Indian sets up $200 mn tractor assembly unit in Ghana

Indian-owned West Africa Agro-Tech Company (Waatco), based in Ghana, has invested $200 million in a tractor assembly plant at nearby Nsawam, to produce 500 tractors a year, the company's managing director Akoliya Patel said. The company is already selling India-made Sonalika tractors and farming machines, and is now planning to build agriculture service, as well as training, centres, in farming communities across the country. Patel said the company will also train the youth both in Ghana and the West African region on how to generate opportunities in various fields of technology and services for farmers. He said the service centres were being established to help "guarantee the lifespan of tractors and also reduce the long distances farmers have to travel to seek spare parts and technical supports in some cases." At the plant launch ceremony, Ghanaian Food and Agriculture Minister Fifi Kwettey appealed for investments in the agriculture sector as it employed more than 50 percent of the country's population. "The opening of the Waatco office in Ghana is a clear indication of the growing partnership between Ghana and India," he said. "This is a huge collaboration between the people of Ghana and India which will bring a lot of transformation into the agriculture sector of this country," he added. Apart from engaging in various forms of business, Patel is also a sports philanthropist and has supported the growth of cricket in Ghana. He has single-handedly financed the building of the country's main cricket stadium in the capital. Patel also brought in a Ranji Trophy player, Amoluk Singh, to train Ghana's national side. On why he chose to develop cricket, Patel told IANS that "as a keen cricket fan, l started going out to watch matches and realised that even though the country had budding stars, it lacked proper grounds and players were poorly trained". "So I felt it was important for me to contribute my quota to improve the game," he said. Patel, who is the chief executive of Balaji Gemlust Company, said he came to Ghana to look for opportunities in the country's diamond sector and by 2003, he had become a diamond exporter. "Initially, I invested $1.5 million in the divestment by state-owned Consolidated Diamonds at Akwatia (in Ghana's eastern region)," he said. The investment paid off as the Indian businessman became the biggest diamond exporter for three years. He has also constructed a number of houses on a 2.5-acre plot that he has sold. In addition, he has acquired another 280 acres land at Kuntunse and Adjinkotoku localities near Accra for the construction of more houses.

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Mahama inauguration in Mauritius

     

President John Mahama has inaugurated the Mauritius campus of the African Leadership Academy, a private tertiary institution, founded by a Ghanaian entrepreneur, Fred Swaniker. He was joined at the short inaugural ceremony at the Beau Plan Business Park by the Deputy Prime Minister of Mauritius, Hon. Charles Xavier-Luc Duval. "I willingly accepted to include this inauguration as part of my 3-day visit, in order to encourage Fred to keep up with his chosen line of investment, education across the continent", President Mahama noted. He also encouraged the founder of the African Leadership Academy and other Ghanaian entrepreneurs to identify such business opportunities across the continent and help tackle "Africa’s major challenges". The AL Group already has an Academy in South Africa. It has however chosen to base the headquarters in Mauritius. President Mahama called for transformational education and entrepreneurial training across the African continent to prepare graduates to tackle head-on the challenges of the world. "That is what we need across the developing world. In Ghana, we have intensified skills development as a full educational course through vocational and technical education." "It is only when we begin to challenge our young ones to think and be innovative that we can reduce increasing youth unemployment", he stated.

Kofi Annan , wife visit potatoes farm in the north

Mr Kofi Annan, former Secretary General of the United Nations, and his wife, Mrs Nane Annan, Friday visited a sweet potato trial field at Nyankpala in the Northern Region to observe the progress being made in sweet potatoes production in the country. The field formed part of the orange-fleshed sweet potato project being undertaken by the Savannah Agricultural Research Institute of the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR – SARI), in partnership with the International Potato Center. The visit would enable Mrs Annan to drive international support for the production, marketing and consumption of sweet potatoes in the country to improve nutritional status of children and their mothers to amongst others, prevent stunting in children. Sweet potatoes are a source of vitamin A, which is essential in improving the nutritional status of children. After touring the potato field and attending a durbar of chiefs and farmers at Voggu, near Nyankpala, Mr and Mrs Annan met representatives of some institutions involved in agricultural production, health and nutrition promotion and research in Tamale to learn about their various projects to promote the production of sweet potatoes. The institutions include the Ghana Health Service, Ghana School Feeding Programme, CSIR – SARI, University for Development Studies, Northern Regional Department of Agriculture and the United Nations Children’s Fund, amongst others. Mr Annan said he was impressed by the progress being made to promote the production and consumption of sweet potatoes in the country, stating that, it held tremendous benefits for the citizenry. He said a lot of activities were involved in the value chain of sweet potato production, which could be harnessed as jobs for the people. Mrs Annan said her desire to promote the production, marketing and consumption of sweet potatoes was to amongst others, help to address stunting amongst children whiles ensuring income for the farmers. Alhaji A.B.A Fuseini, Deputy Northern Regional Minister, described the visit by Mr and Mrs Annan as historic, as it would motivate the farmers to do more in the area of sweet potato production in the region. Alhaji Fuseini was full of praise for the initiative by Mrs Annan to promote sweet potatoes, saying that, it would help address issues of nutrition and poverty among the people. Dr Ahmed Yakubu Alhassan Deputy Minister of Food and Agriculture, in-charge of Crops, emphasized the need to improve on food crops to help address hunger and improve nutrition amongst children. Dr Stephen Nutsugah, Director of CSIR – SARI said in the next two years, CSIR – SARI would release two varieties of sweet potato for cultivation by farmers.

