, Dr Anthony Mensah, an Agro-processing expert, Mr DanielGyimah,
Managing Director of NIB and Mr Kwadwo Owusu-Tweneboa, Deputy Managing
Director NIB.
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Accra (Greater Accra) 30 August 2001 - The GSE-All Share Index, the main market indicator of the Accra bourse on Wednesday made an impressive gain of 1.14 points to finish up at 949.50 points from 948.36 points at the previous close.
Traded volumes were down sharply at 143,200 after an astonishing 5.62 million sales on Monday as institutional investors continued to shy away from the market.
Pioneer Aluminium Factory (PAF), which sold 5.6 million shares at the previous close, could only manage 2,300 shares on Wednesday. The highest, 135,300 shares stood in the name of British American Tobacco (BAT).
PAF, however, recorded the only price change. It made 134 cedis to close the mid-week at 750 cedis.
The total market capitalisation was up marginally at 3,851.71 billion cedis from 3,849.50 billion cedis on Monday.
Below are the closing prices of the listed equities in cedis:
ABL 630
AGC 18,500
ALW 4,300
BAT 600
CFAO 60
EIC, 890
FML 1,000
GBL 1,300
GCB 1,550
GGL 900
HFC 952
MGL 240
MLC 130
MOGL 20,000
PAF 750 +134
PBC 450
PZ 700
SCB 21,000
SPPC 356
SSB 2,300
UNIL 1,900
CMLT 430
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