Future of Komenda sugar factory very bright - Omane Boamah

Communication minister Dr. Edward Omane Boamah says the economic prospects of the Komenda Sugar Factory are very bright in spite of fears that the revamped factory faces an uncertain future. He explained that government has addressed an important concern about the consistent supply of raw material. The factory will buy 60% of the sugarcane it needs from farmers within the catchment area and 40% will be produced and supplied by the company’s own farm. The usual pomp accompanied the President’s commissioning of the Komenda Sugar Factory in the Central region Monday. He called the revamping a resurrection of the vision of Ghana’s first president Dr. Kwame Nkrumah. He built the factory in the 1960s as part of an industrialization plan to create a self-reliant economy. But the facility struggled to operate in the 1980s, a period of austerity and economic decline. It finally collapsed. More than 20 years later, the facility has began processing sugarcane into exportable products and by-products. But there is cautious optimism surrounding the economic breakthrough. Questions are been asked if it will not go the way of the Pwalugu Tomato Factory, now the Northern Star Tomato Processing Factory. The tomato factory, another built by Dr. Kwame Nkrumah in the 1960s was revamped in 2006 and later in 2009. But it is still struggling to stay afloat. Omane Boamah explained that the factory that could soon erase the import of 375,000 metric tonnes of sugar is worth any operation challenge it may face. "Apple, Samsung, Huawei and several multinational companies face challenges," he said. “When you translate challenges to mean permanent problems then, you do not have the attitude and mindset to transform that national asset”, he said. He pointed out that Ghanaian management of the Ghana Airport Company has proved to be a success story. The company is funding the building of an aerodrome

Ghana is the safest investment destination - Ambassador Joseph Henry Smith

Peace and stability, the two most important essentials every investor look out for is what Ghana is offering investors who are contemplating investing in Africa; His Excellency, Lt. Gen. Joseph Henry Smith, Ghana’s Ambassador to the United States assured Business Executives and Investors in New York on Saturday, May 21, 2016.

Ambassador Smith was speaking at a two-day summit “Bridge to Africa Economic Summit” in New York to explore Investment Avenues in Africa and bring participants up to speed with the latest trends in various industries and markets on the continent.

The summit was attended by high-profile experts and business leaders from Africa and U.S.

The event brought together investors, trade experts, entrepreneurs, manufacturers and industrialists (Small and Medium Scale) to network, market their businesses and brainstorm on the way forward.

Presentations were made by His Excellency, Lt. Gen. Joseph Henry Smith, Ghana’s Ambassador to US, Congressman Eliot Engel, Ranking member of on the House Foreign Affairs Committee, Mr. Timothy H. Marshall, President/CEO of JBRC, INC, Ms. Ruth Hassell-Thompson, New York State Senate and Mayor Richard Thomas, City of Mount Vernon, New York.

Ghana, Ambassador Smith said, for 25 years, has been stable and peaceful after seven uninterrupted elections since 1992, hence the international community’s recognition that the country is a model of democracy on the African continent.

He said the country is endowed with abundant natural resources which continue to attract the attention of global business magnates into all sectors of the Ghanaian economy.

He named a few as Gas and oil, hydropower, fruit and vegetable farming, food processing which including fish canning, production of agro chemicals, pharmaceuticals and IT.

Ambassador Smith said the government’s on-going privatization initiatives have also opened up a number of sectors for new business partnerships and investment, notably the Banking, Finance, Insurance and Tele-communication sectors.

On energy sufficiency, he said the government is determined to make Ghana the industrial hub of the West African sub-region and hinted that Ghana would be adding 5,000 megawatts to its power distribution by the end of 2017.

This, he said, would create a sub-region self-sufficient with energy and also create a political climate considered very vital for any investor looking for investment destination in Ghana.

University of Ghana, others win research grant on inclusive finance

The University of Ghana is part of a consortium that has won a £2,017,452 (approx. $2.93 million) research grant in inclusive finance. The project is funded under the DFID-ESRC (Department for International Development and Education Systems Research Programme) Growth Research programme. The project is led by Professor Victor Murinde at the University of Birmingham and the other collaborating institutions include SOAS University of London, Institute of Development Studies at the University of Sussex, Loughborough University, the Overseas Development Institute, the University of Nottingham, the University of Groningen, Netherlands, Université Laval in Québec, Canada and Columbia in the US, and the African Economic Research Consortium (AERC).