Second gold refinery starts operating

Ghana’s quest to add value to its mineral resources was given another boost yesterday with the inauguration of a $7-million gold refinery at Adjiriganor in Accra.

Sahara Royal Gold Refinery Limited has the capacity to refine a minimum of 200 kilos and a maximum of 300 kilos of gold daily.

This brings to two, the number of gold refineries in the country. The first, located at Mataheko in Accra, Asap Vasa Company Limited, has the capacity to refine 100 kilogrammes per day.

The Minister of Lands and Natural Resources, Nii Osah Mills, who cut the tape to open the latest refinery, said although some gold and diamond were processed in the country, there were limited facilities to refine the gold and polish the diamonds.

Last year, Ghana produced a total of 4.4 million ounces of gold. Out of that, the small-scale sector, which is expected to feed Sahara Royal Gold Refinery Limited, produced 1.5 million ounces.

Although Ghana is the second-highest gold-producing country in Africa after South Africa and has attracted a number of multinational companies, the mineral from such companies are not refined but exported mainly to refineries in South Africa and Switzerland.

The country’s two refineries can only refine gold produced by the small-scale sector.

That aside, the licensed gold and diamond buyers who buy these minerals also export them to other countries without value addition.

Nii Osah attributed the situation to the difference in the characteristics of the minerals and the technology required for processing them to meet international standards.

He noted that the country had lost out on by-products of gold refining, saying that “minerals have their associates. For example, gold is associated with silver and when gold is refined the amount of silver recovered is not known to be a product of Ghana”.

Nii Osah said given the volatile nature of prices of the mineral on the international market, the raw export of gold meant that whenever prices dipped, the shock was felt in the Ghanaian economy.

He said if all minerals mined in Ghana were processed locally and value added to them before export, more jobs would be created and ultimately more revenue would accrue to the state.

He said the establishment of the new refinery had proven that it was economically viable to set up a gold refinery in the country.

While urging management of the company to employ highly skilled people and motivate them to achieve high standards, Nii Osah also called on them to promptly meet their financial obligations to the state towards socio-economic development.

The Public Relations Officer of the company, Mr Chris Mensah, said Sahara Royal Gold Refinery Limited had invested in cutting-edge technology to ensure that products from the refinery met international standards.

“We deem this as the beginning of Sahara Royal Gold Refinery’s contribution to the establishment of Ghana as a reputable gold refinery centre in West Africa,” he said.

He said apart from the refinery, the company’s subsidiary—Prime Star Limited— was currently prospecting for gold at Atiwa in the Eastern Region.

Additionally, he said the company was looking at entering the jewellery market with its own products while at the same time ensuring that the country found value in the by-product of gold production which included silver.

