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Ghana is fine-tuning its relationship with mining companies, but the country’s insists on local content. That’s according to the board Chairman of the Ghana Integrated Iron and Steel Development Corporation, Prince Imoro Andani. Adani discussed this and more with CNBC Africa’s Chris Bishop on the side-lines of the 2020 African Mining Indaba in South Africa.</p>


#MiningIndaba2020:  GIISDC Chair Andani on why Ghana is prioritizing local content in mining

#MiningIndaba2020:  GIISDC Chair Andani on why Ghana is prioritising local content in mining

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<p>Sasol has been the latest company to join the list of others who are acquiring secondary listings on A2X exchange. Joining me for more on this is Kevin Brady the CEO of A2X exchange.</p>


Absa on the main drivers for Africa’s best performing economies in 2020

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<p>Ghana’s President, Nana Akufo-Addo says the country’s national budget reflects its commitment towards the implementation of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). He made this remark while speaking on Ghana’s climate change strategy, economic transformation and more at a press conference in the ongoing World Economic Forum in Davos.</p>


World Economic Forum: President Akufo-Addo on Ghana’s response strategy for climate change

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<p>The African entertainment scene is getting more global recognition from movies, art and music. Ghana is latching on to its year of return initiative to drive growth for the economy. Ruddy Kwakye, Founder and CEO of The Rave Group joins CNBC Africa to discuss what the future holds for Ghana&#8217;s entertainment industry.</p>


How Ghana is leveraging its home-grown talent to expand its entertainment industry

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<p>Some key actors in Ghana&#8217;s banking crises were arraigned on Tuesday. In a tweet, the country&#8217;s president says perpetrators will face justice. CEOs of 2 defunct lenders were charged for alleged crimes that contributed to a banking crisis. Head of Research at Groupe Nduom, Samuel Kofi Ampah joins CNBC Africa from Ghana for a focus on Ghana’s equities market.</p>


Key actors in Ghana’s banking crisis arraigned


<p>By  <em>George Ott, Economist</em>, NKC African Economics  </p>



<p>On December 21, Côte d’Ivoire’s President Alassane Ouattara announced that the eight member states of the West African Economic and Monetary Union (Waemu) and France had agreed to rename the CFA franc and implement a range of reforms to the long-standing regional currency.</p>



<p>Although talk of change had been in the air, the December announcement came as somewhat of a surprise, certainly to some others in the region.</p>



<p>The
formation of an independent monetary union and the adoption of a regional
currency has been a long-term goal for the broader 15-member Economic Community
of West African States (Ecowas), of which all the Waemu states are members.
Ecowas leaders met as recently as June 2019 and agreed to adopt a common
regional currency, to be called the ‘eco’, as early as 2020. </p>



<p>However,
with manifold challenges facing this project, the Waemu states appear to feel
they were already in a position to get the reform ball rolling, ostensibly with
the goal of facilitating the eventual formation of an Ecowas regional monetary
union.</p>



<p>Aside
from the broader Ecowas debate, the reforms announced in December to be
implemented on the West African CFA franc include: renaming the CFA franc the
eco; scrapping the obligation requiring Waemu members to keep 50% of their
foreign reserves at the French central bank; and the withdrawal of all French
representatives from decision-making and management bodies of the West African
Monetary Union (comprising the same eight Waemu member countries). </p>



<p>Significantly,
however, the eco will remain pegged to the euro and the Banque de France will
continue to guarantee the convertibility of the currency.</p>



<p>Although
these reforms represent the most substantial changes in the more than
seven-decade history of the CFA franc, it nevertheless received a mixed
reception. </p>



<p>While
some commentators hailed the move as a significant breakaway from French
involvement and a step towards monetary independence, others pointed out that
the move was largely symbolic and the reforms ‘cosmetic’, as the maintenance of
the euro peg will continue to dictate the scope of regional monetary policy
decisions.</p>



<p>Another
significant challenge facing the eco lies in the Waemu member states satisfying
the convergence criteria for the adoption of the new common currency. </p>



<p>Key
criteria are: maintaining a budget deficit of less than 3% of GDP; public debt
ratio of less than 70% of GDP; annual inflation rate of less than 10%; and, maintaining
a minimum of three months of import cover. Currently, it appears unlikely that
the majority of the Waemu countries will meet all these criteria by the very
ambitious inception date of July 2020.</p>



<p>Regional
giants and fellow Ecowas members Nigeria and Ghana have also weighed in on the
developments, adopting somewhat contrasting positions. </p>



