Tourism can solve economic situation – Tetteh

Akosombo Textiles Limited wins Gold Award

The Deputy Manager in charge of Marketing at the Akosombo Textiles Limited (ATL), Mr Samuel Hemans-Arday (middle), receiving the Gold Award for the export of cotton fabrics-2013 from Mr Gideon Quarcoo (left), Chief Executive Officer of the Ghana Export Promotion Authority (GEPA).This was at the 24th National Awards for Export Achievement, 2013 event, which took place at the State House in Accra recently. The person looking on is Mr John Kwesi Amoah, Assistant Manager, Brand Protection, also of ATL.Mr Hemans-Arday commended the management, office staff and factory workers of ATL for their hard work which had seen it win the Gold Award once again in spite of the many difficulties that impacted on the business. He expressed worry over the continued copying and which are eventually put on. - See more at: http://graphic.com.gh/business/business-news/34518-akosombo-textiles-limited-wins-gold-award.html#sthash.Pg3A6e7O.dpuf

Gov’t nears 5-yr tourism development plan

The Minister of Tourism, Culture and Creative Arts, Elizabeth Ofosu Adjare has said that the Ministry was close to unveiling a five-year development plan, which could be the blueprint to transform the sector in the medium term.She said the plan has been formulated to incorporate various strategic actions to transform the tourism industry to be one of the leading sectors of the economy.“All major stakeholders of the industry, particularly, the tourism private sector, will jointly own the plan and drive it,” she added.Mrs. Agyare said this when he joined patrons and staff of Sunlodge Hotel in Tesano, Accra to celebrate the 40th anniversary of the establishment of the hotel.Currently, there are concerns that Ghana is slowly ceding its tourism market to neighbours due to high Visa fees and hotel rates.Poor infrastructure, low investment and lack of coordination among various stakeholders have also conspired to throttle development of the sector, seen as an important source of foreign exchange revenues.Nonetheless, the World Tourism & Travel Council (WTTC) has predicted Ghana’s tourism sector to grow by 9.7 per cent this year, more than the forecasted national economic growth of 7.1%.The World Tourism Council, which pegged the tourism industry growth at 6.7% last year is confident the industry will grow by an average of 4.5 per cent in the next decade on the back of a strong government’s backed development programme.Mrs. Agyare urged operators in the tourism industry in the country to collect and pay the tourism development levy toward the Tourism Development Fund, which aims at providing funding for tourism and tourism-related projects.The Minister commended the management of Sunlodge for their hard work in developing and maintaining an indigenous facility as well as their contribution to the development and growth of the tourism and hospitality industry in Ghana.“From a humble beginning of eight rooms to 52 rooms, seven conference facilities, and well-appointed restaurant and swimming pool is no mean achievement. This achievement can be made only through vision, foresight, passion, commitment, dedication, staff motivation and recognition and excellent relations with clients as well as quality service delivery - Sunlodge hotel has indeed made it,” she said.

Ghana-Togo railway line cements warm relations – Mahama

President John Mahama has said a 23-km railway line connecting Ghana to Togo brings the two neighbours closer together than ever.President Mahama and his Togolese counterpart Faure Gnassingbé jointly inaugurated the railway line Thursday.The line connects the Port of Togo and Diamond Cement Ghana at Aflao.The project was jointly funded by WACEM Group of Togo and Diamond Cement Ghana at a cost of $8 million.The railway line, constructed by Togo-Rail with technical support from Ghana railway development authority, will facilitate the transportation of raw materials from the Togo port to the cement factory.Its inauguration ended the 3-day state visit of the Togolese president to Ghana.Inaugurating the project, President Mahama said: “This truly represents a huge milestone in the development of the warm cordial and brotherly relations between our two countries.”“I’m very glad to say that relations between our two countries dating back many decades and centuries have been raised to a whole higher level over the past few days,” the President said.He added: “Our two people are the same. We share the same names. We share the same culture, we eat the same foods. We speak the same language. Indeed we dance the same…We have the same music, and we look the same. You can’t tell a difference between a Ghanaian and a Togolese. And so it means that we are one and the same people that is why the borderline between us is really artificial.”

