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<p>Olam&#8217;s integrated poultry project will be employing 600 professionals to ensure standards are maintained across the value chain.</p>


Olam’s integrated poultry project to employ 600 experts

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<p>The President of Ghana, Nana Akufo-Addo, who visited President Muhammadu Buhari at the Presidential Villa on Tuesday, disclosed that President Buhari&#8217;s illness created a volume of anxiety within the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS).</p>


Ghanaian president visits Buhari

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<p>In a bid to reform Ghana&#8217;s financial sector and ensure stability, the Bank of Ghana has tripled the minimum capital requirement for commercial banks to from 120 million Ghana cedis to 400 million Ghana cedis.</p>


Ghana cenbank triples minimum bank capital requirement

<p data-reactid="39">Ghana’s central bank has raised the minimum capital required for banks three-fold to 400 million cedis ($90.2 million) as part of measures to ensure financial stability, its spokesman said on Tuesday.</p>
<p data-reactid="40">“With immediate effect, the Bank of Ghana has set out a new minimum capital requirement of 400 mln cedis for banks as part of a holistic financial sector reform,” Bernard Otabil said.</p>
<p data-reactid="41">The previous capital requirement for banks and new entrants was 120 million cedis. Otabil said the increases took effect from Sept. 11 and that the lenders have up to the end of 2018 to meet them.</p>
<p data-reactid="42">The central bank last month revoked the licenses of two banks and transferred their deposits and selected assets to state-owned GCB Bank in order to protect financial stability.</p>
<p data-reactid="43">The new government of Nana Akufo-Addo has vowed to restore financial stability and fiscal discipline to stabilise the major commodity exporter’s economy. Ghana has been dogged by high public debt and budget deficits, forcing it to sign a credit programme with the IMF in 2015.</p>
<p data-reactid="44">“Going forward, banks will require a more sophisticated and robust capital framework &#8230; consistent with the growing risks &#8230; banks are currently facing,” a statement by the regulator seen by Reuters said.</p>
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<p class="Attribution_content_27_rw" data-reactid="46">Reporting by Kwasi Kpodo; Editing by Tim Cocks</p>
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Ghana cenbank triples minimum bank capital requirement to 400MN cedis

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<p>CNBC Africa&#8217;s Damola Akinsanya&#8217;s caught up with Ken Ofori Atta, Ghana&#8217;s Finance Minister and spoke about managing the country&#8217;s debt profile.</p>


Minister Ken Ofori Atta speaks on managing Ghana’s debt profile

<p data-reactid="32">Ghana&#8217;s central bank has revoked the operating licenses of two distressed local banks and transferred their deposits and selected assets to state-owned GCB Bank in order to protect financial stability, it said on Monday.</p>
<p data-reactid="33">The liquidation of UT Bank and Capital Bank became necessary in order to protect depositors funds owing to the &#8220;severe impairment&#8221; of their capital, the central bank said.</p>
<p data-reactid="34">The liquidation formed part of prior-actions agreed with the International Monetary Fund ahead of the next review of Ghana&#8217;s three-year aid programme, at the end of August.</p>
<p data-reactid="35">GCB bank is the second largest bank by assets out of 33 banks operating in Ghana, including UT and Capital.</p>
<p data-reactid="36">&#8220;UT Bank and Capital Bank were deeply insolvent, meaning that their liabilities exceeded their assets, putting them in a position not to be able to meet their obligations,&#8221; a spokesman at the bank said in a response to emailed questions.</p>
<p data-reactid="37">Deposits at the two banks are safe and depositors will now become customers of GCB Bank and they may continue banking at the UT Bank and Capital Bank branch locations, the spokesman added.</p>
<div class="Attribution_attribution_o4ojT" data-reactid="38">
<p class="Attribution_content_27_rw" data-reactid="39">Reporting by Kwasi Kpodo; Editing by Tim Cocks</p>
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Ghana central bank transfers assets of two distressed local banks to GCB

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<p>As Tigo and Airtel Ghana await the finalisation of the deal between the two telecommunication firms, what impact will mergers like this have on Ghana&#8217;s telecoms sector? Femi Banigbe, CEO, Silver Rock Technology Services joins CNBC Africa for more.</p>