<p>While
Ghana came out strongly in favour of the eco and the formation of a broader
regional monetary union (although not in favour of the euro peg but rather a
floating exchange rate), Nigeria has taken a more cautious approach in first
considering its official response.</p>



<p>With
anti-colonial sentiment growing in the region, this move is perhaps mostly
symbolic at this stage, and is to the political benefit of Mr Ouattara and
France’s President Emmanuel Macron. However, this does not mean that it is not
significant. </p>



<p>The
long-standing Ecowas goal of establishing an independent, regional monetary
union with a single currency remains in the minds of many in the region, and
the decision by the Waemu to make the first move may yet prove to be a valuable
viability test for this ideal. </p>



<p>Yet, in the meantime, with the maintenance of the euro peg, the reforms are not expected to have much of an impact on the currency, at least not in the short- to medium term. Moreover, the goal of officially moving to the eco by mid-2020 may prove to be overly ambitious.</p>


Westafrica_Wikimedia

Op-Ed: From CFA franc to ‘eco’, what you need to know about West Africa’s new currency

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<p>Automotive trading platform, Cars45, is testing new waters with an expansion to Ghana and Kenya. CEO of Cars45, Etop Ikpe joins CNBC Africa to discuss their expansion plans.</p>


Cars45 CEO Etop Ikpe on how Nigeria can grow its automotive sector

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<p>The International Monetary Fund (IMF) says its outlook for Ghana remains favourable and expects the country’s growth to average around 5 per cent over the next few years supported by new potential oil discoveries and mining. The fund disclosed this following the conclusion of its Article IV Consultation with Ghana. As Ghana heads into an election year in 2020, John Ashbourne, Senior Emerging Markets Economist at Capital Economics joins CNBC Africa for an outlook on Ghana’s economy.</p>


IMF: How new oil discoveries and mining will impact Ghana’s economic outlook

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<p>Independent exploration and production firm, Springfield Group made a deepwater discovery offshore Ghana with proven reserves of about 1.2 billion barrels of oil. Kevin Okyere, Founder and CEO of Springfield Group joins CNBC Africa from Accra for more.</p>


How Springfield oil discovery will impact Ghana’s output

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<p>The Importers and Exporters Association in Ghana are kicking against a planned 11 per cent tariff hike for cargo handling at terminal three of the Tema Port. The Association’s Executive Secretary, Samson Awingobit Asakia joins CNBC Africa from Accra for more on this story.</p>


Ghana importers protest against planned cargo tariff hike

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<p>This past weekend in Accra, Ghana – the awarding ceremony for the Africa Netpreneur Prize Initiative by the Jack Ma Foundation took place and among the ten winners, two were Rwandan women. Social entrepreneur, Christelle Kwizera walked away with 3rd place and $100,000 for her company, Water Access Rwanda; she joins CNBC Africa to share her experience and what her next step will be.</p>


Rwandan social entrepreneur wins $100

Rwandan social entrepreneur wins $100,000 Netpreneur Prize

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<p>Ghanaian government has announced an 85.9 billion cedi appropriation bill for the 2020 fiscal year. The country’s Minister of Finance, Ken Ofori-Atta, disclosed the details in a presentation before the Parliament. John Gatsi, Dean of the School of Business at the University of Cape Coast (UCC) joins CNBC Africa from Accra to unpack the budget and discuss other stories making the rounds in Ghana.</p>


Ghana proposes 21% budget increase for 2020

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<p>The Swedish institute is hosting the ‘leading through change’ a platform for sharing and developing the insights necessary for transformative leadership. The platform is exclusive to female experts and managers. Carl Michael Gräns, Sweden’s Ambassador to Nigeria, Ghana and Cameroon spoke to CNBC Africa’s Christy Cole on what informed the Swedish government’s decision to support this programme.</p>


Swedish Ambassador Michael Gräns: Women need to be much more involved in economic development

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<p>Ghanaian Traders under the aegis of Ghana Union of Traders Association (GUTA) are asking for the reopening of Nigeria’s closed land borders. Joseph Paddy, Public Relations Officer of the union joins CNBC Africa to discuss this and more.</p>


Ghana traders eagerly anticipating re-opening of Nigerian land borders

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<p>Representatives of Nigeria and Ghana will meet today to discuss possibilities of opening Nigeria&#8217;s borders to traders from Ghana. Managing Director and CEO of Kairos Capital, Sam Chidoka joins CNBC Africa to discuss this and other stories making the rounds in Nigeria.</p>


Nigeria-Ghana border closures: Will a consensus be reached ahead of Reps meeting?


