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Ghana Gets $9.7m For Forest Preservation

23 Wednesday Oct 2013

Posted by theinvesmentman in ACCRA, Africa, African Development Bank, banks, Brong-Ahafo Region, Business, Climate Investment Funds, Forestry, Get rich quick, Ghana, investment, Non-governmental organization, Project management, Reducing emissions from deforestation and forest degradation, Uncategorized

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African Development Bank, Brong Ahafo Region, Climate Investment Funds, Forestry, ghana, Non-governmental organization, Project management, Reducing emissions from deforestation and forest degradation

Reflex Eco Group – Ghana News

by Cephas Larbi (Local Journalist)

This Blog is sponsored by http://www.reflexecogroup.com

Ghana has secured $9.75 million from the Climate Investment Fund’s (CIF) Forest Investment Program (FIP) to undertake a forestry preservation project.
The funds would be used to commence the Engaging Local Communities in REDD+/Enhancement of Carbon Stocks (ELCIR+) project.

The ELCIR+ project will help reduce deforestation and forest degradation, increase carbon stocks and reduce poverty by engaging communities in land management approaches that generate financial and environmental benefits for them.

The project will pilot a jurisdictional approach to REDD+ at the regional level focusing on the Western and Brong Ahafo regions.

Twelve thousand people, half of them females, will receive capacity-building support, seeds and equipment, and financial incentives through benefit-sharing agreements to develop forestry, agro-forestry and alternative livelihoods activities.

An additional 175,000 people will indirectly benefit.

Ghana secured the funds with the support from African Development Bank (AfDB).

Albert Mwangi, AfDB’s Task Manager for the project, in a statement, said with the approval of the project Ghana can exponentially ramp up sustainability of its forest sector and ensure that forest-related communities are both recipients and creators of effective and climate-smart economic solutions.

“The project builds on the AfDB’s history of support in Ghana for sustainable forest management to generate positive environmental and socio-economic outputs.

“We look forward to the lessons coming out of the project’s implementation,” he said.

The project has four components, which are support for community restoration of degraded off-reserve forests and agricultural landscape; promoting climate-smart and environmentally responsible cocoa and agro-forestry systems; support for community alternative livelihoods and capacity-building for government and local communities and support for project management and Monitoring & Evaluation.

The project design was developed in line with FIP requirement, through an intensive stakeholder consultation process that included the private sector such as timber industry, woodworkers associations, plantation developers, cocoa farmers, and those involved in charcoal production.

Others include agriculture and finance, civil society and community organizations such as forest fringe communities, NGOs specializing in the environment, climate change, natural resources management and community development.

Related articles
  • Ghana receives $9.7m climate investment funds for forestry expansion (ghanabusinessnews.com)
  • Ghana set to increase community engagement to transform its forestry sector with project awarded nearly $10 million (sierraexpressmedia.com)
  • Ghana set to increase community engagement to transform its forestry sector with project awarded nearly $10 million (appablog.wordpress.com)
  • Ghana set to increase community engagement to transform its forestry sector with project awarded nearly $10 million (newstimeafrica.com)
  • Rn climate2050-forests (slideshare.net)
  • Ghanaian researchers develop strategies to conserve forest resources (modernghana.com)
  • Working With Cocoa Farmers in Ghana (thefrogblog.org.uk)
  • Ghana losing huge revenue to illegal logging – NGO (ghanabusinessnews.com)
  • Indonesia should improve its forest governance index: UNDP (eco-business.com)
  • New world for Montana foresters: Speak Chinese, hobnob with celebrities, listen closely (missoulian.com)

Africa Focused News

21 Monday Oct 2013

Posted by theinvesmentman in ACCRA, AfDB, Africa, African Development Bank, banks, Brazil, Business, Cedi, Dollar, Ethiopia, Eurobond, Fitch, Fola Adeola, France, Get rich quick, Ghana, Indonesia, investment, Kenya, Korea, Liberia, Ministry of Trade, Ministry of Trade and Industry (Norway), Mozambique, Nigeria, South Sudan, Southern Africa, Tarkwa, uk, Uncategorized, United Kingdom, United States, US, usa, Zambia, Zimbabwe

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ACCRA, AfDB, Africa, African Development Bank, Brazil, Cedi, Dollar, Ethiopia, Eurobond, Fitch, Fola Adeola, France, ghana, Indonesia, Kenya, Korea, Liberia, Ministry of Trade, Ministry of Trade and Industry (Norway), Mozambique, Nigeria, South Africa, South Sudan, Tarkwa, UK, United States, US, USA, Zambia, Zimbabwe

REPORT OF LAST WEEK (from 14/10/13 to 18/10/13)

by Dario Galluccio

This Blog is sponsored by http://www.reflexecogroup.com

Nigeria: MainOne signs $100m refinancing deal with 4 Nigerian Banks

To further expand its services in providing wholesale broadband and bandwidth telecommunications services, Nigeria’s indigenous fibre optic cable company, MainOne Cable Company Limited has signed a $100 million re-financing facility agreement with four Nigerian banks – Skye Bank Plc, Standard Chartered Bank Limited, First Bank of Nigeria Limited and First City Monument Bank Plc.

Chairman of MainOne Cable, Fola Adeola, said the facility was needed to expand the operations of the company and to further make business easy for their clients. He explained that the fund would help make interconnectivity easier and internet access faster and more efficient for the company’s clients.

MainOne has been expanding its services in Nigeria- its main market and other part of the West African region including Accra and Lome.

Ghana: France ready to establish more businesses

The French Ambassador to Ghana, Frederic Clavier has expressed his country’s readiness to establish more businesses in the country under the French Chamber of Commerce.

Speaking during a tour of AngloGold Ashanti Iduapriem mine at Tarkwa in the Western Region, he said Ghana has proven to be one of the perfect investment destinations in the sub-region. Ambassador Clavier said given the long standing relations between the two countries, France was ready to partner with institutions in Ghana to foster its socio-economic development.

He said some of the areas of social and economic cooperation in Ghana include education, science and technology. He said the time had come for institutions of higher learning in the extractive sector in the country to produce more expertise with technical know-how to enable those with the needed competencies to grab opportunities in the sector.

Ghana: To impresses investors in Chicago

Potential and existing investors in Ghana were impressed by the representation made by the Ghana delegation to the 9th Biennial U.S. – Africa Business Summit organised by the Corporate Council on Africa (CCA) in Chicago.

The two-hour “Doing Business in Ghana” forum, led by the Ministry of Trade and Industry, was organised by the Ghana Investment Promotion Centre (GIPC) and gave attendees the opportunity to learn about business opportunities, governmental policies and private success stories from high-level government officials and representatives from Ghana.

The U.S. – Africa Business Summit is organised biennially to satisfy various needs of host African countries, potential investors and business partners. These needs include:

– Obtaining information on the latest trade and investment opportunities in Africa’s most promising sectors including agri-business, energy, health, infrastructure, capacity building, security, ICT and finance;

– Networking with as many as 1,500 key African and U.S. private sector and government representatives;

– Learning from a wide array of industry-specific and country-focused informational sessions;

– Exploring new business opportunities by identifying specific growth areas and projects;

– Discovering the latest financing options open to them; – Meeting potential business partners;

– Interacting with exhibitors representing companies on the cutting edge of investment in Africa, and

– Closing new business deals.

Mozambique: Spanish companies seek opportunities

Representatives of 35 Spanish companies have arrived in Maputo in search of business opportunities. In particular, the companies are interested in energy, water treatment, airports, roads and rail.

On 8 October, the delegation participated in a meeting with Mozambican businesses seeking partnerships. The event was organised by the Spanish Embassy in Maputo. A source in the Embassy told the daily newspaper “Noticias” that the delegation seeks to boost the Spanish presence in Mozambique, with world leading companies sending representatives on the trip.

The source stated that the world’s top three companies in the management of transport infrastructure projects are Spanish. In addition, the Spanish rail sector is present in five continents, with Spain’s high-speed rail network the second largest in the world. The country is also a world leader in logistics, oil refining, finance, security, biotechnology, the environment, water treatment, aerospace, naval technology, information and communications, sanitation and electronic governance.

According to the Spanish Embassy, major projects planned for electrification, tourism and agro-business make Mozambique an economy of huge interest. The Spanish government is to support its companies through a credit line of 75 million euros (102 million US dollars).

