GRi BEF News Ghana 15 - 08 - 2001
Osafo-Maafo confirms sale of Tema Oil Refinery
Banks urged to offer innovative services
Ghanaians remit over $300m through Western Union
Shipyard workers calls for abrogation of contract with Malaysians
New Postal Orders out next Monday
Govt. urged to establish more rural banks
Accra (Greater Accra) 15 August 2001
The Minister of Finance, Yaw Osafo-Maafo on Wednesday confirmed speculations that the Tema Oil Refinery (TOR) is to be sold soon but did not indicate to which company.
"No decision has been taken as to which company, local or foreign, qualifies to pick up or join the government and Ghanaians in the ownership of the refinery," he told journalists in Accra.
He said TOR's debt was so huge that it would not be prudent for the government to continue to shoulder its responsibility in the face of the high running cost. The refinery is reported to be indebted to the tune of 2.3 trillion cedis.
The Finance Minister was answering questions from journalists after presenting a paper on the state of the economy during the government's first seven months in office.
"TOR will not forever be owned fully by the state; and we need to make this clear and invite companies and institutions who are ready and capable of helping us manage this national asset."
Osafo-Maafo said his predecessor, Kwame Peprah, signed the initial memorandum of understanding between the Ghana government and Samsung International of Korea on June 27, 2000.
"Therefore when we took office and decided to stand by the commitment of the previous government, J.H. Mensah and I signed the other part committing the Ghana government to the deal."
He debunked claims by Kofi Wayo that he had been denied the opportunity to buy TOR.
"Mr Wayo offered 30 million dollars for the entire company when even the current rehabilitation to put the refinery on a sound and competitive footing is 208 million dollars notwithstanding the original cost of constructing the refinery itself which exceeds the two figures put together."
Osafo-Maafo said cabinet has approved TOR's debt restructuring, which would convert into five-year bonds.
''Even though negotiations are going on between the government and the central bank on where to peg the interest rates I hope we will begin at about 10.6 per cent''.
"Banks will be given bonds based on the exact amount TOR owes," he said.
Osafo-Maafo said the government would also take part of the debt since some of it was built up due to the failure of the previous government to raise the prices of petroleum products.
"The government and the Bank of Ghana will sit down and come out with a formula that will determine the exact amount to be paid by government."
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Accra (Greater Accra) 15 August 2001
Mr Emmanuel Asiedu-Mante, Deputy Governor of the Bank of Ghana on Tuesday urged banks to offer information and risk management services to their customers instead of concentrating on providing only financial services.
Although technological advancement had made it possible for banks to easily adapt to the needs of their clients, it was important that they determined how best to serve clients who demanded individual professional advice, he observed.
"If we change our philosophy from the product seller to a solution provider....., that means, if we offer to our customers a tailor-made solution, then we will be on the winning side", he said in a speech read for him at the launch of Western Union service at Ecobank in Accra.
The service is a collaborative effort between Agricultural Development Bank ADB)-Western Union and Ecobank. Under the partnership Western Union Money Services would be available at Ecobank branches in Accra, Tema, Kumasi, and Takoradi.
This brings to two the number of institutions hooked to the ADB-Western Union transfer service. The Ghana Post Company Limited is already operating transfer services in 10 post offices.
Mr Asiedu-Mante said in the competitive global economy, promoting creativity and new ideas and focusing on one's strength was a vital survival strategy.
He said he was happy that the banks had, over the years, embraced the need for change in readiness of challenges ahead.
Mr Asiedu-Mante mentioned the introduction of new products and changes in existing products and procedures as some of the changes, which were made to deepen financial intermediation, ensure greater efficiency in market operations and monitoring, and introduce appropriate prudential standards into market activities and positions.
However, he said, apart from their names, the features of some of the new products on offer by the banks were virtually the same.
''What is needed are innovative products which will stimulate competition and enhance public patronage''.
Mr Asiedu-Mante suggested to the banks to target specific groups of customers and design suitable products for them and also to consider equity-linked money market products that would facilitate transactions between the money and capital markets.
He said the central bank would continue to encourage the commercial banks to develop and introduce new products and services to entice households that kept large sums of money.
The banks should therefore step up their deposit mobilisation drive to mop up the excess liquidity outside the banking system.
He stressed the need for a break from cash-based transaction, which is a dominant feature of the economy because of the high cost of printing and distributing large volumes of cash, to the central bank as well as risk of loss to cash holders.
Mr Asiedu-Mante suggested that banks offering transfer services should team up with other institutions to make the services available in the rural areas, where most beneficiaries live.
He asked the banks not to hold onto the foreign currency accruing from their inward remittance schemes in their offshore accounts at the expense of domestic business.
They should also offer attractive exchange rates within the prevailing rates for such transactions to complement the BOG's efforts to weed out unauthorised companies, which engaged in such illegal transactions through offers of attractive rate.
Mr Edward Gyampoh, Chairman of Ecobank said by teaming with Western Union and ADB to offer money transfer services, the bank would bring to the alliance its efficient and excellent customer service.
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Accra (Greater Accra) 15 August 2001
Ghanaians living abroad have remitted more than 300 million dollars through the Western Union Money Transfer service since it was introduced about seven years ago, Mr Edward Boakye-Agyeman, Deputy Managing Director of Agricultural Development Bank said on Tuesday.
Speaking at the launch of Western Union Service at Ecobank, Boateng-Agyeman said such remittances constituted the single largest contribution to the economy aside of the traditional sources of export earnings from gold, timber and tourism.