The research will be facilitated in Ghana by the dean of the University of Ghana Business School (UGBS), Professor Joshua Yindenaba Abor and Dr Mohammed Amidu of the Business School. It is well known that financial institutions and markets foster the flow of information about resource availability, especially the required financial resources for supporting economic growth. However, it is much less clear how financial development can be inclusive – some households and enterprises are unable to fully participate in the financial sector; globally, some countries may not access international capital markets. While new technology, such as mobile money transfer systems, has strengthened financial inclusion, gaps in access to finance as well as gaps in the development of financial systems seem to be getting wider following the 2007-09 global financial crisis. Overall, the current consensus is that there is an urgent need for research on inclusive finance and its potential contribution to lifting low-income countries to the level of their medium income peers. The research project focuses on delivering inclusive financial development, with a focus on low-income countries in Africa. Professor Victor Murinde, the Principal Investigator, said “the project will: deliver rigorous, high quality research to support financial inclusion policies; develop innovative financial products in collaboration with households, banks, and the private sector; involve collaborative research to enhance methodologies and data for the promotion of inclusive finance; and engage with policy-makers to provide research-based advice on financial inclusion in Africa”. He also mentioned, “this research is vital for embedding financial inclusion in African economies, and aims to have a significant impact on society as a whole”. The research, to be delivered over a four-year period (2016-2020), addresses three core questions: (i) How can institutional frameworks support inclusive financial development? (ii) What role do private and public capital inflows play in domestic financial inclusion in Africa? (iii) How can private and public institutions in Africa be a catalyst and channel for technological diffusion and financial inclusion? The research project will be launched in conjunction with the AERC Biannual Research Workshop, for dialogue and input from stakeholders, including senior policy officials, private sector actors, and civil society,in Nairobi on Monday, May 30, 2016.

700,000 solar projects to reduce Ghana’s power challenges.

Ghana is to receive some 100 mega watts of power in 2017 to help ease the power challenges confronting the country. It follows the award of a $704,815 grant by the U.S. Trade and Development Agency (USTDA) to Ghanaian solar power developer, Home Energy Africa Limited. The grant will also offer technical assistance for the generation of the 100-megawatt solar power to feed the national grid. The photovoltaic (PV) project which is near financial closure is situated in the village of Nyimbale-Sankana, in the Upper West Region of Ghana. USTDA’s partnership with Home Energy Africa also falls in line with the goals of Power Africa, a U.S. government-led initiative to increase electricity access across sub-Saharan Africa. Speaking at the signing ceremony, the US Ambassador to Ghana, Robert P. Jackson cited the inadequate electric power supply as one of Ghana’s paramount constraints to sustainable economic growth. “Businesses and entrepreneurs need electricity to function, so they can contribute to the broad-based economic growth and development that will lift millions out of poverty. That’s why we have made increasing access to power one of the top priorities for our bilateral relationship,” Ambassador added, “Presently, Ghana has 2,450 megawatts of installed generation capacity. The government of Ghana aspires to double that capacity to 5,000 megawatts this year, including 10 percent from renewable sources. Through programmes such as Power Africa, the Partnership for Growth, and the Millennium Challenge Corporation, we’re cooperating with government, the private sector and others to make Ghana’s future brighter.” The CEO of Home Energy Africa Charles Sena Ayenu told Citi Business News the project when completed in 2017 is expected to create over 200 permanent jobs for the youth. “This is a 100 mega watts power project and based on our estimate today we are looking at generating about 200 jobs for this particular project. We are mainly looking at hiring people from those living in the community to work on the site. It will be value addition for the community as the youth will be employed and be part of the project which will help ease the power challenges in the country at the moment.” The project will also meet Ghana’s goals for clean and sustainable energy, and provide electricity to at least 80,000 average homes in Ghana, the company is looking at debt and equity financing for the $150 million solar project. Charles Sena Ayenu further noted that the company has already secured 30 per cent equity from a French company, the Erin Group. The other 70 per cent it says it expects to raise from stock. Home Energy Africa has selected GreenMax Capital Advisors (Brooklyn, N.Y.) to carry out the technical assistance. This will include preparation for power purchase agreement negotiations, services contracts and financing arrangements. Implementation of the project will support the Government of Ghana in achieving its target of 5,000 MW of installed generation, including 10 percent from renewable sources.

Ghana set to become the Petroleum hub In W/A :-Mahama

President John Dramani Mahama says everything is set for Ghana to become the hub of petroleum in the West Africa sub-region.

According to him, considering the current operation and storage capacity of the Bulk Oil Storage and Transportation Company Limited (BOST) as well as the revamped Tema Oil Refinery (TOR), nothing can stop the country from exporting oil to its neighbors.

President Mahama made this comment when he addressed an estimated one thousand people comprised of government officials, students and faculty heads of the University of Cape Coast in the school on the theme: Rising opportunities, entrepreneurship, and a changing Ghana.