Mergers in Ghana’s Telecom Space

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<p>The Ghanaian government is considering passing a law that will restrict government&#8217;s fiscal deficit to not more than 5 per cent of GDP. The proposed law will have provisions to punish government officials who exceed spending limits.</p>


Understanding Ghana’s proposed fiscal law

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<p>Ghana&#8217;s Finance Minister, Ken Ofori-Atta says the economy is making gains on all major fronts and in some cases had exceeded expectations. Samuel Kofi Ampah, Head of Research at Groupe Nduom joins CNBC Africa for more.</p>


Ghana’s economic growth back on track

<p>Tahiru Azaaviele Liedong | University of Bath</p>
<p>It’s been nearly two decades since the idea of a single currency for West Africa was first mooted. Yet the sub-region is still far from having a common legal tender. What is ordinarily a good idea seems to have fizzled into a fantasy.</p>
<p>Now, the story is that the single currency has been scheduled for 2020. But there is scepticism about the prospects of this coming to pass, especially at a time when economic blocks like the European Union are struggling.</p>
<p>The decision to create a single monetary zone for West Africa was reached by Heads of State of the 15 member countries at a summit of the Economic Community of West African States, the region’s economic commission, in Lome, Togo in 1999.</p>
<p>At the time, a currency union of Francophone West African Statesalready existed to facilitate economic integration among countries which use the CFA Franc (courtesy of the Communauté Financière Africaine, or the African Financial Community) as their currency.</p>
<p>To speed up the macroeconomic convergence necessary for a single currency across the entire sub-region, six Anglophone Heads of State met in Accra Ghana in 2000 and agreed to create a second monetary zone for the Anglophone countries, with the ultimate aim of merging with the Francophone countries. The aim was to create a single and harmonised monetary union for all of West Africa by 2004.</p>
<p>The implementation of that common currency for West Africa’s Anglophone countries was postponed four times before finally being jettisoned, dimming the hopes of a single currency for the sub-region.</p>
<p>The convergence criteria the Economic Community of West African States set for its member countries seem to be the bane of the single currency project. While the criteria are essential, they are also very high bars to scale for the countries concerned.</p>
<h2>The hurdles to overcome</h2>
<p>To implement the single currency, the regional economic body set some conditions.</p>
<p>First, it requires all countries to achieve a single digit inflation of 5% or less, which is a difficult task. In Ghana, data shows that the average yearly inflation between 2000 and 2016 was 16.92%, which is far from a single digit. Nigeria, the largest economy in the region, recorded an average inflation of 11.92% between 2003 and 2016, a rate which far exceeds 5%.</p>
<p>Moreover, West African countries are net importers, even of food. Nigeria, for instance, spends USD$6.5 billion annually on food imports. This sad situation compounds the inflation problem, which is made even worse by the region’s unfavourable exchange rates.</p>
<p>Second, the regional economic body requires all member countries to achieve budget deficit to GDP ratios of 4% or lower before the single currency is launched. In other words, budget shortfalls should be 4% or less of the total market value of all goods and services produced in the respective member countries. It will take a miracle for this to happen by 2020, three years from now.</p>
<p>How can Ghana, whose total debt to GDP stood at 73.3% in 2016, be expected to attain this ratio? How about Gambia whose public debt stood at 108% of GDP in 2015? Even Nigeria, which has one of the lowest debt to GDP ratio in West Africa, is far from the milestone. Essentially, budget deficits have soared and governments will continue to borrow to finance public expenditure.</p>
<p>If the convergence criteria are not revised to reflect the real macroeconomic situation in the sub-region, the single currency dream will remain work-in-progress for the unforeseeable future. This is because economic growth in the sub-region is slow, poverty is rife and the fundamentals for integration are far from realisation.</p>
<h2>Is a single currency even necessary?</h2>
<p>A single currency could help address West Africa’s monetary problems, such as the lack of independence of central banks and non-convertibility of some currencies. Ultimately, a single currency and its associated regional institutions could also boost investor confidence and promote trade within the sub-region.</p>
<p>But sadly, Africa does not trade with itself. Overseas trade represents 80% of total trade on the continent. Trade between African countries accounts for a woeful 10%, compared to 40% and 60% between North American and European countries respectively.</p>
<p>The story is not different for West Africa where trade between countries is extremely low. The sub-region’s largest partner, the EU, accounts for 37.8% of total trade. Meanwhile Nigeria, which has the largest economy in the sub-region, exported only 2.3% and imported less than 0.5% from other West African countries in 2010. Has the trend since changed? No.</p>
<p>In the current circumstances, the necessity of a single currency is untenable if trade is the main motivation, except the regional commission is hoping West Africa will trade more with itself or attract more investors after the launch.</p>
<p>But that will not happen overnight. Even the Francophone countries which have used CFA Franc as their common currency since 1945 record less than 16% of intra-union trade.</p>
<h2>Loss of monetary sovereignty</h2>
<p>Launching a single currency will also require creating and empowering new regional institutions, such as the West African Central Bank, to manage or supervise monetary policy for the member countries.</p>
<p>The regional commission has made it clear that it’s committed to do what’s necessary to achieve its goal, but what remains to be tested is whether this commitment is real or rhetorical.</p>
<p>The search for wealth drives African politics. Hence it will be interesting to see how politicians react when they lose sovereignty over the management of one of the major things that draws them into politics – money.</p>
<p>Nigeria is expected to play a catalyst role in the single currency project, but it’s also one of the most corrupt countries in Africa. In fact, nine of the 15 member countries of the sub-region ranked between 101st and 168th in the 2016 corruption index, out of a total of 176 countries.</p>
<p>To some extent, a single currency and a regional central bank will reduce corruption in the individual countries. The big question is, will the politicians’ greed allow this to happen? Even if the single currency is successfully implemented in 2020, spectators should not be surprised by any chaos or renunciation of earlier political pledges when the reality starts to kick in.</p>