Ghana, Togo sign MoU on water supply project

 Ghana and Togo have signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with the African Development Bank (AfDB) to construct a Sogakope-Lome trans boundary water supply project. The MoU was signed by Alhaji Ziblim Yakubu, Chief Director of the Ministry of Water Resources, Works and Housing (MWRWH), Ghana and Mr Affo Boni Adjama, Manager of Potable Water Supply, Ministry of Agriculture, Animal Husbandry and Hydraulic of Togo. Mr Daniel Verdeil, Principal Water Resource Management Engineer of the African Development Bank and Mr Frederick Christian Lokko, acting Managing Director of the Ghana Water Company Limited also signed on behalf of their companies. Mr Sampson Ahi, Deputy Minister of MWRWH, Ghana, said the government would make sure the project was implemented and executed because of the nation’s relationship with Togo. “We will work with the Ministry of Finance to ensure that what is necessary to make the project successful is put in place," he said. The scope of the estimated €2 million project will include; construction of new intake on the Volta River at Sogakope; construction of a 40-70mgd treatment plant; construction of transmission pipelines to Lome-Togo (reviewed later to Segbe) and distribution of pipelines to the riparian villages and communities within the project area. There will be construction of Service Reservoirs and Booster Stations at many areas, including Agbozume, Tokor, Gamadzra Anyako, Klikor, Avoeme, Sogakope, Akatsi, Aflao, and Abor. Funding for the current phase of the project (project preparation phase) will be provided by the AfDB under its African Water Facility and the African Legal Support Facility. Alhaji Yakubu said the idea of supplying potable water to Lome, the Capital of Togo, from Sogakope in the Volta Region was conceived in the early 1970’s when feasibility studies were prepared for water supply to the towns along the coast in the south east of Ghana. He explained that Messrs. Lemna Incorporation of Minneapolis, USA, was selected in 2003 out of four US firms which submitted proposals, to undertake the feasibility study and preliminary design of the project. “To move the project into works implementation phase, there is the need for an update of the Lemna Report which was completed in 2005. The African Development Bank has agreed to finance the update of the feasibility and Environmental studies,” he said.

Big data, big opportunity for Ghana - IBM boss

Ghana is in a unique position to establish itself as a regional hub for big data and analytics management due to its emerging business technology markets and fast-growing culture for innovation, says IBM Ghana. “The onus is now on policy and decision makers in education, government and business to foster a new generation of talent with the technical expertise and disruptive ideas needed to make the most of the Big Data challenge,” Country General Manager for IBM Ghana, Ms Angela Kyerematen-Jimoh said. She said in a statement that investment in advanced technology training and education would kick-start the next wave of innovation and growth in Africa’s business ecosystem of which Ghana is no exception. “Big Data has become big business internationally and the Ghanaian business community must partner with the authorities to make sure that Ghana becomes a leading player in the global Big Data revolution,” she said. According to Gartner, a research firm, Big Data demand would drive more than 4.4 million jobs globally by 2015 – only one third of which will be filled. That represents a huge market gap which the next generation of African professionals is well placed to fill. A recent study conducted by the IBM Institute for Business Value (IBV), high-performing Chief Marketing Officers (CMOs) are integrating internal and external data to garner deep insights that, in turn, provide them with a much deeper understanding of their customers. The study reveals that 94 per cent of CMOs believe advanced analytics would play a significant role in helping them reach their goals. However, an increased number of CMOs say their organisations are underprepared to capitalize on the data explosion – 82 per cent compared to 71 per cent three years before. “We may currently be experiencing economic difficulties, but this is not unique to Ghana. “The crucial question to ask is, what sort of investment are we currently making to prepare our economy and society for the future?” Kyerematen-Jimoh queried. Technology experts across Africa note that the internet, mobile telephony and the proliferation of smart devices would further fuel the growth of the data industry on the continent. IBM’s notes that mobile, social and the Internet of things are each creating exponentially growing waves of data, as cloud transforms the underlying agility and economics. Together with the growth of more traditional transactional data streams these trends are fueling Big Data and re-shaping the dynamics of value creation. A big data revolution in Ghana would, therefore, require immediate investment in three core pillars, Kyerematen-Jimoh said. She said “policymakers must cultivate technical skills in big data and analytics by working with tertiary and vocational institutions, developing courses and degrees to train a workforce of professionals whose expertise can be applied not just in Africa, but to projects around the world.” She said “business and government must invest in Ghana’s emerging start-up ecosystems which increasingly seek to disrupt existing entities and market structures by using data as a new ‘natural resource’.” She advocated the need for the education sector to focus on how big data to improve research and development, with a view to coming up with discoveries that can enrich economic, environmental and quality-of-life outcomes not just around the country or the African continent but all over the world. In other parts of the world, she said, researchers are using Big Data for everything from predicting outbreaks of infectious diseases to better understanding what conditions create environmental catastrophes like hurricanes and cyclones. Algeria’s Université Dr Yahia Fares Medea has turned to IBM to deliver a high-performance computing solution that would perform computations 700 times faster than before. She said by investing in that sort of big data research, Africa’s research institutions could establish themselves as thought leaders in academia, generate insights with vast potential to boost economic and quality-of-life outcomes for both their countries and the world. Kyerematen-Jimoh said IBM was poised to deepen its ongoing capacity development programmes with the University of Ghana in Legon and expand the support to other tertiary institutions across the country. Two-thirds of IBM Research’s work is now devoted to data, analytics and cognitive computing.