Gov't considers joint venture arrangement to revive TOR

Government is considering a joint venture arrangement with Petro Saudi to revive the ailing Tema Oil Refinery.The refinery’s Crude Distillation Unit (CDU) plant was shutdown in 2011 due to TOR’s inability to obtain letters of credit (LCs) from its bankers to purchase crude oil for production, Deputy Energy Minister, John Jinapor told Parliament on Thursday.Starr FM’s Parliamentary correspondent, Kobby Gomez reported that Jinapor told Parliamentarians Thursday, that the joint venture arrangement with Petro Saudi would fix the inefficiencies and ensure consistent supply of Crude oil.Junior staff of the Tema Oil Refinery, in July this year appealed to President John Mahama to save the refinery from collapse.According to them, the refinery is bleeding with a daily loss of GH?350,000 due to the shutdown.

British Envoy pledges support for smallholder farmers

Volta Authority , Africas first man made gate way to the world

Tullow to spend US$5 billion on TEN projects

The country's second biggest oil field, Tweneboa Eneryra, Ntome would attract about a half

Mahama, Togo Prez to commission railway project

Ghana and neighbouring Togo are due to commence two major projects in the water and transport sectors that will enhance development partnership between the two countries.The President of the Republic of Togo, Faure Essozimna Gnassingbé, is on a three-day State visit to Ghana. The visit is expected to further enhance friendly ties between Ghana and Togo.President Faure Nyansingbe and his Ghanaian counterpart John Mahama will commission a railway project that will operate from Aflao in the Volta Region into Togo to serve the domestic cement industry there.The two presidents will also sign a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on Ghana’s supply of potable water from the Volta River to Togo.Presidential spokesperson, Ben Dotse Marlor told Citi News the two projects will also benefit Ghanaians living in the surrounding communities.He said, “the railway project is largely Togolese led and it is to move the goods from the cement factory which is next door to Lome basically in Aflao, but leading into Togo. Bags of cement will be transported easily from the factory into the port and into the country for distribution to other areas.”On the water project, Ben Marlor said, “if you look at the part of the Volta that ends up into the sea at Ada, there is a memorandum of understanding being considered whereby that water will be processed and piped from that part of our country into the Togolese capital Lome.”“The extra advantage for us as Ghanaians is that along the way, from the treatment plant going into Togo, many major towns and villages on the way will also be served by this treated water,” he added.Faure Gnassingbe is in Ghana for a three-day working visit which is expected to further develop, enhance and consolidate the friendly and brotherly relations existing between Ghana and Togo, its people and the two leaders.The bilateral discussions between the two sides will focus on a joint water project that will serve Ghana and Togo, Energy, Security and Health.The two presidents on November 3, 2014, opened a joint Ghana-Togo border post at Noefe in the Volta Region.The project is aimed at reducing the frustrations citizens go through at the borders and to facilitate trade between member states.

