Govt’s statement on IMF bailout

INTERNATIONAL MONETARY FUND EXECUTIVE BOARD APPROVES A THREE YEAR PROGRAMME WITH THE GOVERNMENT OF GHANAToday, April 3, 2015, the IMF Executive Board approved a three-year Extended Credit Facility (ECF) programme for Ghana. Access amounts to SDR 664.2 million (about US$ 918 million), or 180 percent of Ghana’s IMF quota.Ghana has made significant progress in achieving strong and inclusive growth over the past decade. However, since 2012, the economy has come under severe stress due to both global and domestic factors, resulting in high fiscal and current account deficits. Whilst these are being corrected through various government programmes, the persistence of the setbacks has not made the pace fast enough as envisaged.To address these macroeconomic imbalances the government since 2013 and subsequently through its 2014 Home-Grown Policy Programme adopted ambitious and comprehensive stabilization and reform programmes as noted. Although these measures helped to improve the situation, new and continuing adverse global and domestic developments continue to pose challenges to economic management.Prices of Ghana’s key commodities, especially gold and cocoa declined, giving rise to a worsened external sector performance and rapid depreciation of the currency. In addition, gas supply disruptions have affected energy supply with its attendant effects on economic activity. Government also presented a statement to Parliament on the impact of the fall in crude oil prices on the 2015 Budget.Therefore, as part of measures to address the current macroeconomic challenges and safeguard the bright medium term prospects, Government decided to sign on to an IMF programme. After announcing this intention, Government formally requested for an Economic Programme with the Fund on Friday, 8th August, 2014. The IMF responded positively and expressed its readiness to help Ghana address the macroeconomic challenges.Approval by the IMF Executive Board was preceded by the Fund fielding Missions to Ghana for programme discussions. In total, 4 rounds of negotiations were held with the Fund with additional discussions via video conferences and exchange of emails. Earlier this year, the Government reached Staff-level agreement with the Fund.Government wishes to stress that the objectives as well as policy measures underlying the programme are consistent with Government’s Home Grown Programme and the 2015 Budget. The program aims to restore debt sustainability and macroeconomic stability to foster a return to high growth and job creation through agriculture and infrastructure investment, while protecting social spending.In addition, a number of ongoing and enhanced structural reforms, including new ones, will be implemented under the programme. The structural reforms are mainly in the areas of revenue administration, tax policy, public financial management, pay roll and human resource management, public sector reforms, debt management, and supervision and regulation of the financial system. Furthermore, initiatives to strengthen institutions, notably GIIF, Sinking Fund and EXIM are included in both the Budget and the programme.Government expects that the programme will boost grant disbursements from development partners, improve macroeconomic stability, help support the credibility of Government’s policy and boost investor confidence in the economy.We wish to stress that the IMF Programme will be implemented over a period when the short-to-medium term prospects for the economy remain strong, supported by potential for further oil and gas exploration and production, further expansion of the services sector, potential for increased FDI as well as completion of the gas pipelines and processing plant. We are convinced that these factors will put the economy on a strong growth trajectory again when the imbalances are addressed.As noted by H.E President John Mahama, Government is committed to implementing the measures agreed over the Programme period.Signed:HON. SETH E. TERKPERMINISTER FOR FINANCE

USAID, GCCI open resource centre for exporters

The United States Agency for International Development (USAID), in partnership with the Ghana Chamber of Commerce and Industry (GCCI), has opened a resource centre to support Ghanaian exporters.

The African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA) Trade Resource Centre, which is among 15 other centres across the West African sub-region, is aimed at increasing the value of exports from the region to the US market.

Located on the premises of the World Trade Centre in Accra, the facility will assist Ghanaian exporters to have access to the US market and other global markets.

It will also provide information and technical support for Ghanaian exporters on how to add value to their produce.

In a presentation, the Director of Trade Hub and African Partners Network at the USAID, Mr Jeffrey Povolny, said the centre would encourage competition and increase exports from Ghana to the global market.

That, he said, would lead to the creation of jobs as well as growth in the Ghanaian economy.