Op-Ed: Why the quest for a single currency for West Africa won’t materialise soon

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<p>Earlier this week, the Central Bank of Ghana cut its benchmark interest rate by 150 basis points to 21 per cent, citing a downward trend in consumer inflation and the potential for higher economic growth on increasing oil output.</p>


Ghana expects higher economic growth

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<p>A 4 billion dollar deal is underway as the governments of Ghana and China entered into an agreement which will have Chinese state-owned Sinohydro Corporation, undertake priority infrastructure projects in Ghana.</p>


Ghana’s $4bn Chinese deal

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<p>Prudential, one of the oldest life insurance companies in the world, has acquired a majority stake in Zenith Life of Nigeria and agreeing exclusive bancassurance partnerships with Zenith Bank in Nigeria and Ghana.</p>


Prudential invests in Zenith Life

<p><em>This content is sponsored by Chivas </em></p>
<p>Ask young Ghanaian social entrepreneur, John Armah, how he’s doing and he’ll reply, “I am blessed”.</p>
<p>This is a modest summing up of Armah’s incredible achievements.</p>
<p>Last year he was listed as one of Junior Chamber International Ghana’s Ten Outstanding Young Persons. He was also ranked 12th Most Influential Young Ghanaian by Avance Media, Ghana’s leading media and public relations agency. And currently the Board Chairman of Junior Achievement Ghana.</p>
<p>Armah is the CEO of the Orios Group, which aims to redefine wealth creation in Africa by identifying, training and supporting scalable, impact-based African start-ups.</p>
<p>Orios has trained over 20,000 youth and businesses in Ghana, formalized over 400 Businesses and has been a key advocate of championing policy in Ghana&#8217;s Start-up Ecosystem also actively matching Investors to Start-ups in Ghana while it raises the Orios Fund.</p>
<p>It focuses predominantly on early and growth stage businesses providing Patient capital, business development, Training and Advisory services to this market, a choice that Armah made critical of the various opportunities, talent, skill in the Ghanaian Economy championed by early stage firms.</p>
<p>Orios calls on social entrepreneurs to ‘elevate their hustle and redefine their dreams’ – then enables them to do so by providing specialised advisory and training services, as well as facilitating patient capital, via its three subsidiary companies – GCEEI, Trade Invest, and the Orios Capital.</p>
<p>Armah’s vision is to enhance the growth potential of start-ups in Ghana.</p>
<p>He uses an interesting approach to mentoring aspiring entrepreneurs, believing that young people who want to be social entrepreneurs should also have a passion for what they do. But beyond the Passion must build relevant Governance structures, Improve product development and move beyond PR to building relevant products that people actually want and will buy.</p>
<p>Instead of dispensing words of wisdom, he believes there are three key questions  aspiring Entrepreneurs should be asking themselves. “Who am I? What am I here for? Who am I doing this for?” Once they can answer these questions he believes they are on their way to building successful businesses or helping others build same.</p>
<p>“The underlying factor for success is having the skill and commitment beyond passion for the social good you want to achieve. That passion helps you determine if you want to be part of a business or not. To be a social entrepreneur you must be driven by motivation, passion, commitment, and have a sense of compassion,” he says.</p>