He said contrary to popular concerns, foreign exchange that accrued to the banks through the payment of beneficiaries in cedis were ploughed back into the economy.
''It is used to help resuscitate and revamp the agricultural sector and also to meet the foreign exchange demands of local companies''.
Mr Boateng-Agyeman said money generated had played crucial roles in the country's macro-economic stability and had helped to provide farming inputs and fishing gear in the form of outboard motors, fertilizers and chemicals for farmers and ginnery plants.
Agricultural Development Bank says it provides 86 per cent of institutional agricultural financing in the country.
"The Western Union earnings are used to support areas that will enhance the country's GDP. Without these earnings, government and banks will have to find scarce foreign exchange to import such items," he added.
Mr Boateng-Agyeman said he was confident Ecobank would also utilise such foreign exchange earnings from its Western Union operations to the benefit of the country.
Dr Jean Nelson Aka, Managing Director of Ecobank, said the effort between the two institutions would help open up the bank's operations to more members of the public since as a merchant bank its reach was limited.
With the launch, Western Union service would now be available at the branches of Ecobank in Accra, Tema, Takoradi and Kumasi.
The ADB-Western Union had already admitted Ghana Post Company Limited to provide money transfer services through its network of post offices.
The service is currently operational in ten post offices in Accra, Takoradi, Konongo and Kumasi.
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Tema (Greater Accra) 15 August 2001
Workers of the PSC Tema Shipyard have called on the government to review the contract between Ghana and the Business Focus Group of Malaysia for the management of the shipyard.
They said for the four and half years that the Malaysians have been steering the affairs of the shipyard, there has been no progress and the yard has sunk fast indicating that the Malaysian Management has failed.
The call was contained in a resolution jointly passed by the Senior Staff Association and the Local Union's Joint Consultative Committee of the shipyard at Tema on Tuesday.
The shipyard was divested in 1997 with the Business Focus Group of Malaysia acquiring 60 per cent shares at the cost of 4.2 million dollars and the government maintaining the remaining.
According to the workers, the capitalisation problem of the yard, which was the reason for divesting the establishment, has not been addressed.
The company still lacked resources to purchase basic equipment to compete globally. Age has seriously affected current plant and machinery and the 37 years old single dewatering pump has intermittently shown signs of failure.
The resolution also expressed concern about the non-existence of business plan for the yard to show what was to be done and any reviews that could be made. Rather the shipyard was run on ad-hoc basis.
The Management was also accused of being unable to formulate policies.
Stock piling has also been abandoned leading to high cost of purchases, which deter customers.
The resolution said, "inability to address the problems of customers, workers and distrust of Ghanaian Managers, placement of square pegs in round holes as sectional heads and the divide and rule policies have killed the morale of workers".
The workers noted that the flexible divestiture policies of the Divestiture Implementation Committee (DIC) and the Ghana Investment Centre resulted in the sale of the yard cheaply to the Malaysians.
They called on President John A. Kufuor, who has demonstrated his zero tolerance for corruption to also demonstrate what they called zero tolerance for non-performing investors in Ghana and cited the shipyard as an example.
The workers in 1999 made a similar appeal to the then NDC government, which resulted in the replacement of the Managing Director of the company.
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Accra (Greater Accra) 15 August 2001
Currency Buying Selling
US Dollar 6,991.36 7,225.55
Pound Sterling 9,909.55 10,245.83
French Franc 954.26 985.97
Swiss Franc 4,129.32 4,267.32
Deutsche Mark 3,199.93 3,307.45
Canadian Dollar 4,544.00 4,694.54
Japanese Yen 57.00 58.90
Dutch Guilder 2,840.55 2,934.84
S/African Rand 845.67 873.03
Euro 6,259.19 6,465.88
CFA Franc 9.54 9.86
Naira 64.53 66.69
ECOWAS/WAUA 8,827.66 ----------
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Accra (Greater Accra) 15 August 2001
New Postal Orders to replace the old ones will be out for sale at Post Offices by next Monday, Isaac Adu Boahene, Managing Director of the Ghana Postal Company Limited (GPCL) said on Monday.
Mr Boahene told the Ghana News Agency that the company would hold a meeting for regional directors in Accra on Thursday to discuss the distinctive features and sale of the new postal orders.
The new features include a hologram, bleeding ink and watermark that is different from the old one.
He said the company had obtained special sorting equipment to reject fake postal orders and asked the public to be particular about the features of the new postal orders.
Mr Boahene asked the public to co-operate with the company to ensure enough security for the new system by reporting anyone with fake postal orders to the company or to the police.
Management withdrew the old postal orders to check the incidence of fake ones in circulation.
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Ekoso (Eastern Region) 15 August 2001
Nana Kwaw Koran, the Mankrado of Ekoso in the West Akim District has called on government to establish more rural banks to relieve the people, particularly farmers of the burden of travelling long distances for banking services.
Speaking to the GNA at Ekoso at the weekend, Nana Koran noted that banking forms an integral part of the economic sector and therefore appealed to individuals, organisations and the government to collaborate efforts at promoting it.
He said traders and farmers, who go to the Asamankese Commercial Bank to transact business, were often robbed of various sums of money on their way back to their villages.
Nana Koran therefore appealed to the Rural Banking Department of the Bank of Ghana to establish an agency at Ekoso, as a matter of urgency.
He said such a bank could attract numerous customers from about 15 towns and villages in the area.
He also appealed to individuals and organisations to establish communication centres in the area, to facilitate socio-economic activities.
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