“The AGOA Trade Resource Centre will be a one-stop shop for local export-oriented companies to learn about regional and international trade opportunities...,” he said.

Mr Povolny added that the facility would provide advisory services and training for local businesses, “to help them better understand the international demand for certain products and technical requirements for market access”.

The Director of the USAID African Bureau Office for Sustainable Development, Mr Anthony Chan, said “together we are laying a foundation for Ghanaian exporters to successfully meet demands of the global marketplace for quality and timeliness”.

The 2nd Vice-President of the GCCI, Nana Dr Dankawosoo I, noted that the opening of the centre would reignite enthusiasm among exporters to explore the opportunities available in the US market and other international markets.

Citing a 2014 meeting held between the US President, Mr Barack Obama, and some African leaders in the United States, Nana Dankawosoo said the US government gave a clear indication that the country would continue its trade and investment relations with Africa, hence the establishment of the centre was a step in the right direction.

He called on industry players in Ghana to provide the needed support for the smooth running of the research hub.

For his part, the Deputy Minister of Trade and Industry, Mr Ibrahim Murtala Muhammed, emphasised the need for local manufacturers to add value to their produce before exporting to the world market.

“We cannot achieve the purposes of the AGOA Trade Resource Centre if we do not give the needed attention to our local industries,” he noted.

USAID, GCCI open resource centre for exporters

The United States Agency for International Development (USAID), in partnership with the Ghana Chamber of Commerce and Industry (GCCI), has opened a resource centre to support Ghanaian exporters.

The African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA) Trade Resource Centre, which is among 15 other centres across the West African sub-region, is aimed at increasing the value of exports from the region to the US market.

Located on the premises of the World Trade Centre in Accra, the facility will assist Ghanaian exporters to have access to the US market and other global markets.

It will also provide information and technical support for Ghanaian exporters on how to add value to their produce.

In a presentation, the Director of Trade Hub and African Partners Network at the USAID, Mr Jeffrey Povolny, said the centre would encourage competition and increase exports from Ghana to the global market.

That, he said, would lead to the creation of jobs as well as growth in the Ghanaian economy.

“The AGOA Trade Resource Centre will be a one-stop shop for local export-oriented companies to learn about regional and international trade opportunities...,” he said.

Mr Povolny added that the facility would provide advisory services and training for local businesses, “to help them better understand the international demand for certain products and technical requirements for market access”.

The Director of the USAID African Bureau Office for Sustainable Development, Mr Anthony Chan, said “together we are laying a foundation for Ghanaian exporters to successfully meet demands of the global marketplace for quality and timeliness”.

The 2nd Vice-President of the GCCI, Nana Dr Dankawosoo I, noted that the opening of the centre would reignite enthusiasm among exporters to explore the opportunities available in the US market and other international markets.

Citing a 2014 meeting held between the US President, Mr Barack Obama, and some African leaders in the United States, Nana Dankawosoo said the US government gave a clear indication that the country would continue its trade and investment relations with Africa, hence the establishment of the centre was a step in the right direction.

He called on industry players in Ghana to provide the needed support for the smooth running of the research hub.

For his part, the Deputy Minister of Trade and Industry, Mr Ibrahim Murtala Muhammed, emphasised the need for local manufacturers to add value to their produce before exporting to the world market.

“We cannot achieve the purposes of the AGOA Trade Resource Centre if we do not give the needed attention to our local industries,” he noted.

Energy Commission considers compulsory use of solar for homes

                            

The Energy Commission (EC) has commenced moves to get a law which will make it compulsory for home owners to inculcate the use of solar in new buildings following the country’s power crisis.

Citi Business News has learnt the Energy Commission will in two weeks meet with the Ghana Real Estate Developers Association (GREDA) over the move.

According to the Executive Secretary of the Energy Commission, Dr. Alfred Ofosu Ahenkorah ”We will be meeting the Real Estate Developers in two weeks to discuss our proposals for amendments of the building code. We started talking about this long ago, indeed this idea was muted in the 80’s by the national energy board then but at the time the cost of the technology was so high and therefore it could not be easily be implement’. He said.