BOST’s contract with neighboring Cote D’Ivoire in which the Ghanaian company is expected to supply about 35, 000 of petroleum products is a good news, he said.

This he explained has helped to place the country: “Well on the way to a major petroleum distribution in the sub-region”.

He lauded the turn-around success story of TOR in which the then defunct company is now refinancing its debts and repairing its storage facilities for the resumption of petroleum storage and its related products.

President Mahama said this feat of TOR will giantly help the company to: “Recapture its glory days as envisioned by our [Ghana] founder Dr. Kwame Nkrumah”.

One after the other, he recounted how the social intervention programs put out by previous gove

First Sky Volta Serene Hotel Honoured

The First Sky Construction Limited, and its subsidiary company, the Volta Serene Hotel, have been honoured for their meritorious service to Ghana. The ever-growing Group of companies, founded in 2008 by Mr. Eric Seddy Kutortse, was among other reputable Ghanaian establishments honoured at the Banquet Hall in Accra on Friday, April 29, 2016, by the Ghana Entrepreneur Awards 2016. The ceremony organized by the Entrepreneurs Foundation of Ghana said “Group Chief Executive Officer Award,” recognizes leaders and business executives, who have demonstrated exemplary leadership qualities in achieving excellence in their organizations and who have gone the extra mile in injecting vitality into their organization. This award can be termed one of the highest recognition for business leaders in Ghana and will pave the way for organizational excellence. The First Sky received “The Group Chief Executive of the Year Award 2015”, and the Volta Serene Hotel received the Hospitality [Hospitality & Tourism Entrepreneur of the Year Award -2015] Establishment of the Year. It will be recalled that President John Dramani Mahama, when on his “Accounting to the People Tour” of the Volta Region, paid glowing tribute to the good work of the First Sky Group. According to the President, even though people have some misgivings about Ghanaian contractors, services offered by First Sky Limited, promote the overall developmental agenda of the country – thus both human and infrastructural development; and commended it for the good work done. The key objectives of the awards are to recognize and reward the best entrepreneurs in the Ghanaians business community, for their contribution to supporting economic growth and job creation in Ghana. The Informer congratulates Chairman Eric Seddy Kutortse, his able staff and the entire Group for the remarkable achievement in a very short time; and more grease to their elbows.

Entrepreneurs celebrated for contributing towards the economy

Twenty-seven entrepreneurs and five corporate institutions were honoured at the sixth Ghana Entrepreneur and Business Support Awards held in Accra, at the weekend.

The awards recognise and reward the best entrepreneurs in the country by showcasing the business leaders to inspire others to take up entrepreneurship and Entrepreneur’s Business Support award.

It is designed to honour outstanding companies, which have contributed to the promotion and development of SMEs and entrepreneurship in Ghana resulting in the success of service delivery in Ghana.

It is an initiative of the Entrepreneurs Foundation of Ghana (EFG), endorsed by the Ministries of Trade and Industry and Finance.

The event was held on the theme: “The role of entrepreneurship in economic growth and private sector development.”

The Guest of honour, Trade Minister, Dr. Ekwow Spio Garbrah, said the ministry would soon send a paper on interest rates for business to the Cabinet and also underscored the need for a policy that would facilitate effective competition among businesses.

The President of the EFG, Mr. Sam Ato Gaisie said the initiative was to inspire Ghanaian entrepreneurs to undertake entrepreneurship and also enhance the visibility of local entrepreneurs and businesses.

In attendance were some ministers of state, heads of department and agencies and some members of the Diplomatic Corps, including Mr. Robert P. Jackson, US Ambassador, Mr. Jon Benjamen, British High Commissioner, Sun Baohong, Chinese Ambassador and Nesrin Bayazit, Turkish Ambassador.

The rest were: Irene Vida Gala, Brazilian Ambassador, Laura Carpini, Italian Ambassador and Lyeo Woon Ki, South Korean Ambassador.

The criteria used by the judges to select the Ghana Entrepreneur Award winner are Entrepreneurial Spirit, Business performance and growth, vision and innovation, Ethics and personal integrity, strategic thinking and corporate social responsibility involvement in Ghana’s economic growth.

The awardees were honoured for their contribution to national development and the flagship awards went to two personalities; Mr Chris Chinebuah, Executive Chairman of Fuel Trade Ltd, Entrepreneur of the Year Awards and Mr. Eric Seddy Kutortse, Group CEO of First Sky Group of Companies for the Group CEO of The Year. Both were inducted into the Entrepreneur Hall of Fame.