Ghana: To boost economic cooperation with Indonesia

Mr Lasro Simbolon, the Director for African Affairs of Indonesia, led a delegation of investors to pay a courtesy call on officials of the Ghana Chamber of Commerce and Industry to discuss cooperation between the two countries. Mr Lasro Simbolon said the two countries could collaborate to enhance bilateral relations. “Indonesia sees the potential in areas of economic growth in Africa, and we are committed to see that transition is carried out with Ghana,” he said. Mr Simbolon noted that the two countries had rich potentials to explore business opportunities to sustain economic cooperation. He said the Ghana’needed economic growth in areas of infrastructure, agriculture, technological development and capacity building and invited members of the Chamber to one of Indonesia’s biggest Expo being held between October 16th and October 20.

Mr Seth Adjei Baah, President of the Ghana Chamber of Commerce and Industry, said the two countries should in line with national development plans enhance economic cooperation for the welfare of their people. “As you decide to invest in Ghana, be assured that your money is safe, our hands are opened and I believe we can do more by collaborating with each other,” he added.

Ghana: Cedi stable to US Dollar

However, the local currency had depreciated by 14.5 percent against the American currency on the forex market so far this year. Analysts say the Bank of Ghana’s efforts to support the Ghana Cedi and other liquidity management efforts are finally having a positive impact despite robust import demand; they are predicting a further stable currency if the Central Bank continues its liquidity management operations despite pressure from large fiscal and current account deficits.

Meanwhile, on the currency market today, the Ghana Cedi remained relatively stable to the US Dollar. It however rose to the other major foreign currencies on the interbank market.

Africa: Private energy sector key to continent’s commercial future

Co-Founder of the $500 million Africa50 infrastructure fund, Mr Kola Aluko says the continued influence and growth of independent companies in the energy sector in Africa is vital, if the continent is to fulfil its true potential as a commercial power. Speaking to an international audience of business leaders during a discussion on the prospects and Challenges for Africa’s Energy sector at the US-Africa Business Summit in Chicago, Aluko made the statement as a panel member, just two weeks after the Made In Africa Foundation he co-founded with British designer, Ozwald Boateng, launched the ‘Africa50’ fund in association with the African Development Bank, at the NASDAQ in New York.

According to Aluko: “In the past, 97% of Nigeria’s production was dominated by the International Oil Companies who’s understandable focus on what was best for shareholders, didn’t always reflect what was best for the country. But the government is aware of the importance to change that and the introduction of tax benefits to independent operators is a major incentive to work for the wider benefit and generate a trickle down effect which then benefits the population.”

Africa shows interest in Zimbabwe

Fellow African countries are continuing to show keen interest in bringing their investments into Zimbabwe, an investment expert has said. Traditionally, Asian and European countries have been known to invest in Zimbabwe. Imara Zimbabwe executive director Mr Tino Kambasha told that large African capital firms are now showing a lot of interest in the country. He added that the fact is that one cannot ignore Zimbabwe and its large consumer base anymore as many equity fund managers are eager to explore opportunities for strong capital growth and high equity yields.

A Kenyan private equity firm, Fanisi Capital, announced recently that it will launch its second fund of US$100 million to be invested in new markets across Southern Africa before the end of next year, a company official said. Botswana Stock Exchange-listed retail group Choppies Enterprises last week announced the acquisition of 49 percent of an unnamed Zimbabwean supermarket chain comprising 10 stores.

Ghana: Government optimistic meeting revenue targets

Government is optimistic of meeting revenue targets with new tax hikes despite present difficulties with collection of the taxies. Government is basing its optimism on business activities that picked up in the last quarter of this year.

In August this year, government introduced three new taxes to address revenue shortfalls. These include the National Stabilization Levy and Customs and Excise Bill – however the third bill, Special Import Bill, is yet to be laid before Parliament.

The state has so far been able to collect GH¢ 25 million from the GH¢ 371 million revenue target. There are fears the country might not realize the revenue target because of a slowdown in business activities, as well as smuggling activities at the ports; but Deputy Minister of Finance, Kweku Ricketts-Hagan said the Ministry has instituted measures to ensure the GH¢ 371 million target is realised.

“Taxes may be the main revenue stream but there are other revenue streams as huge as taxes that also come – so it becomes a case of prioritinsing your expenditure”, he said.

Meanwhile, banks, mining firms, telcos and other financial institutions would by the end of this month be giving away 5% of their profits as Stabilization Levy.

Nigeria: Total to fund contractors under $7.5Bn initiative

Total E&P Nigeria Limited and Total Upstream Nigeria Limited, in partnership with 8 banks have launched a $7.5 billion Nigerian Contractors’ Initiative (NCI) to create a sustainable funding channel for the energy giants’ local contractors.

Based on the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) which is in line with the Nigerian local content policy, the contractors, which include vendors and suppliers, will sufficiently receive capital which also will be domiciled with the partnering banks. Total MD/CEO Mr. Guy Maurice, said over the weekend the MoU provides for sustainable funding relationship between the banks and Total’s indigenous contractors.

Mr. Jibril Aku, the Managing Director of Ecobank Nigeria, one of the partnering banks, explained the finance programme would help sustain the contractors and help them play a more active role in the oil and gas sector.

The partnering lenders for the NCI include Ecobank Nigeria, Zenith Bank, Diamond Bank, Guaranty Trust Bank (GTBank), United Bank for Africa (UBA), Standard Chartered Bank, Access Bank and Fidelity Bank.

Ethiopia: To launch Eurobond

Ethiopian Prime Minister, Hailemariam Desalegn says his country is planning to launch a Eurobond once it secures its credit rating, but it will not open its telecoms and banking sectors to foreigners as revenue drawn from both sectors helps fund development of infrastructure.

Foreign appetite for African bonds has been strong as investors scramble for high yields. However, Prime Minister Desalegn’s declaration may disappoint foreign investors who had hoped for a paradigm shift from the state-led policies of former Prime Minister Meles Zenawi, who died last August.

The Prime Minister told journalists that he would stick to a policy that has kept the telecoms monopoly in state hands and the banking sector – dominated by three state institutions – off limits to foreigners, as income or financing from those entities is being used to develop the country’s infrastructure. Dasalegn also said that the East African nation is willing to harness the international debt market by issuing an external bond to relieve the country’s foreign currency shortage.

According to him, Ethiopia will also launch other bonds alongside Eurobond.

Although Prime Minister Desalegn did not give an exact date on when the country will get a credit rating, he hinted that it is at a critical stage alongside the issuance of the bond. A credit rating allows countries to access funds outside their country. The possession of a good credit rating attracts Foreign Direct Investment because it gives investors information about the economic stability of the country they are investing in.

Meanwhile, Ethiopian State Minister of Finance and Economic Development, Abraham Tekeste said the Ethiopian economy grew by 9.7% in the past fiscal year. Ethiopia, sub-Saharan Africa’s fifth largest economy, expects FDI of about $2 billion a year through 2015.

Zambia: More investors target mining sector

Several Chinese investors have expressed interest in investing in Zambia’s mining sector through the United Nations (UN) South-South Cooperation initiative, Commerce, Trade and Industry Minister Emmanuel Chenda has said.

Mr Chenda said in an interview that on the sidelines of the recently held UN General Assembly in the United States of America (USA), he met with several potential investors, among them Chinese, who expressed interest in setting up mineral exploration ventures in Zambia.

Meanwhile, Mr Chenda said the benefits of Government’s intervention to remove the subsidy on fossil fuels has started paying off as a number of other renewable forms of energy are being identified. The minister reiterated that maintaining the subsidy on fuel could have negatively affected the country’s capacity to generate energy from other sources.

Nigeria: Federal Government woos Brazilians to invest in power

To ensure rapid development of electricity distribution, the Federal Government has appealed to the Brazilian Government to invest in Nigeria’s power sector with a view to revamping the ailing sector. The Minister of Power, Prof. Chinedu Nebo who said this while receiving a Brazilian delegation led by Vice-Minister of Development, Industry and International Trade, Mr. Ricardo Shaefer, said the government needs assistance from around the world to revamp the ailing power sector.

The minister also requested for synergy and co-operation of the Brazilians in Nigeria’s quest to ensure all her nationals are connected to electricity. He said that “Brazil has done well in many aspects of electricity especially in big hydro, biomass, solar, wind and coal. Nigeria intends to learn from the experience of Brazil, as the country has already leap frog in the attainment of development goals.”

In his remarks, the Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Power, Amb. Godknows Igali, said that opportunities in the power sector is in mega dimension. He added that the nation’s target of moving from over 4,000 mega watts to 40,000MW in the next seven years would require double efforts from Nigeria’s friends abroad.