The discussions will also centre around proposed amendments of the building code and the use of other forms of energy in future homes to avert any future power crisis.

Due to the intensified nature of the power outages in the country, there have been calls for a law which will compel home owners and Real Estate developers to include solar energy.

Speaking to Citi Business News Dr. Alfred Ofosu Ahenkorah said solar technology is cheap and the best form of alternative energy.

‘I remember at one time we contacted the estate developers and really at the time electricity was cheap they were low prices so that people did not really understand. But now that the call is coming from the masses we will do that. It is nothing new and we support it, in the past the cost was high today it is not’.

He adds that if there are any incentives you can import solar without paying any duty on them so the incentives are already there. What may be important is if government will want to do that it may be to give extra support which may be decided at a later forum but already there are no import duties on solar panels’. He stressed.

Meanwhile GREDA has welcomed the call for new homes and settlements to have solar energy to help cut down on the increase base load on the national grid. According to GREDA’s Executive Secretary, Sammy Amegayibor it is ready to implement such policies expect for the expensive nature of the solar power equipment.

‘Well I guess we are all aware of the energy crises and for that matter we all have to put our hand on deck and see what we can contribute to let us out of this mess. It’s a good call because we cannot depend on the national grid at all times but it is not just about asking developer to inculcate solar systems in their construction that will avert the problem, we have to do a lot more’.

He calls for Public Private Partnership in implementing the new policy since installing solar technology is expensive.

‘As you are aware everybody complains about even the cost of the house as they are. To install a solar system that will be sufficient to power all the electrical gadgets that are usually available in a flat or one house, its tells you that it’s not going to be a small cost with the initial cost anyway, in the long term its becomes cheaper to the owner.

Most of us are already grappling with the perception that real estate houses are overpriced, it not that they are overpriced but it is what goes into it and adding the cost of solar system to it is going to increase it’. He said.

Germany sponsors trade missions to Ghana

                       
   German private sector is to offer cutting-edge technology to help the country solve some challenges in the energy, health and sanitation sectors.

Starting from today, a high powered trade delegation with interest in solar energy and off grid power solutions, backed by the German Federal State, will be in the country to explore partnerships with local counterparts.

The delegation is a tailor-made trade mission with selected Business to Business (B2B) meetings and a conference today. This is based on an intensive market report conducted by the Delegation of German Industry and Commerce in Ghana (AHK Ghana) to analyse the biogas market for the German Ministry of Economics and Energy.

The Delegate of the German Industry and Commerce in Ghana, Mr Patrick Martens, who disclosed this to the Daily Graphic in Accra, said the trade mission would be a precursor to the third West African Clean Energy and Environment Exhibition and Conferences (WACEE) 2015.

The annual exhibition and conferences provide latest technology solutions to clean energy, by water treatment and supply, as well as sanitation. Mr Martens said for the first time in West and Central Africa, the German government was sponsoring 21 companies to participate in WACEE'15 under the German Pavilion, Germany's official brand name.

Besides, another federal state, the North Rhine Wesphelia (NRW), which regularly participates in such fairs in Ghana, is also sponsoring companies to participate in the fair, bringing to 28 the total number of German companies set to participate in the February 10-12 exhibition and conferences slated for the Accra International Conference Centre. It is on the theme; "Advancing Policy and Business Collaboration".

AHK Ghana is organising the fair in collaboration with three parastatal organisation of Germany, including the Konrad-Adenauer Foundation, the German technical cooperation (GIZ), under its Project Development Programme (PDP) within the “renewables-Made-in Germany” initiative under the auspices of the German Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy. The event also enjoys the partnership of GIZ-North Rhine-Westphalia.

Mr Martens said there were exhibitors also from eight other European countries. In all, 53 exhibitors are expected to interact with about 1,400 visitors who would be at WACEE'15. Ghana has deficits in waste management, water supply, energy delivery and other infrastructure that spur growth and improve the quality of life.