Other awards were: Dr Macdonald Vasnani, CEO, Consolidated Shipping Agencies Ltd, Entrepreneur Hall of Fame (logistics industry), Dr Felix Anyah, Executive Chairman, Holy Trinity Medical Centre, Entrepreneur Hall of Fame (Health services) and Mr Rockson Kwesi Dogbegah, Executive Chairman, Berock Ventures Ltd, Entrepreneur Hall of Fame (building and construction), Mr Edmund Poku, CEO of Niche Cocoa Industry Ltd, the Entrepreneur Hall of Fame, Agro-processing, Mr Moses Kwesi Baiden, Executive Chairman, Margins ID Group, Entrepreneur Hall of Fame (Security Card Production), Mr Azmi Sbaiti, Chairman, Interface Limited, Lifetime Entrepreneur Achievement Award, Dr Elikem Tamaklo, CEO, Nyaho Medical Centre, Young Entrepreneur of the year and Ms Mireille Hitti, Executive Director, DuraplastGh Ltd, Woman Entrepreneur of the Year.

Mr Amartey Nuno-Amarteifio, CEO of Ramel Business Services Ltd, was adjudged Business Services Entrepreneur of the Year, Dr Nii Kotei Dzani, Group CEO, Ideal Finance Group, Banking & Finance Entrepreneur of the Year, Mr Jonathan Lamptey, CEO, Comsys Ghana Ltd, Information Technology Entrepreneur of the Year, Dr Thomas Kofi Aboagye Dompem, Founder & CEO, Obibini Blackman Co. Ltd, Food & Beverages Entrepreneur of the Year and Dr Sampson Effah-Apraku, Executive Chairman Samara Group of Companies, General Merchant Entrepreneur of the Year.

Other award winners were: Dr. Moses Ge-Gaulle Dogbatsey, CEO, Medi-Moses Prostrate Centre, Health Service Entrepreneur of the Year, Mr. Stephen Yeboah, Managing Director (MD), Lucky Herbal Enterprise

Herbal Industry Entrepreneur of the Year, Mr. Hisham Yonnes, CEO, Sigma Group E

ENI Sankofa OCTP Project takes off

 
Work on the onshore gas reception facility for the ENI integrated Offshore Cape Three Points (OCTP) project at Sanzule in the Ellembelle District of the Western Region has commenced after the President; John Dramani Mahama cut the sod for its take off.

The facility, which has capacity of producing 180 million standard cubic feet per day (mscf/d), sufficient to generate about 1,000 megawatts of power, comes with additional oil production of about 45,000 barrels per day.

The project is an investment of about US$7.9 billion, the single largest investment ever made in Ghana since independence, would ensure reliability of power generation to feed industry and commerce.


 

The onshore facility will come with its associated conveniences and other installations such as the compressor station, helipad, accommodation units among others for easy management and transmission of the gas after it tie in to the 111km gas pipelines operated by Ghana Gas.

The offshore will constitute the construction of FPSO and mooring, subsea installation, extension of flow lines to the shore which are all currently being worked on locally and in Singapore.

Petroleum Pivot

The President pledged his commitment to ensuring that the country transformed into West Africa’s Petroleum hub for the benefit of the country and the sub-region.

The project, he said, represented true transformational investment, which would no doubt have a positive impact on the economy of the country especially the host and adjoining communities.

For his part, the Managing Director of the lead operators, ENI Ghana, Mr Fabio Cavanna, assured that country that ENI was ready to cooperate to provide any necessary technical support to ensure before infrastructure projects were implemented for the benefit of the country and the entire partnership.

He said ENI and its partners were also fully committed to ensuring that the OCTP project was completed on schedule, budget and safely, in spite of the current challenging oil market.

Local content

On ensuring that the company met the local content law, he said they had earmarked $300 million spend on procurement from local firms, in addition to the US$1.5 billion it had so far spent on local content.

The company also plans to train Ghanaians with high end skills to fit in the industry. “We at Eni Ghana have developed a long-term recruitment and training plan dedicated to local resources. Large selection sessions have been held in 2014 and 2015 in collaboration with the University of Ghana and the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology,” he said.

It is estimated that the OCTP Project will generate about 2500 indirect jobs for Ghanaians through contractors and sub-contractors” he assured.

The project

Eni Ghana farmed into a Petroleum Agreement in 2009 as a lead operator in a Joint Venture Partners with 44.444 per cent interest.
Other partners are Vitol Upstream Ghana and Ghana National Petroleum Corporation with 35.556 per cent and 20 per respectively.
ENI and its partners are hoping to pour the first oil in August 2017 and first gas export in February 2018.