South Africa: French firms urged to collaborate

French and South African companies have been encouraged to work together on the industrialisation of South Africa and the African continent. Speaking at a business forum on the sidelines of the state visit by French President Francois Hollande on Monday, 14th October, Trade and Industry Minister Rob Davies said that although France was among the country’s top five partners in the European Union (EU), a lot more still needed to be done.

France is among South Africa’s top 10 trading partners. The two countries have significant and sizeable trade and investment relations.

Davies said that what needed to be improved were partnerships between the two countries on industrialisation. He said the African continent was recognised as one of the growing frontiers in the world and that the African region needed to integrate.

South Africa is engaged in a massive infrastructure programme, with the Southern African Development Community (SADC) having also set up infrastructure programmes, and these should form the basis for industrialisation, Davies said.

Zimbabwe: Nation to have new diamond miner

The Government has granted a licence to Global Diamond Trekkers to explore for the gems in the Middle Sabi area of Manicaland province, about 100 km south east of the Chiadzwa fields. According to a statement issued by the company, it was given permission to investigate the potential for mining diamonds in the Middle Sabi area. The alluvial diamond concession lies in the Middle Sabi valley, about 167 km south of Mutare in Manicaland province.

Global Diamond Trekkers said it had since engaged a consultancy firm to conduct an Environmental Impact Assessment for the project. The company will in the short term conduct an exploration exercise to determine the extent of the resources. Thereafter it would seek compliance with industry regulator the Kimberly Process Certification Scheme.

Zimbabwe is a notable diamond producer with huge reserves of the mineral especially in the Marange area. The five joint-venture mines in Marange produced a combined eight million carats of the gems last year and generated at least US$684 million in exports.

Industry experts say Zimbabwe has the potential to account for at least 25 percent of global production by the end of the decade.

Nigeria: To take ICT investment drive to Silicon Valley

The Ministry of Communication Technology is holding a Silicon Valley Investment Forum in San Francisco, United States of America (USA), to showcase the untapped potential of the Nigerian ICT sector – its success stories and investment opportunities to the global community.

The three-day forum will showcase the development of Nigeria’s technology sector including policy, economic development and individual success stories of start-ups in the country.

The aim of the forum is to further highlight the potential of the Nigerian ICT sector and increase exposure of ideation and innovation in Nigeria. The forum will showcase Nigeria’s Innovation drive and success stories of start-ups like Jumia, Co Creation Hub, Venia Business Hub, Wakanow.com, Interswitch, Paga etc. Also, a new report on Nigeria’s ICT sector by the Oxford Business Group will be circulated at the forum.

The Minister of Communication Technology, Mrs Omobola Johnson, will speak on the potential of the Nigerian ICT sector and initiatives of the Ministry to accelerate the growth of the sector.

Ethiopia: Growth is impressive – African Development Bank

Ethiopia’s strong, decade-long economic growth made it possible for the country to be on track to achieve the Millennium Development Goals says the African Development Bank (AfDB).

In its latest publication “AfDB and Ethiopia – Partnering for Inclusive Growth” the Bank point to huge investment in infrastructure and commercialization of agriculture as major causes for the average 11% annual growth over the past nine years, making Ethiopia the biggest economy in East Africa.

The Bank lauded the government’s development policy that lead to broad based growth and a considerable reduction in poverty, noting pro-poor policies accounted for 69% of expenditure in the 2011-12 budget year alone.

Prudent monetary policies brought inflation down to 7.7% in 2013 from a high of 40% in mid-2011. The Bank underlines its commitment to continue partnership with Ethiopia, aligning its country strategy with the Growth and Transformation Plan.

It notes “the government of Ethiopia’s key development objective is to achieve inclusive, accelerated and sustained economic growth and to eradicate poverty” and expresses the Bank’s strong conviction of the prospects of Ethiopia’s development.

The Bank’s country strategy principles included alignment with the Growth and transformation Plan, prioritizing infrastructure, regional integration, governance and private sector development and supporting the East African Integration strategy. The Bank has therefore supported the Ethio-Djibouti Electric Power Interconnection Project, the Ethio-Kenya Electric Highway project, the Mombasa-Nairobi-Addis Ababa Road Corridor and the Rural Water Supply and Sanitation Program.

Since it joined the African Development Bank Group in 1964, Ethiopia has benefitted from loans and grants to the tune of US$3.75 billion, making it the sixth largest beneficiary in the continent.

South Sudan: Korean millionaires to invest

South Sudan will soon witness a number of investors from Korea coming willingly to invest in diverse natural resources in the country. The government through the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation has already embarked on serious discussions on how these millionaires will be handled when they arrive in the country.

The head of Korean mission in Uganda, Park Jong Dae confirmed that the millionaires will arrive as soon as the necessary arrangements are completed. He said South Sudan has a promising investment potential and the Korean millionaires are interested to invest there.

He also said he will be leaving shortly for Juba to see how the Korean peace keepers can introduce new programs to improve its developmental service to South Sudan. The envoy disclosed all this after a meeting with the minister for Foreign Affairs and International Relations, Dr. Barnaba Marial Benjamin, while in Kampala.

Kenya: Standard Bank, ICBC raise $108m debt facility heavy fuel plant

Standard Bank Group and the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China (ICBC) have concluded a $108 million debt financing package with Triumph Kenya to construct a 83MW heavy fuel oil plant in the east African nation. As mandated co-lead arrangers, CfC Stanbic Bank, a member of Standard Bank Group, provided $28 million of debt funding while ICBC supplied $80 million. The ICBC finance portion will be for the plant, currently being built 25km from Nairobi.

Kenya Power also signed a 20-year agreement with Triumph to purchase power from the plant, which will be a crucial supplier to the utility during times of drought when the country’s hydroelectric generating capacity becomes constrained.

The World Bank’s Multilateral Investment Guarantee Agency (MIGA) will provide $102.5 million in breach of contract insurance should Kenya Power fail to honour its 20-year power purchase agreement with Triumph. MIGA’s insurance will also cover the Government of Kenya’s obligations under the Government of Kenya Letter of Support.

Kenya has historically relied on hydropower for most of its electricity needs and has a current installed generating capacity of 1,672 MW, compared with peak power demand of 1,330 MW. The nation’s economy has expanded at an average rate of 4-5 percent over the last 3 years.

Nigeria: Fitch rates economy stable

Fitch Ratings, an international independent rating agency, rated Nigeria’s economic outlook as stable. The agency also affirmed the country’s long-term foreign and local currency IDRs and senior unsecured bond ratings at ‘BB-‘ and ‘BB’ respectively, while the short-term foreign currency IDR was rated ‘B’ and Country Ceiling at ‘BB-‘. This vote of confidence on the prospects of the Nigerian economy is coming a few days after another respected international rating agency, Standard & Poor’s also affirmed a strong and positive rating for the management of the economy.

According to the agency, the affirmation reflects the following key rating drivers, a gross domestic product (GDP) growth of 6.4 per cent in the first half of 2013, noting that though lower than the level in 2012, the country showed resilience in the face of exogenous shocks.

The agency noted the non-oil economy had slowed but still grew by 7.9 per cent in 2012 and 7.6 per cent in the first half of 2013. The agency expressed optimism that non-oil growth should pick up in the second half of 2013, as normal weather had resumed and the authorities had responded to the security problems. Reforms to the electricity and agriculture sectors could start to boost potential growth.

Other key drivers of the rating, as highlighted by the agency, included inflation rate, which had remained in single digits all year – the lowest in five years and the longest stretch of single digit inflation since 2008. Also, policy rates were unchanged and the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) had the twin aims of achieving single-digit inflation and maintaining exchange rate stability. Fitch also adjudged public finances as remaining comfortable and estimated a general government deficit of around 1.8 per cent of GDP this year and next.

Ghana: Fitch downgrades … From B+ to B

Fitch has downgraded Ghana from a B to a B, largely because of the government’s difficulty in managing the rising wage bill and of the increased debt to GDP ratio pose short-term challenges to the economy. Ghana was put on a B (negative) outlook in February this year and has since been under continuous assessment by Fitch, which had expressed concern over several factors affecting the short-term health of Ghana’s economy.

While experts recognise Ghana’s bright prospects in the medium term, it is believed that the government will struggle with controlling the fiscal situation over the next 18 months.

The outlook for post-2015 looks much better,” a sources,close to the rating agency, said, citing Ghana’s removal of subsidies on petroleum products as helping the fiscal situation, but continued subsidies on utilities, especially power, posed challenges for fiscal stability and growth going forward.