<p>ACCRA, Oct 23 (Reuters) &#8211; The United States has cancelled $190 million in grants to Ghana under the &#8220;Power Africa&#8221; initiative in response to the Ghanaian government&#8217;s termination of a contract with a private utility provider, the U.S. embassy said.</p>



<p>The Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC), a U.S. government foreign assistance agency, agreed in 2014 to provide $498 million in funding to Ghana&#8217;s power sector to help stimulate further private investment.</p>



<p>The financing was the largest by the United States under Power Africa, which was launched in 2013 by then president Barack Obama and aims to bring electricity to tens of millions of households in Africa.</p>



<p>One reform under the agreement involved handing over operations at state-run Electricity Company of Ghana (ECG) in March to Ghana Power Distribution Services (PDS), a consortium led by Philippine electricity company Meralco.</p>



<p>But Ghana&#8217;s finance minister informed U.S. officials on Saturday that the government was cancelling the 20-year concession it had signed with PDS, saying payment guarantees provided were not satisfactory.</p>



<p>In a statement on Tuesday, the U.S. embassy said the decision to terminate the contract was unjustified and that the MCC was therefore cancelling $190 million in grants.</p>



<p>The remaining $308 million will still be disbursed.</p>



<p>&#8220;The United States underscores the importance of contract sanctity as essential to a conducive investment climate and a pre-condition for inclusive economic growth,&#8221; it said.</p>



<p>Ghana&#8217;s Information Minister Kojo Oppong Nkrumah told reporters on Wednesday that the U.S. announcement did not represent &#8220;a crisis of confidence&#8221; between the two governments.</p>



<p>&#8220;It has been a difference in opinion which we have mutually agreed to respect,&#8221; he said.</p>



<p>Meralco did not immediately respond to a request for comment. </p>



<p>(Reporting by Christian Akorlie; Writing by Juliette Jabkhiro; Editing by Aaron Ross and Jan Harvey)</p>


This West African country has lost $190 million U.S. grant over cancelled power contract

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<p>Cote d&#8217;Ivoire and Ghana plan to re-examine the Cocoa industry’s sustainability schemes. To discuss this and more stories impacting the global cocoa market, Independent Commodities Expert, Edward George joins CNBC Africa for more.</p>


Ghana

#MiningIndaba2020: GIISDC Chair Andani on why Ghana is prioritising local content in mining

Absa on the main drivers for Africa’s best performing economies in 2020

World Economic Forum: President Akufo-Addo on Ghana’s response strategy for climate change

How Ghana is leveraging its home-grown talent to expand its entertainment industry

Key actors in Ghana’s banking crisis arraigned

Op-Ed: From CFA franc to ‘eco’, what you need to know about West Africa’s new currency

Cars45 CEO Etop Ikpe on how Nigeria can grow its automotive sector

IMF: How new oil discoveries and mining will impact Ghana’s economic outlook

How Springfield oil discovery will impact Ghana’s output

Ghana importers protest against planned cargo tariff hike

Rwandan social entrepreneur wins $100,000 Netpreneur Prize

Ghana proposes 21% budget increase for 2020

Swedish Ambassador Michael Gräns: Women need to be much more involved in economic development

Ghana traders eagerly anticipating re-opening of Nigerian land borders

Nigeria-Ghana border closures: Will a consensus be reached ahead of Reps meeting?

This West African country has lost $190 million U.S. grant over cancelled power contract

Understanding how cocoa industry influences the global market

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Ghana

#MiningIndaba2020: GIISDC Chair Andani on why Ghana is prioritising local content in mining

Absa on the main drivers for Africa’s best performing economies in 2020

World Economic Forum: President Akufo-Addo on Ghana’s response strategy for climate change

How Ghana is leveraging its home-grown talent to expand its entertainment industry

Key actors in Ghana’s banking crisis arraigned

Op-Ed: From CFA franc to ‘eco’, what you need to know about West Africa’s new currency

Cars45 CEO Etop Ikpe on how Nigeria can grow its automotive sector

IMF: How new oil discoveries and mining will impact Ghana’s economic outlook

How Springfield oil discovery will impact Ghana’s output

Ghana importers protest against planned cargo tariff hike

Rwandan social entrepreneur wins $100,000 Netpreneur Prize

Ghana proposes 21% budget increase for 2020

Swedish Ambassador Michael Gräns: Women need to be much more involved in economic development

Ghana traders eagerly anticipating re-opening of Nigerian land borders

Nigeria-Ghana border closures: Will a consensus be reached ahead of Reps meeting?

This West African country has lost $190 million U.S. grant over cancelled power contract

Understanding how cocoa industry influences the global market

News Tips

Advertise With Us

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