<p>With a strong Board and Shareholders made up of some astute recognized and celebrated business men in Ghana, a Board chaired by Mr. Kweku Awotwi, Former Head of Ghana&#8217;s Volta River Authority. John Armah and his team of 15 core staff are leading a charge to raise a fund to provide patient capital to some of Ghana&#8217;s most innovative early and growth stage start-ups.</p>
<p>This ethos led to Armah being featured on the CNBC series, Chivas, Win the Right Way.</p>
<p>The show profiles six social entrepreneurs from the continent. Its aim is twofold: to give even more visibility to this movement that uses business as a force for good; and to showcase a new generation of African entrepreneurs.</p>
<p>Series host, Audu Maikori, says Chivas, Win the Right Way celebrates those who not only build personal successes but who also positively impact their communities – a process he calls “profit with purpose”.</p>
<p>Armah echoes this sentiment: “We exist on this Earth to do good, and sometimes we profit from this good, which allows us to create vehicles to do more good.”</p>
<p>Catch episode two of Chivas, Win the Right Way on Wednesday November 2 to find about more about Armah and the work he is doing in Ghana.</p>
<p><iframe loading="lazy" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/sOQwTpv9HDA" width="560" height="315" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen"></iframe></p>
<p>&nbsp;</p>


Why this Ghanaian is among Ghana’s Ten Outstanding Young Persons

<p>Ghana has signed a $10 billion memorandum of understanding (MOU) with China to develop its bauxite industry, the country&#8217;s Senior Minister Yaw Osafo-Maafo said on Wednesday.</p>
<p>Growth in the West African country slowed sharply in 2014 due to a fiscal crisis and tumbling commodity prices following years of economic expansion at around 8 percent on the back of gold, cocoa and oil exports.</p>
<p>Taking office in January, President Nana Akufo-Addo has outlined a programme of job creation through the private sector and rural development.</p>
<p>&#8220;To develop the bauxite project with its railway and converting bauxite into aluminium we will need about $10 billion &#8230; we signed an MOU,&#8221; Osafo-Maafo told reporters at a conference in London after arriving from China.</p>
<p>&#8220;The money will come from the Chinese Development Bank, the implementation of the project will come from other agencies, infrastructure agencies in China, like China Railway,&#8221; he said.</p>
<p>The funds from Beijing would contribute towards building 1,400 km of a planned 4,000 km railway network, which would connect bauxite mines and production sites as well as establish a rail link into neighbouring Burkina Faso.</p>
<p>Details such as interest rates and terms had yet to be decided, he said, speaking on the sidelines of an investor conference organised by Developing Market Associates.</p>
<p>During his China visit, a second MOU had been signed between China and the Association of Ghana Industries which could lead to some $2 billion being invested in agricultural projects and industries, Osafo-Maafo said.</p>
<p>This was part of a government pledge to &#8220;build a dam in every village and a factory in every district&#8221;, he said.</p>
<p>Asked about the government&#8217;s plan to issue a 10 billion cedi ($2.25 billion) bond, Osafo-Maafo said he expected the debt to be issued towards the end of the year, and with maturities ranging from 5-15 years.</p>
<p>Earlier in June, Ghana had named Standard Chartered Bank and local lender Fidelity as lead managers for the issue expected to clear debts owed by public sector energy utilities.</p>
<p>($1 = 4.4350 Ghanian cedi)</p>
<p>(Reporting by Karin Strohecker, editing by David Evans)</p>