South Africa: Eskom wins R1.3 billion French solar loan

France is to lend €100-million (R1.3-billion) to South African state company Eskom to help finance a 100 megawatt (MW) concentrating solar power plant near Upington in the Northern Cape. Eskom and the French Development Agency (AFD) agreed, during French President Francois Hollande’s state visit to South Africa, to facilitate the signing of the loan.

Eskom chief executive Brian Dames said in a statement that the Upington CSP project, one of Eskom’s first commercial-scale renewable energy projects outside of its existing hydro portfolio, “puts us on a path towards reducing our carbon footprint and investing in a sustainable energy future”. The Upington CSP project is expected to deliver an annual energy production of 525 GWh and will be sufficient to power 200 000 homes.

Liberia: ‘Most Improved’ nation

Liberia leads the table of biggest governance improvers in Africa since 2000, and has seen largest improvements in Safety & Rule of Law.

The 2013 Ibrahim Index of African Governance (IIAG) revealed that Liberia is the ‘most improved country’ on the continent in terms of overall governance since 2000. The top five most improved countries in the 2013 IIAG are all post-conflict countries: Liberia, Angola, Sierra Leone, Rwanda and Burundi.

The 2013 IIAG provides full details of Liberia’s performance across four categories of governance: Safety & Rule of Law, Participation & Human Rights, Sustainable Economic Opportunity and Human Development. Since 2000, Liberia has shown its biggest improvement in the category of Safety & Rule of Law, which measures judicial functions, accountability, transparency and corruption, property rights, personal safety and national security, among others.

Liberia’s performance in the 2013 IIAG stands as follow: Ranks 29th (out of 52) overall; scores 50.3 (out of 100), lower than the African; average (51.6); has improved by +24.8 since 2000; ranks 10th (out of 16) in the West African region; scores lower than the regional average for West Africa (52.5) and ranks highest in the category Participation & Human Rights (19th out of 52).

According to report, West Africa ranks 3rd out of five regions at the overall governance level. This has been the case every year since 2000, except in 2011 when it ranked 2nd.

South Africa: Old Mutual set to invest $101m in Africa

Old Mutual Investment Group SA (Omigsa) said it is set to raise R10 billion ($101 million) to invest in private equity, infrastructure and agriculture funds throughout Africa. Diane Radley, the CEO at Omigsa, said domestic pension funds will be used as sources for the investment money that will generate long-term yields.

According to Radley, by 2050 at least one in three youngsters in the globe will be living in the African continent; this, she said, will turn Africa into one of the greatest and thrilling consumer markets going forward.

Omigsa, the South Africa-based unit of Old Mutual, is Africa’s biggest insurance company listed on London and Johannesburg stock exchanges.

Nigeria: Brittania-U offers $1.2 Billion for Chevron Oil blocs

Brittania-U Nigeria Limited, a Lagos-based marginal oil field operator, has reportedly offered Chevron a $1.2 billion for 3 of its listed oil blocs, throwing lower bidders into panic. Chevron has been seeking to liquidate its 40 percent stake in blocs OMLs 52, 53, 55, 83 and 85, listing them for sale to local operators. The indigenous oil firm has been rivalled by fellow operators Seplat/Amni Production, Niger Delta Petroleum/SAPETRO and Sahara/Septa – all Nigerian companies – seeking to acquire the reserves-rich fields. The blocs are said to hold oil reserves in excess of 250 million barrels of oil and over 3.5 billion cubic feet of gas, valued at $400 million.

Though no official declaration has been made, Brittania-U’s latest bid – believed to be $1 billion higher than other bids – looks set to put an end to the 3-month bidding process. Brittania-U is bidding to buy OMLs 52, 53 and 55, estimated to contain proven oil and gas reserves of 555 million barrels of oil equivalent (MMBOE), a Business Day report revealed.

The oil and gas company’s astonishing offer has been supported by an equity financing partner, an arrangement Eddy Wikina, former external relation affairs manager, Shell Nigeria Exploration Petroleum Company (SNEPCO), feels was easy initiated due to the company’s excellent credit rating.

Related articles
  • Accra to host ‘The Ghana Summit’ Conference (modernghana.com)
  • Ghana achieved first MDG ahead of deadline: Lessons for other African Countries (mdginafrica.wordpress.com)
  • Cold War ‘cost Africa more than colonialism’: Mo Ibrahim (africareview.com)
  • Africa achieving but… (daily-mail.co.zm)
  • Financing Africa’s Infrastructure Gap (brookings.edu)
  • Africa rising but rule of law declines (theguardian.com)
  • Ghana to acquire military aircrafts from Spain (sierraexpressmedia.com)
  • Rwanda slams Mo Ibrahim governance index (vancouverdesi.com)
  • My Journey to the West (marymarysketton.wordpress.com)
  • Bermudian Helps Showcase Ghana’s Gardens (bernews.com)

On the quality of higher education (and human capital development) in Africa

02 Wednesday Oct 2013

Posted by theinvesmentman in ACCRA, Africa, African Development Bank, Arab Maghreb Union, Association of African Universities, banks, Business, East Africa, East Asia, Germany, Get rich quick, Ghana, Human capital, IBM, investment, Kenya, Liberia, Makerere, Nairobi, Pan African University, Southern Africa, Tanzania, Tertiary education, Times Higher Education World University Rankings, Uncategorized, United States, US, usa, Vocational education, World Bank

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Africa, African Development Bank, Arab Maghreb Union, Association of African Universities, East Africa, East Asia, Germany, Human capital, IBM, Kenya, Liberia, Makerere, Nairobi, Pan African University, Southern Africa, Tanzania, Tertiary education, Times Higher Education World University Rankings, United States, Vocational education, World Bank

Reflex Eco Group – Africa News

by  Kennedy Opalo (Kenyan journalist)

This Blog is sponsored by http://www.reflexecogroup.com

According to The Times Higher Education World University Rankings 2012-2013, the highest ranked university in Africa, the University of Cape Town, is 113th in the world. The ranking system employs 13 performance indicators that take into account universities’ core functions, including “research, knowledge transfer and international outlook.” Among the leading 400 world academic institutions, there are only four from Africa, all in South Africa. As a region, Africa only has 35 scientists and engineers per million inhabitants, compared with 168 in Brazil, 2,457 in Europe and 4,103 in the United States. The region is clearly behind as far as knowledge production and dissemination is concerned, producing only 1.1 percent of the world’s scientific knowledge, despite comprising more than 13 percent of the global population.

At barely over 8 percent, Africa’s gross enrollment in tertiary institutions of learning is the lowest of any region in the world (UNESCO, 2011). The average enrollment rate for developing countries is 23 percent, and that for advanced countries is 74 percent. Africa’s poor showing in the higher education sweepstakes is both a cause and effect of the region’s poor economic environment. The massive cuts in higher education funding in the wake of the structural adjustment programs of the 1980s and 1990s, even as enrollment more than tripled between 1991 and 2005, have had an adverse impact on quality. And in turn, the lack of high quality tertiary level education has starved the region of high skills needed for efficient allocation of factors of production thereby stunting improvement in productivity, high value addition and research and development. Africa devotes less than 1 percent of its GDP to research and development.

Data from 33 countries for which it is available show that tertiary education financing in the region has declined from a high of US $6,800 per student per year in 1980 to just about $981 in 2005. Over the same period the World Bank decreased its education lending from 17 percent in 1985-89 to just 7.5 percent currently (this is despite the fact that the World Bank nearly doubled its education lending between 2008 and 2009). The decline in public funding in the face of increasing demand for higher education has led to the proliferation of private universities of dubious standards and a bias towards perceived “soft” fields. In 2004 a meager 28 percent of students were enrolled in perceived “hard” disciplines in the sciences and engineering.

A 2008 study of 12 countries showed an increase in public universities from 113 to 188 between 1995 and 2008. Over the same period private universities ballooned from 14 to 107. This rapid increase in the number of universities in the region has not been matched by an increase in the number of trained teaching staff or facilities such as laboratories, libraries, and the like. Indeed, most of the new universities have tended to specialize in vocational subjects that require very little capital and human resource investment. To put it mildly, there is a great mismatch between the region’s development needs and the type of graduates it produces each year.