Big deal for insures ,,, Ghana gas insured for US $801million

Four local insurance companies have successfully secured a deal to underwrite the Ghana Gas infrastructure project at Atuabo to the tune of about US$801million, B&FT has gathered.The deal, which is one of the biggest to be underwritten locally, is a major milestone toward ensuring local content participation in the emerging oil and gas sector.Persons familiar with the deal told B&FT it was made possible through a consortium of insurers that include SIC, GLICO, Phoenix Insurance and Vanguard Assurance, and will cover the production phase of the biggest gas project in the country which is expected to start early next year.Information available indicates that SIC will assume 50 percent of the risks cover while GLICO will take up 30 percent, with Phoenix Insurance and Vanguard Assurance acquiring 10 percent each.SIC is not new to the Ghana Gas project, as it provided insurance cover for the US$1billion project during the construction phase.However, some insurance practitioners are curious at the non-participation in the deal by three of the top-five biggest insurance companies in the country who together boast an asset base of over GH?178million.Nonetheless, the local risk cover for the Ghana Gas project is seen as a way to ensure that activities of the burgeoning oil and sector are consistent with provisions in the local content and insurance laws.The deal also negates concerns that risks-cover in the petroleum industry is beyond the capacity of domestic insurance companies.Ghana currently has a gas deposit of about 200 billion standard cubic feet offshore the Jubilee Field, which the country wants to utilise as a source of cheap fuel to power its thermal plants to generate electricity.The Energy and Petroleum Minister, Emmanuel Kofi Buah, argues that when in full production the Atuabo Gas Processing Plant is expected to save the nation over US$500million a year from importing light crude to power the thermal plants, as gas costs barely half the price of light crude oil.Officials say intake of raw gas from the Jubilee Field will be done as a gradual process, starting from 30 million standard cubic feet per day for the first month, 60 million standard cubic feet for the second month, 90 million standard cubic feet for the third month, and finally 120 million standard cubic feet for the fourth month.The processing plant can process all the 150 million standard cubic feet of gas per day capacity of the Jubilee Field partners.Ghana started commercial production of oil almost four years ago, opening up a several billion dollar industry. Government last year enacted the Petroleum (Local Content and Local Participation) Regulations, 2013, in a bid to ensure that the country benefits from more than just fiscal receipts of oil revenue by enhancing participation for local firms in the sector.According to the Petroleum Local Content and Local Participation Regulations, the provisions are meant to among other things promote maximisation of value-addition and job-creation in the petroleum sector through the use of local expertise, goods and services.The regulations also provide that entities in the petroleum sector must submit their local content plans regarding the use of local goods and services, and the transfer of advanced technology and skills, to the Ghana National Petroleum Corporation (GNPC) or the Petroleum Commission and Ghanaians.

Gov't has great plans for industrialization

The Minister of Trade and Industry, Mr. Ekwow Spio-Garbrah, has said government has great plans to improve the country’s level of industrialisation and become a manufacturing hub for West Africa.Addressing members of the TRAQUE Steering Committee at a meeting in Accra, he said the country's political stability, human capital and diverse natural resources give it many competitive advantages.Manufacturing is integral to economic development. Scarcely any country in the world has developed without passing through this, so experts say there is a need for Ghana to embark on structural change for industrial development.The benefits of industrial transformation are several, including rapid productivity growth, stable, well-paid jobs, the fostering of innovation, and facilitation of trade integration through exports. But the country’s manufacturing data are dismal.However, the country's dream of boosting the manufacturing sector is faced with several challenges; and according to the Trade and Industry minister, one of such challenges is to ensure the highest quality in standards of manufactured products."At the same time we must also raise strong objections to those countries which export sub-standard goods to Ghana -- including foods, drugs and other industrial inputs that have passed their sell-by date and are not fit for consumption or utilisation."As Ghana's quality and standards institutions become more strengthened, we hope that they will pay attention not only to the standards of products made in Ghana and which may be exported elsewhere, but also to the poor quality standards of some products that should not be imported and sold in Ghana," he said.He said government is very much aware that the application of standards and meeting technical requirements improves the attractiveness of manufactured products and helps to open up trade to all countries in the world.This is because attaining international standards help to provide the technical basis on which trade agreements between countries can be executed, whether at the regional or international level.He said it is in this context that government, via the Trade &Industry ministry in collaboration with the European Commission, decided to review Ghana's Quality Infrastructure through the TRAQUE Programme so the nation attains a national quality infrastructure that is functioning efficiency in line with international best practice.The TRAQUE Programme aims at offering continued support to the Ministry of Trade and Industry in private sector development, trade facilitation and capacity building -- with special attention to capacity issues, industrial strategy and post-Economic Partnership Agreement implementation support among others.