Ghana signs $10 bln MOU with China for bauxite project: Senior Minister

<p>By Kwasi Kpodo</p>
<p>Ghana&#8217;s government has asked the International Monetary Fund to push back the end date of its $918 million aid programme from April 2018 to December 2018, IMF and government sources told Reuters on Wednesday.</p>
<p>The request is expected to lead to talks aimed at a revised deal to include more money and fresh targets for fiscal consolidation, according to senior government officials.</p>
<p>An extension would further reassure investors that the government of President Nana Akufo-Addo that took office in January is serious about restoring macro-economic stability, they said.</p>
<p>&#8220;Ghanaian authorities released a memorandum of economic and financial policies to the IMF this week. It included a letter of intent requesting an extension of the Fund programme to December 2018,&#8221; one of the sources said.</p>
<p>IMF officials say they are open to extending the programme.</p>
<p>The government has outlined an ambitious programme of job creation through the private sector and rural development including pledging to build a factory in every district in order to restore the economy.</p>
<p>But officials say the plans cannot be realized unless the economy is stable and gross domestic product (GDP) growth increases.</p>
<p>GDP stood at 6.6 percent in the first quarter of 2017, the statistics office said on Wednesday. The figure compares with full year GDP growth for 2016 of 3.5 percent and first quarter GDP last year of 4.4 percent.</p>
<p>The industry sector recorded the highest growth, at 11.5 percent, followed by agriculture with 7.6 percent and services with 3.7 percent, deputy government statistician Anthony Amuzu told a news conference.</p>
<p>&#8220;There was huge growth in the industry sector, which was driven by oil. It&#8217;s basically because of the coming on stream of the TEN Field,&#8221; he said. Ghana began producing oil at the offshore Jubilee field operated by British company Tullow in 2010 and it opened the TEN field last August.</p>
<p>For years, Ghana&#8217;s economy grew at around 8 percent on the back of its exports of gold, cocoa and oil but it slowed sharply in 2014 due to lower commodity prices and a fiscal crisis.</p>
<p>(Writing by Matthew Mpoke Bigg,; Editing by Hugh Lawson)</p>


Ghana asks IMF to extend aid deal, more money expected to be sought

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<p>Ghana&#8217;s government aims to cut inflation to 11.2 percent by the end of the year as one part of a drive to restore macroeconomic stability. But how has the country&#8217;s economy fared so far and what can we expect for the rest of the year?</p>


Ghana

Olam’s integrated poultry project to employ 600 experts

Ghanaian president visits Buhari

Ghana cenbank triples minimum bank capital requirement

Ghana cenbank triples minimum bank capital requirement to 400MN cedis

Minister Ken Ofori Atta speaks on managing Ghana’s debt profile

Ghana central bank transfers assets of two distressed local banks to GCB

Mergers in Ghana’s Telecom Space

Understanding Ghana’s proposed fiscal law

Ghana’s economic growth back on track

Op-Ed: Why the quest for a single currency for West Africa won’t materialise soon

Ghana expects higher economic growth

Ghana’s $4bn Chinese deal

Prudential invests in Zenith Life

Why this Ghanaian is among Ghana’s Ten Outstanding Young Persons

Ghana signs $10 bln MOU with China for bauxite project: Senior Minister

Ghana asks IMF to extend aid deal, more money expected to be sought

Ghana’s government aims to cut inflation

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Ghana

Olam’s integrated poultry project to employ 600 experts

Ghanaian president visits Buhari

Ghana cenbank triples minimum bank capital requirement

Ghana cenbank triples minimum bank capital requirement to 400MN cedis

Minister Ken Ofori Atta speaks on managing Ghana’s debt profile

Ghana central bank transfers assets of two distressed local banks to GCB

Mergers in Ghana’s Telecom Space

Understanding Ghana’s proposed fiscal law

Ghana’s economic growth back on track

Op-Ed: Why the quest for a single currency for West Africa won’t materialise soon

Ghana expects higher economic growth

Ghana’s $4bn Chinese deal

Prudential invests in Zenith Life

Why this Ghanaian is among Ghana’s Ten Outstanding Young Persons

Ghana signs $10 bln MOU with China for bauxite project: Senior Minister

Ghana asks IMF to extend aid deal, more money expected to be sought

Ghana’s government aims to cut inflation

News Tips

Advertise With Us

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