The shortage of skills permeates nearly all skill levels, and could get worse as the region’s economy continues to grow over the next two decades. The case of Kenya is illustrative. The country has an ambitious plan to be the information and communication technology (ICT) hub of Eastern Africa (dubbed the “Silicon Savannah”) complete with a proposed $10 billion techno-city (Konza City) situated about 60 kilometres southeast of Nairobi. Already ICT multinationals, including IBM, Microsoft, Google and Intel, have their regional headquarters in Kenya. All this sounds good, except the lack of local skills. IBM’s research lab in Kenya has had to source for top talent among graduates in computer science, electrical engineering, mathematics, and data scientists from American universities. There is still a shortage of required skills among graduates of Kenyan universities. Quality assurance is also lacking, as recent news reports of “theses for hire” have demonstrated.

As the Kenyan case suggests, the lack of sufficient investment in high quality tertiary education has adversely impacted Africa’s ability to realize its economic potential. A 2005 study showed that a one-year increase in the higher education stock of the region could boost growth rate by about 0.63 percentage points. This adds up to an overall increase in income by about 12 percent over five years. For the region to take off economically there is need for greater investment in quality higher education that will train workers for the 21st century economy. But improving the quality of higher education in the region will be a very costly affair. On their own, the region’s countries lack both the resources (on account of their small economies) and demand (on account of their population sizes) to justify the types of investments required. This is where regional cooperation comes in.

Cross-border educational exchanges are not new in Africa, and go back to the pre-independence era. For generations non-Senegalese francophone students have studied in Senegal, seen as a cheap way of getting quality education at par with diplomas from France. Uganda, with East Africa’s top university, Makerere, hosts legions of Kenyan students, eager to avoid congestion and high costs back home. South Africa, with its many quality institutions is also a preferred destination for students from across the continent. These historical cross-border exchanges have led to the formation of regional associations of higher education – the francophone Conseil Africain et Malgache pour l’Enseignement Superieur (CAMES); Inter-University Council of East Africa (IUCEA); Southern African Regional Universities Association (SARUA); and inter-university cooperation under the Arab Maghreb Union (AMU). Continent-wide, the 208-member Association of African Universities (representing 45 countries) is the umbrella organization of the region’s institutions of higher learning.

These associations need to be strengthened and empowered as drivers of regional harmonization of higher education both to facilitate cross-border inter-university mobility of both teachers and students and guarantee quality assurance. As a 2007 World Bank report aptly noted, “regional quality assurance networks are particularly relevant to Africa because of human resource constraints.” On this score the European Higher Education Area provides a possible model. The just over 10 years old Bologna process is working towards ensuring inter-university mobility (in terms of courses, qualifications, and periods of study) as well as a uniform quality assurance standard. In the African context, a continent-wide area of higher education is infeasible because of language and logistical constraints. However, sub-regional areas of higher education, based on the existing associations, provide a possible avenue to invest in a few good institutions of higher learning that can have a demonstrative effect on national institutions as well set high standards of learning. The associations themselves can also serve as certification bodies to ensure a uniform quality assurance standard (see here).

The announcement in late July 2013 of the creation of a new US $154.2 million multinational science, innovation and technology Pan African University (PAU) in the next five years is therefore welcome. (The African Development Bank (AfDB) has pledged a $45 million grant towards the effort.) PAU will be structured around existing institutions of higher learning across Africa’s five sub-regions. Basic sciences, technology and innovation will be based in East Africa; earth and life sciences including health and agriculture in West Africa; governance, humanities and social sciences in Central Africa; water and energy sciences including climate change in North Africa; and space sciences in Southern Africa.

Thus far, discussions over regional integration of systems of higher education have tended to view tertiary institutions as tools for regional economic and political integration – be it in East Africa, Europe or East Asia. However, the creation of stronger regional areas of higher education – especially in a region like Africa – can also be an economically efficient way of facilitating greater investment in higher education to match the demands of a 21st century economy. It is encouraging that current trends signal a move in this direction. University systems in Africa’s sub-regions would be a good place to start.

I conclude with a caution. The rapid increase in the number of public and private universities in Africa over the last two decades has come at the expense of other post-secondary institutions of learning such as polytechnics (this shift has occurred to a lesser extent in francophone Africa than anglophone Africa). In many countries governments have simply converted polytechnics and other constituent colleges into fully-fledged universities. This trend is worrying, especially given the fact that the vast majority of high school leavers on the continent do not make it to university. The low quality of high school education in the region (as demonstrated by the recent mass student failures in Liberia and Tanzania) is yet another reason why these “bridge” tertiary institutions are needed, both to prepare students for university and to impart valuable skills for those that do not eventually make it to university.

The rush to invest in university education should not distract from the fact that vocational post-secondary institutions, such as polytechnics, are an important component of human capital development, even in advanced countries as is the case in Germany (with its impressive “dual system” of training codified in the Vocational Training Act of 1969). As African economies move from dependence on primary commodities to manufacturing and technology, there will be need for skilled workers at all occupational levels. Doing away with vocational post-secondary institutions will only serve to further inhibit the development of adequate and relevant human capital to match the increased demand for skilled workers.

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Most African countries will be middle income by 2040

03 Tuesday Sep 2013

Posted by theinvesmentman in ACCRA, Africa, African Development Bank, African Union, African Union Commission, Asia, bank of england, banks, Business, Carlos Lopes, china, East Africa, East African Community, GDP, Get rich quick, Ghana, gold, Gross domestic product, investment, japan, List of sovereign states and dependent territories in Africa, Nigeria, South Africa, Sub-Saharan Africa, Togo, Uncategorized, United States, US, usa, World Trade Organization, WTO

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Africa, African Development Bank, African Union, African Union Commission, Asia, Carlos Lopes, China, East African Community, Japan, List of sovereign states and dependent territories in Africa, Nigeria, South Africa, Togo, United States, World Trade Organization

Reflex Eco Group – Africa News

http://www.un.org/africarenewal/

 

Interview with Carlos Lopes, executive secretary, Economic Commission for Africa

The 2013 Economic Report on Africa appears to mirror the 2012 report. What has changed over the past year?

Carlos Lopes: Not necessarily on the economy, but in terms of the mentality and the priorities, there is a sea change taking place. We are working with the African Development Bank and the African Union Commission on something called Vision 2063—50 years from now. We got African ministers of finance to approve the idea of transforming African economies and shift from agriculture into industrial and service sectors. This has to be done now for three reasons. First, it’s because you do your big transformation when you are on a growth path, not when you are in recession. Second, you transform when you actually have an increasing urban population, which is what is happening now in Africa. And third, you do it when there is a good macroeconomic environment, which we do have. Our reserves are now at an all-time high—half a trillion dollars. We have inflation around 7% on average. We have managed to get the regulatory system right, particularly on the financial sector. Budget deficits are under control. We are saying that industrialization is the key driver of this transformation.

At the macroeconomic level, a lot of progress has been made.But there is still joblessness.

First of all, what is the value of labour statistics in Africa? The definition of employment as applied in other regions has very little currency in understanding the current reality in Africa. Right now we have a major statistical problem on the continent. So you are talking about not knowing, apart from guessing games, the real characteristics of the composition of GDP in African countries. Demographics—same problems. You have only about 12 African countries that have done a census in the last 10 years. The quality of methodological development in terms of checking the trends in census has not been followed in many countries, even those with the means to do so. For example, Nigeria is now revising its base years for national accounting.

Is that a reasonable thing to do in Nigeria? It seems like statistical manipulation—an arbitrary upward GDP revision.

We will come to that, let me address jobs. One of the areas where we have a weakness is precisely employment and labour statistics. We don’t know exactly how many people are really employed. If you take the statistics of South Africa you can be almost sure they are on the mark because they have more sophisticated machinery. For the rest, we have a guessing game. So to say it’s a jobless growth or a growth that is losing a lot of jobs—both are wild guesses. What we know for sure is that the population is increasing too fast and there is no historical precedent in the world where you have this kind of curve. This means we have to create 10 million jobs a year.

Most investments in Africa are in the extractive sector, which does not produce many jobs. Is it not possible we are experiencing a jobless growth?

Jobless growth? I don’t believe it! I think we are not creating as many jobs as required by the economy, but it’s not a jobless growth. Right now there are people that are occupied, not employed, and we don’t know the dynamics of the situation because we have not adapted labour statistics to capture the types of activities that typically an urban young African has. People are occupied but don’t have jobs. We don’t have a way of capturing these types of activities because it’s informal. Labour statistics are very scanty and static; they were designed for a reality that is not the African reality.

Is there therefore a need to have special parameters for measuring labour statistics in Africa?