Ghana signs $6 billion oil exploration deal with Italy's Eni

The government of Ghana and Eni Exploration have sealed a $6 billion deal to allow the Italy firm start oil and gas exploration at the Offshore Cape Three Points block in the Western region.Under the deal, Eni will also deploy a third floating production storage and offloading (FPSO) vessel that will help boost oil production in the West African country.According to a statement from the Energy Ministry, the deal is subject to parliamentary approval and the block should start producing oil and gas by mid-2017.The government negotiating team was made up of the ministers of Energy and Petroleum, Finance, and the Ghana National Petroleum Corporation.Both ministers expressed their relief at the conclusion of the negotiations with ENI/Vitol which has lasted over a year, noting that it puts Ghana on the path to energy security as there will be more gas to fuel generating plants.“This negotiation has thought Ghana a lesson of the urgent need to strengthen the balance sheet of the country’s energy institution to enable them borrow on the international market. It will also reduce the investment risk that has been a major hurdle in this negotiation,” the statement said.The negotiations put Ghana on the path of addressing one of the critical constraints to power generation which is clean fuel source.This project promises to deliver up to 170 million cubic feet of gas per day for the next two years.The start of commercial gas production will also require the construction of a 3rd FPSO unit to produce at maximum 170 million cubic feet of gas in addition to the 120 million cubic feet from the Jubilee Fields and 50 million cubic feet from the Tweneboah Enyeara and Ntomme (TEN) projects.ENI and Vitol will focus on domestic gas markets where they are expected to play prominent role. ENI has been operating in Ghana since 2009 and currently operates two exploration-offshore blocks: OCTP and Keta.Ghana produces around 100,000 barrels per day from the offshore Jubilee field

ACEP welcome GNPC GNGC merger

Energy think-tank, the African Centre for Energy Policy (ACEP) has welcomed the announced takeover of the Ghana National Gas Company by the Ghana National Petroleum Corporation (GNPC).According to Finance Minister Seth Terkper, the move is expected to enhance a more integrated management and continued financing of projects in the oil and gas sector.Speaking to Citi Business news, Director of Research and Evidence at ACEP, John Peter Amewu said a separate and independent gas company should not have been established in the first place.“Within the framework of our exploration and production law, the ownership of the gas title rest solely within the structure of the GNPC.”According to John Peter Amewu, “creating another structure which is the Ghana National Gas Company is just not cost-effective and so government’s decision to now let Ghana Gas come under GNPC is a good direction.”To buttress his point, the ACEP Director of Research said “because GNPC has already, over the period, acquired the technical expertise of similar products. Most of the staff that commenced operations of Ghana Gas were from GNPC and so the rationale for coming out with Ghana Gas was uncalled for”.John Peter Amewu added that “so I think that it is good news and this will put GNPC in a good strategic direction. This will also broaden its capitalisation because some of the gas revenue will soon be coming and GNPC needs to raise capital”“And so some of these can be used as security for GNPC to establish itself as a major player in the industry.”

Maersk announce excess of$1billion expansion

Port operator APM Terminals, a unit of shipping and oil conglomerate A.P. Moller-Maersk, said on Thursday it had signed a memorandum of understanding with the government of Ghana to expand its Tema Port.APM Terminals said the agreement included a "private investment" in excess of $1 billion by Meridian Port Services of which APM Terminals controls 35 percent."Both in the short- and long-term view we see Ghana as a country with great potential," Peder Søndergaard head of Africa and Middle East activities in APM Terminals told Reuters.Meridian Port Services (MPS) is a joint venture between APM Terminals, Bolloré Africa Logistics and the Ghana Ports and Harbours Authority.MPS handles approximately 80 percent of all containers in Tema Port which has a container volume of 670,000 twenty-foot equivalent (TEU) unit in 2013.The expansion plans include the development of four deep water berths and an access channel able to accommodate larger vessels now entering the West African. A six-lane highway will also be constructed between the port at Tema and Accra.70 percent of Ghana's national trade and traffic currently goes through Tema Port.The expansion will increase the port’s annual container throughput capacity to 3.5 million TEU.APM Terminal is the largest port and terminal operator in Africa. Globally The Hague-based company is operating 64 container terminals.