ENI, AGIP & Ghana

ENI’s roots in Africa started in the early 1950s as the leading international oil and gas company in the upstream sectors spread over 16 African countries.

Since inception, ENI has maintained its principles devised by its founder Enrico Mattei, now known as “the Dual Flagship Model” by which ENI fosters cooperation with the host country to share resources, develop domestic economy, promote access to energy and improve health and education of the people.

In 1970, ENI constructed the Refinery of Tema, now renamed the “Tema Oil Refinery” in 1991.

In 1974, the company was totally acquired by the government and it is now one of the main players in Ghana for fuels and retail.

Eni Ghana to generate 1,000 megawatts of power daily

       

                           

President John Dramani Mahama on Saturday said the Offshore Cape Three Points (OCTP) integrated oil and gas project in Sanzule in the Ellembelle District would generate 1,000 megawatts of electricity daily. The project, being undertaken by ENi Ghana, an Italian International Company, would also produce a non-associated gas of 180 standard cubic feet per day for a period of not less than 20 years. This would be tied into Ghana gas 110 km 20 pipeline's to deliver gas to the Aboadze and Tema power enclaves. President Mahama was speaking at a sod-cutting ceremony for the commencement of work on the onshore gas receiving facility at Sanzule in the Western Region. He said ENi Ghana, the operator of the OCTP oil and gas project, in collaboration with Vitol Upstream Ghana Ltd and the Ghana National Petroleum Company (GNPC), which were non-operating partners, had joined forces to deal with the energy crisis which had reduced to the barest minimum. President Mahama commended ENi Ghana for making the largest investment in the oil and gas sector of Ghana and the West African sub-region in the last 59 years. He asked the company to create more jobs for the youth, especially those in the catchment area and allow the 2013 Local Content and Participation Policy to guide its operations. President Mahama said it was the intention of the government to make the Western Region the new growth pole of Ghana as more industries and new opportunities continued to emerge in the area. He urged the Petroleum Commission to ensure that safety standards were adhered to as they produced gas to power the nation and boost industrialization. The government would, therefore, mainstream technical and vocational education and expedite action on the conversion of polytechnics into technical universities to produce the required manpower to feed the oil and gas industries. The Minister for Petroleum, Mr. Emmanuel Armah-Kofi Buah, said the project had the potential to develop and change lives of residents of Sanzule and the entire nation. He thanked the World Bank and the IFC for their partnership to ensure the success of the project. On the Local Content Policy, Mr. Armah said out of the 7,000 workforces employed so far in the oil and gas sector, over 5,000 were Ghanaians and over 150 indigenes from Sanzule have been employed by ENi Ghana Ltd. The Minister said the Sankofa Oil Company had joined the league of oil companies in Ghana to create 100 jobs thereby reducing the unemployment rate in the country. The Italian Ambassador to Ghana, Madam Laura Carpini, said Italy and Ghan

Coventry University partners Ghanaian Institutions to grow entrepreneurship

Coventry University has launched the Africa Institute for Transformational Entrepreneurship (AITE), to boost Ghana’s socio-economic development by encouraging entrepreneurs.

The AITE is a platform which seeks to promote transformational entrepreneurship in Africa through education, research, and practice-based activity.

The programme has been established on the premises that African universities
through the promotion of enterprises and entrepreneurship have a pivotal role to play in the overall development of the continent.

The institute will initially see Coventry University partnering with Stellenbosch University in South Africa, and the University of Cape Coast, Ghana.

Conversations are currently well-advanced to include the Association of African Universities ( AAU) and the British Council in the project.

Speaking to Citi Business News, the Vice-Chancellor, and CEO of Coventry University, Professor John Latham said the institute will equip Ghanaians on how to develop and implement home-grown ideas in a global setting to be competitive.

“Africa tertiary education should be designed to address Africa’s specific problems”, he said adding that, “Entrepreneurship-based education and research in Africa’s institutions of higher learning can help address the issue of unemployment, inequality and sustainable socio-economic growth in Africa”.

He stated that the university aims to contribute to all areas of Africa’s development as a founding member of AITE.

“In collaboration with the partner universities, the AAU and the British council, Coventry University will run a collaborative programme of education, research and practice- based activity,” he said.

According to him, the AITE programmes will include interactive sessions, face-to-face workshops, research exchanges and online support ,channeled through its existing International Center for Transformational Entrepreneurship ( ICTE).

On his part, the Director in Charge of Entrepreneurship Programme at Coventry University, Professor Gideon Maas expressed confidence in the success of the programme.

He was optimistic the programme will make a difference in driving forward innovation and support wealth creation