We need to do that. This is something that ECA is definitely going to do. There is a tremendous poverty of numbers. One of the contributions ECA has to make is to address gaps of information that capture the exact economic activities taking place in Africa and give a better picture that allows planners to do their job. And that starts with statistics.

Your report calls for value addition to Africa’s commodities. This should be a commonsense approach.

The conventional wisdom is that when you have a commodity boom you also have a commodity curse, and therefore it is very rare for commodity-rich countries to move into industrialization. But historical facts demonstrate the opposite. A number of regions in the world, including this country [the United States], have developed their industries on the basis of commodities. So we have to be much more sophisticated in the way we deal with commodity-based industrialization than in the past. First step, you assess what has happened; we have nine case studies [in the ECA report]. We look into what happened and then try to understand the mistakes made and the positives as well. Second, we say this is not just about regulation, but regulation plays a very important role, including sophisticated protectionism.

What is sophisticated protectionism?

Protection is not a bad word. But we should do it with sophistication, which means you have to have the right balance. Then we come to regional integration. You are not going to industrialize if each country tries to survive on its own little thing. For example, Togo wants to survive on toothpaste produced in Togo and Benin wants to produce its own. Some markets are big enough—certainly Nigeria. But the majority of the countries would not be in a position to take advantage of industrialization if they don’t integrate regionally. We have been talking about regional integration for 50 years. Is it happening? Well, there has been progress but that progress is timid.

Sophisticated protectionism sounds like regulation. The World Trade Organization is likely to oppose that.

But we are talking about the African agenda. The WTO is a negotiating platform.

The African economy is integrated in the world’s economy.

Integrated to a point. What you need is to make the case for an Africa agenda.

Can that case be successfully made?

Well, the EPA [Economic Partnership Agreements] discussion is still ongoing—so why not? There is no country in the world that has industrialized without sophisticated protectionism.

What about the argument that formulating new policies to regulate trade is anti–free market?

It’s not a matter of choosing between state and market as if these were two opposites. That discussion is over. Everybody agrees now that there is a role for the state and there is a role for the market. There are regulations that are necessary. This country [the US], Europe, Japan have done it. The moment they get in crisis, what do they do? They intervene in the banks and so on. So that discussion is over.

What about subsidies for farmers in the West, which tend to affect African farmers who cannot compete on the international market?

Africa will continue to fight. Maybe they will never succeed in that fight. They should not put their eggs into that basket too much.

Why not?

Because Africa has many other opportunities. It doesn’t need to focus on the export of soft commodities as its primary goal.

Are you suggesting that Africa can downplay commodities like cocoa, cotton and others and concentrate on other opportunities?

Yes. First, there are commodities that Africa, because of its monopoly position, should be able to get better deals from, like cocoa. Second, it’s a lost battle because Europe will not give up. And third, the future of Africa is not in soft commodities; the future of Africa is in industrialization. Yes, we need to produce agricultural products big-time—but for Africa.

But can you separate industrialization from a focus on soft commodities?

No, I don’t separate the two. If we are saying industrialization in Africa is necessary, it will be commodity-based. That includes soft commodities, but a few, not many. Like cocoa and cotton. You can even think of sugar. There is a market for it. But for the rest, the agricultural production of Africa should turn into Africa consumption. I hate to use the term world food security because it carries a lot of baggage. It immediately connotes we are taking care of people affected by drought. It’s much more than that. It’s about creating a market for consumption of agricultural products in Africa.

Back to integration. It appears that there is more activity at the regional level than at the continental level.

Well, African Free TradeZoneinitiative says it very clearly that the future will be through regional blocs, the regional economic communities. The problem we are facing right now is that the regional economic communities are in different speeds. From the most exciting East African Community to the Maghreb Union, you have very different dynamics going on. What investors would like to know is that whatever I invest in Country A is going to have the possibility of flowing in whatever direction it flows. They will say, OK, this is a key port, a key city, a key industrial hub, a key IT innovation centre—that is very powerful. And if you sell it as part of an Africa-wide approach, that’s very attractive.

There appears to be a lot of emphasis on foreign direct investment in Africa. But intra-Africa trade is only about 12% and…

Well, again, 12% measured how? Which statistics?

That’s coming from your institution.

The majority of the intra-Africa trade is informal. Everybody knows that. You just go to any important border crossing. See what is going on there and you know that 80% of the transactions are informal. This is the border post, and what about those that don’t even go through the border post?

So you believe that intra-Africa trade is more than 12%?

I think it’s officially 12%. But this has to be qualified with two footnotes: firstly, it doesn’t include the informal transactions, and secondly, the statistics are old. This is the reality. But there is no doubt whatsoever that it’s way below what it should be.

The Continental Free Trade Area by 2017—is that expected to help intra-Africa trade?

It’s a political tag. For me it expresses ambition. In these days, any expression of ambition on the part of African leaders has to be taken as a good sign of self-confidence. But technically, it’s very difficult.

Currently, China is Africa’s biggest trading partner. Many believe the Chinese are taking more than they are investing.

The African Union has taken a decision. They have put a brake on new partnerships and called for a review of the existing partnerships. When I talk about China’s relations, I like to throw one number which tells the story: the totality of Chinese investment in Africa is 5% of Chinese investment in the world.

That’s quite small.

It’s very small; but we make a big fuss of it. If you compare the last 10 years—the increase in Chinese investments in Africa with Chinese investments in Latin America, Asia, Europe, even in the US—which one comes last? Africa. So we need to stop the easygoing bashing. The Chinese economy is occupying a much different size in the world economy and Africa is part of that trend.

Since your appointment last year as ECA executive secretary you have started to implement reforms. What’s your goal?

I would put it in simple terms. We are not going to make a difference if we don’t really become specialized on the knowledge of Africa’s economic activities. That means huge emphasis on statistics; that means being able to produce best country profiles in the world on the African economies; that means being aware of impact. This leads to specialization. Different parts of ECA are becoming specialized.

How do the statistics you generate impact individual country economies?

Huge. Because you can’t do planning, which is a priority for Africa in general, without good statistics. We are saying statistics can improve in Africa. We are pulling all UN agencies that have statistical responsibilities into a big Africa initiative of UN support for African statistics. But in order for us to do that, we have to be seen as the real leader on statistics. Therefore we have to have the capacity that is beyond dispute.

Finally, what is your vision for the African economy?

I have no doubt that Africa will emerge. If we use that expression emerging economies, Africa will be a strong, emerging economy. I have no doubt that by the year 2040 most African countries will be middle income and we will have the largest work force of any continent, and the youngest.

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Common Currency By January 2015

08 Thursday Aug 2013

Posted by theinvesmentman in ACCRA, Africa, African Development Bank, Bank of Ghana, banks, Business, Currency, Get rich quick, Ghana, investment, Uncategorized, West Africa

≈ 2 Comments

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ACCRA, Africa, African Development Bank, Bank of Ghana, Central bank, Economic Community of West African States, ghana, West Africa

Reflex Eco Group – Ghana news

by Samuel Boadi (Local journalist)

Central Bank Governors in the ECOWAS sub-region have announced that they would introduce a common currency for member countries by January 1, 2015.

Dr Kofi Wampah, Governor of the Bank of Ghana, who delivered a speech at the opening of the meeting in Accra yesterday, said for over 15 years, countries in ECOWAS have chosen the path of monetary cooperation.

He said commendable efforts were being made by member countries to achieve the requisite macroeconomic stability despite the difficult international economic environment.

He admitted that pursuing the integration agenda would be challenging.

“Fellow Governors since 2007, the world has experienced various forms of economic crises which have mutated from financial crises, to sovereign debt crisis and a general downward spiral that is undeniably affecting each and every economy, big or small.

“Africa has fortunately been affected to a less extent and has remained one of the rapidly growing regions of the world. This has been achieved through a blend of good policy actions and well-structured and sequenced market reforms undertaken in the past. These have paid off and have provided Africa with some buffers and policy space that have helped to dampen the impact of the crises.”

Unfortunately, he said, uncertainty continues to weigh heavily on the outlook of monetary integration as downside risks increase as a result of the global economic crises.

“For us in Ghana, the recovery in the US economy for example, which should normally be good news, is rather impacting negatively on us; with the worsening of the world market price of gold, one of our main foreign exchange earners.”

At the 48th annual meetings of the African Development Bank held in Marrakech, Morocco in May-June 2013, participants stressed the need to expedite action on the integration process.

They also discussed issues relating to the transformation of West African economies.

During the Dakar 2000 meetings, it was agreed that macroeconomic convergence should precede monetary union, and further conditions were set for phases of monetary union in ECOWAS.

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DEVELOPING AFRICA’S INFRASTRUCTURE: a catalyst for economic growth and transformation

30 Tuesday Jul 2013

Posted by theinvesmentman in Africa, Get rich quick, Ghana, investment, Uncategorized

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$93 billion, Africa, African Development Bank, GDP, Gross domestic product, Gross world product, Sub-Saharan Africa, World Bank

Reflex Eco Group – Africa news

by Paul Frimpong (Ghanaian Economist)

Africa has the potential to be the world’s leading destination of investments. Africa has the potential and the capacity to control global trade and attract the largest portion of the world’s investment. But the story has always been thwarted one way or the other and the mystery behind it is very clear like an open book. The challenge has always being the incident of poor infrastructure. Africa has the world’s least sufficient infrastructure capacity and this has made trade in Africa very difficult and expensive.

Despite the world has identifying Africa as the next best destination to do business, there is always the limitation and hindrance due to poor infrastructure. Economic efficiency is not harmonized due to difficulty in accessing Africa’s markets. Therefore, for Africa to realize its full potential, then a fully structured and sustainable infrastructure development is needed. Although the continent has successfully maintained an average growth rate of between 4 % and 6% for the past few years, Africa accounts for 12% of the world’s population but only contributes 1% of global GDP and only 2% of world trade.

Energy, water, sanitation, telecoms and transport have long being identified as a major setback to trade on the continent. Energy supply continues to be Africa’s largest infrastructure challenge with 30 countries experiencing frequent power outages with just over a third of Africa’s population having access to electricity. Poor infrastructure cost each member countries growth to reduce by 2percentage point each year and cut productivity by as much as 40%.

According to the World Bank, about $93 billion is needed annually to be able to fund Africa’s infrastructure for the next 10 years. Which is about 15 percent of the region’s GDP and out this, about $60 billion would go to new projects and the rest would go into the maintenance of the existing ones.

The fast, steady and continuous growth in household demand for infrastructure stemming from Africa’s high population growth and the fast increase in the urbanization rates of these populations contributed to fuel the demand independently of all the changes on the production structure of the economies.

Infrastructure development and management is an aspect in which the efficient developments within a society rely heavily upon, and is the cornerstone for socio-economic development. The availability of infrastructure is of great importance in the realization of sustainable development, which is desperately needed in Africa. Infrastructure development and management has become even more essential for Africa’s economic development and integration now than ever before.

Although investing in infrastructure is paramount, identifying the right type of infrastructure at the right time is just as crucial to the continent’s economic development. Infrastructure plays a pointed, often decisive role in determining the overall productivity and development of a country’s economy, as well as the quality of life of its citizens. Hence, infrastructure is highly essential for sustainable socio-economic development of Africa.

For Africa to achieve the possibility of ensuring efficient trade among countries and for it to run smoothly, viable infrastructures should be in place, such as transportation system and means of communication. Unless viable infrastructure is developed in Africa, Africa will remain underdeveloped and still struggle in the global economy. Infrastructure development supports various kinds of economic activity, including as an input into production and also raises the marginal product of other capital used in the production process. Investments in roads reduce transport costs while ports and other logistics infrastructure reduce the cost associated with trade, all of which improve the competitiveness of firms across the continent.

In fact, high cost of transport, energy and internet access is a major economic growth deflator and is partly associated with Africa’s continued economic marginalization. Therefore, providing the right type of infrastructure at the right time will be an important dimension of Africa’s continued economic development. This requires policymakers to focus on encouraging development of the right type of infrastructure at the right time going forward.

Indeed, the infrastructure challenge facing the African continent is seen manifested in various forms ranging from region to region. According to a development research brief, by the African Development Bank (AfDB), in 2009, than 10% (in 10 countries) and less than 50% (in 33 countries) of roads in Africa are paved, 40% of the population lacks access to safe water; 60% of the population lacks basic sanitation. Only 30% of the rural population in Sub-Saharan Africa has access to all-season roads. Transport costs in Africa are among the highest in the world; only 30% of African population has access to electricity; Africa has the lowest telephone penetration – 14% (the world average is 52%). Africa has the lowest Internet penetration – 3% (the world average is 14%).

There are several plausible reasons why infrastructure investments in Africa are low;

First, some infrastructure investments have the characteristics of public goods (non-exhaustive and non-exclusive in consumption) which give the private sector very little incentive to invest. Furthermore, private sector participation may be limited by the lack of stable long-term finance, high sector-specific risk as well as high macro-risk arising from political instability and poor governance. In addition, fiscal constraints may limit the ability of the public sector to provide infrastructure investment.

Other factors includes; lack of a national infrastructure development framework in many countries, lack of detailed and reliable data to help determine financing gaps for infrastructure investment, rehabilitation and maintenance; lack of resources for upstream project preparation, and lack of clear national ownership of regional projects, making project preparation more challenging.

Financing infrastructure in Africa over the years has been a challenge as it has not been efficient and sufficient enough to meet the estimated $93million needed annually. This is due to the fact that most countries in Africa raise their finance through their domestic markets through taxation. First the structure of their economies, especially as majority are found in the informal sector makes it difficult to raise the needed amount and this again is coupled with inefficient tax systems.

It is therefore of essence that in order for Africa to be able to finance its infrastructure needs to the fullest, external sources must be identified going forward. In the years past, funds from Africa’s development partners have often been channeled towards human development. The trend has to swing a little bit towards financing infrastructure deficit on the continent.

Africa has prioritized increased investment both in maintenance and in new infrastructure, new regulatory frameworks, and the promotion of public-private partnerships (PPPs). Under the PPP arrangement, there is the need to make the lenders more comfortable, thus, by mitigating risk, transferring and sharing of risks. It is also important to note that, under PPP, there is the risk of political regime change, convertibility of currency, ability to remit funds abroad, security to protect the financing around the assets. In this case, every structure in the proposal must be dealt with to make the lender more comfortable than to tackle it till the end of the project. There is a huge need for companies across the continent to react in the right ways to be able to mitigate some of the risks. One of the means is to develop consortia to have more collaboration work done on all infrastructure projects.

Yet another source of financing is through the raising of funds from the world’s capital market. Bonds can be issued to raise funds to finance infrastructure on the continent. Then again more African Pension Funds should be invested in developing Africa’s infrastructure than, investing in US Treasury Bonds etc.

To release the potential of Africa, there is the need to reduce the cost of doing business across borders and this means major investments in infrastructure, including roads, ports, internal container depots, inland water ways and railways are needed as well as increase in energy production capacity. The strides being made by national governments, regional and continental bodies in transforming Africa to a modern and growth-induced economy will be a positive step for global prosperity.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Paul Frimpong is an Associate Chartered Economic Policy Analyst (ACCE-Global) who writes on the macroeconomy and global affairs. He is also an African Affairs Analyst

Tel: +233 -241 229 548

Email: py.frimpong@yahoo.com

Please kindly send all feedback, queries and comments to py.frimpong@yahoo.com

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  • President John Dramani Mahama Speaks at Forum Forbes Afrique 2013 (sonetco.wordpress.com)
  • Africapitalism: a philosophy for sustainable business in Africa? (guardian.co.uk)
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19/07 Africa Focused News

19 Friday Jul 2013

Posted by theinvesmentman in Africa, African Development Bank, African Economic Outlook, bank of england, banks, Get rich quick, Ghana, investment, Uncategorized

≈ 1 Comment

Tags

Africa, African Development Bank, Board of Directors, ghana, Greater Accra Region, Nigeria, Volta River, Volta River Authority

by Dario Galluccio

Ghana: We are creating economic stability

Vice President Kwesi Amissah-Arthur on Wednesday said the economy was not broke, rather an exceptional fiscal situation last year created challenges.

He said the situation required measures to create stability and to pursue growth-enhancing programs.

The fiscal challenges, he added, were transmitted onto the monetary sector this year (2013), and there was a decline in concessional financing.

At a meeting with the Governing Council of the Private Enterprise Foundation (PEF), in Accra, the Vice President said government was therefore considering the use of tariffs, and leveraging the private sector to team up with government in delivering investment.

He cited the slow rate of investment in maintenance in the power sector at the Volta River Authority (VRA), and called for a change in attitude to tariff adjustment to attain the prospects of the economy.

Nigeria: African Development Bank’s $75 million investment

The Board of Directors of the African Development Bank (AfDB) approved today a US $75 million medium-term line of credit (LoC) to Fidelity Bank Plc to fund selected projects in sectors that are critical to Nigeria’s transformation agenda and economic growth such as infrastructure, manufacturing and Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs).

Fidelity Bank Plc is an universal bank that has been operational since 2001. It has over 200 branches and over two million customers located in the six geopolitical zones of Nigeria. It is thus strategically placed to tap into various sectors and ensure diversification of its client base. As at December 2012, Fidelity had a total shareholders fund amounting to US $1.04 billion. Fidelity is ranked among the top six banks in Nigeria by equity base and eighth in terms of deposits and totals assets.

The AfDB’s LoC will contribute to bridging Fidelity’s financing gap by providing much-needed longer-term liquidity to meet its pipeline demands against the background of a financial market that has hitherto slanted towards short-term liquidity inhibiting access to medium- to long-term lending. This financing will allow Fidelity to better serve and fund its clients, increase the tenors of loans to subprojects and expand its loan portfolio, particularly in the manufacturing and infrastructure sectors. Twenty per cent of the LoC proceeds will be dedicated to SMEs.

Ghana: Job losses of mining sector due to tax hikes and falling gold prices

Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the Ghana Chamber of Mines, Dr. Tony Aubynn, says government’s 5% corporate tax coupled with falling gold prices on the international market is likely to result in significant job losses in the sector.

According to him, it is not only jobs that would be lost, but every aspect of the business operation of mining companies would have to be reviewed to ensure profitability.

Nigeria: Citigroup and Vetiva will manage sale of 3 banks

The Asset Management Company of Nigeria, which holds non-performing assets of troubled banks, said it had named Citigroup (C.N) and Africa-focused investment bank Vetiva Capital to manage the sale of three lenders: Mainstreet, Enterprise Bank and Keystone Bank.

The state organization planned to sell 100 percent of all three

Ghana: Public Private Partnership law expected in November

A Public Private Partnership (PPP) draft Bill is currently going through some amendments to meet the demands of interested parties and secure parliamentary approval by November this year.

The PPP law would give government the legal backing to join hands with private firms to carry out projects in the country, which is in line with government’s policy to partner private businesses to undertake infrastructure projects.

The state currently requires GH¢1.5 billion every year over a 10-year period to meet its infrastructure needs.

The law, moreover, would determine the cost and revenues of PPP projects before they are embarked upon to avoid abrogation of infrastructure projects before they are completed.

South Africa : Avoided Moody’s downgrade

With the South African economy on the rocks and reform efforts stalled, some had predicted Ratings agency Moody’s would issue a downgrade; Moody’s, however, maintained South Africa’s Baa1 sovereign debt rating on Thursday, praising a crimp on public spending and the possibility of a negotiated end to mining sector turmoil.

Moody’s said Africa’s largest economy had shown “renewed commitment to spending restraint” in its last two budget statements, helping reach a government target to steady debt at about 50 percent of output.

Ghana: First Allied Honoured

First Allied, the leading savings & loans company in Ghana, has been honoured for its exemplary performance in financial product innovation and quality service delivery in the micro, small and medium enterprise (SMSE) sector in Ghana.

The company received the International Star for Leadership In Quality Award in Paris on Monday 1 st of July 2013; the impressive ceremony saw 74 companies and institutions from all over the world receiving awards for leadership in quality. It was organized by Business Initiative Directions (BID) of Spain.

The International Star for Leadership In Quality (ISLQ) award is designed to recognize outstanding companies and leaders in the business world, who achieve excellence in quality delivery to their clients based on the QC100 Total Quality Management Model.

Working in a difficult economic environment where access to credit is extremely challenging for micro and small businesses, First Allied was noted to have kept faith with its customers, without diminishing its standards in product quality and service delivery.

The company’s unwavering commitment to alleviating poverty and improving income levels among the poor in Ghana came up for special mention.

Ghana: Rehabilitation works On Adomi Bridge to begin soon

The government of Ghana has secured funding from the Austrian government for the rehabilitation of the Adomi Bridge across the Volta River at Atimpoku in the Asuogyamang District of the Eastern Region.

The 46-year-old bridge links some parts of the Eastern Region, Juapong in the North Tongu District, Ho, Hohoe and the Volta North on the east of the Volta River to the Greater Accra Region and some parts of the Eastern Region on the western part of the River. This was disclosed by Amin Amidu Sulemani, Minister for Roads and Highways yesterday in Parliament in a response to a question by the Ho West MP, Emmanuel Kwasi Bedzarh, on when the Adomi/Senchi Bridge would be closed for rehabilitation works to begin.

Ghana: Graphic pays GH¢600,000 dividend to government

Graphic Communications Group Limited (GCGL) is to pay a dividend of GH¢600,000 to government for the 2012 fiscal year.

The amount, which represents a 20 percent increase over the 2011 figure of GH¢500,000 was recommended by the Board of Directors at the 10th Annual General Meeting of the company held in Accra on Thursday.

Delivering the financial results, the Board Chairman, Doris Yaa Dartey said the company’s net profit after tax increased from GH¢2.4million in 2011 to GH¢7.1million in 2012.

This represented an increase of 195.8 per cent.

Similarly, the company’s turnover increased from GH¢30.2million in 2011 to GH¢41.8million in 2012 representing a 38.4 percent increase.

Shareholder funds also increased from GH¢20.1million in 2011 to GH¢26.6million in 2012, an increase of 32.3percent.

 

 

 

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Ghana’s economy to grow by 8% in 2013-AfDB

31 Friday May 2013

Posted by theinvesmentman in Marrakech

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

AEO, African Development Bank, African Economic Outlook, Appearance Event Ordination, Economic growth, ghana, Marrakech

Reference – Ghana Web

Ghana’s economy may expand at 8% by end of 2013, the African Development Bank (AfDB) said in its latest African Economic Outlook (AEO) published May 27, 2013.

It is also predicting an 8.7% growth of the Ghanaian economy in 2014.

The report estimated that Ghana’s GDP grew at 7.1% in 2012 largely driven by oil revenues, the services sector and the strong export performance of cocoa and gold.

According to the 2013 AEO which was launched at the ongoing AfDB Annual Meetings in Marrakech, Morocco, Ghana’s medium term growth outlook remains positive and this is “thanks to large investments in the extractive industries, public infrastructure and commercial agriculture”.

“Ghana’s medium-term outlook remains healthy, with projected GDP growth of 8.0% (6.5% non-oil) in 2013 and 8.7% (8.9% non-oil) in 2014, well above the average annual growth rate of 6.5% for the period since 2000,” it said.

The report anticipates that investments in the oil and gas sectors, public infrastructure and commercial agriculture will drive the Ghana growth.

Ghana’s 2013 budget presented by Finance Minister Seth Terpker in March this year also set a GDP growth of 8% for the year 2013.

Ghana’s GDP growth slowed from 14.4% in 2011 to 7.1% in 2012 and according to the report, the economic growth peak in 2011 was due to the start-up of oil production in the last quarter of 2010.

It adds that the growth performance in 2012 was achieved despite lower cocoa and oil production.

The AEO indicated that improved macroeconomic management and enduring political stability “have not significantly transformed the structure of Ghana’s economy over time”. It says “Mining and construction have sustained the industrial sector, while manufacturing has been declining as a share of GDP over the past 20 years.”

The AfDB report called on the Ghanaian government to develop new, labour intensive economic sectors such as manufacturing and agro-processing in order to tackle the employment challenge and provide economic opportunities to rural areas. This, it says, “will require coherent public policies to raise agricultural yields, improve the competitiveness of the economy and overcome land tenure issues”.

It stated that the expenditure of Ghana’s oil revenue “will be crucial” to the country’s future economic transformation adding “the increased oil revenue and foreign direct investment (FDI) inflows may result in strong upward pressure on the exchange rate and threaten prospects for industrialization”.

In 2010, Ghana enacted a legal framework for sound management of its oil wealth, and thus far its programme of hedging oil imports and exports has succeeded in maintaining macroeconomic stability.

Although Ghana has been classified as a low middle-income country by the World Bank since 2010, the AEO opined that the country’s development indicators compare poorly with those of most countries in the same category.

It acknowledged that Ghana has made significant progress towards attaining the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs).

“It is likely to attain the MDGs on the eradication of extreme poverty, universal primary education, promotion of gender equality, empowerment of women, and combating HIV/AIDS, malaria and other diseases,” the AEO says.

However, it observed that Ghana continues to be challenged by slow progress on reduction of under-5 mortality, improvement of maternal health and environmental sustainability.

invest  in ghana with http://www.reflexecogroup.com

 

 

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