The exhibition, trade missions and the high interest of German and European business interest in Ghana’s economy is significantly due to extensive market research by AHK Ghana, showcasing Ghana’s renewable energy potential and its growing space of business friendly laws and regulations.

Besides the Made-in-Germany pavilion, Germany will also send a 16-company trade mission, with interest in infrastructure, to the country during WACEE’15. This means within two weeks from today, close to 50 German companies will visit the country to explore business opportunities.

The mission will also organise a high profile technical sensitisation and hands-on training for experts and engineers in the field of solar technology and also hold match-making discussions with interested companies in the country. Explaining the conferences, the Delegate of German Industry and Commerce in Ghana said the Konrad Adeneur Foundation would facilitate a ‘Scientific Debate’ on Renewable Energy on Conference Day-One, drawing speakers from across West and Central Africa.

The renewables Made-in-Germany would take the centre stage on conference day two when the German Economic Affairs and Energy brings speakers, companies and policy makers together as the German technology explores how such solution could be harnessed to spur growth in Ghana and other West African countries.

Waste management and recycling, including cutting-edge solutions available would be the focus when the Federal State of NRW facilitates the conference day three at WACEE’15.

Mr Martens added German development financiers such as the KfW Group would launch an important financial project during the exhibition, while French company Total would also make a crucial announcement on its intentions to venture into solar power projects in the country.

Expansion of rail network to begin April

                                             

Ghana Railway Development Authority (GRDA) and its allied bodies have re-activated a master plan to expand the country’s rail network by 4,000 km.

Estimated at $21 billion, the rehabilitation and modernisation project is expected to begin by the end of April this year and be completed in 33 years.

The construction of new lines will be undertaken in phases to link the entire country and the sub-region.

Some financial consortiums have come on board to finance the various phases of the project and expectations are that the project will open up the various districts and regions to businesses, and ease traffic on the highways.

The Board Chairman of GRDA, Alhaji Ibrahim Adams, told a stakeholders meeting in Kumasi last Tuesday that districts and proposed sites where the railway lines would pass would be demand-driven and influenced by the viability of economic activities.

Team Engineering Company, an Italian consulting firm that worked on the master plan, had packaged the project to ensure that cost recovery would not be a problem.

The company was expected to bring its rich experience in Europe and other parts of Africa, including the Abuja-Kano link, to bear on the Ghana project. Financing

An Exim Bank-India credit facility has been sought to begin the Tema-Port-Akosombo and the Akosombo-Buipe Port lines.

A Brazilian loan has also been secured to construct the 123km Takoradi-Awaso line while a Spanish-Swiss consortium was on stream to finance the Dunkwa-Kumasi line as part of the Western railway line project.

The Western railway line project is expected to be completed within 24 months.

The Deputy Transport Minister, Madam Joyce Bawah Mogtari, expressed concern that only 13.3 per cent of the country’s rail lines were operating.

Most of the lines that needed attention were in the Eastern corridor, which called for an aggressive plan such as the new master plan to connect the entire country.

She said the new blueprint was a workable document which would give the industry a rebirth.

The only stumbling block to the execution of the project was a protracted legal battle between the GRDA and the Asem Stool in Kumasi, but Alhaji Adams said it was being resolved.

A Kumasi High Court is set to begin hearing of the case after the company’s stay of execution filed against the Asem Stool was quashed by the court.

However, reliable sources told the Daily Graphic that because of the importance of the project, some key stakeholders were meeting the two parties to impress on them to settle the matter out of court.

The board chairman said an attractive compensation package had been earmarked for encroachers on the company’s land.

Alhaji Adams said he agreed that it did not make sense to compensate people who had deliberately encroached on the land, but added that the GRDA wanted to put a human face to the whole exercis

African billionaires join together to launch African Energy Group

                                       

              Speaking at a high profile panel on energy at the 2015 annual meeting for the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, Nigerian billionaire and philanthropist Tony Elumelu emphasized the key priority for 2015 for Africa as “policy, policy, policy.”

Elumelu is among the group launching the African Energy Leaders Group (AELG), a multi-stakeholder advocacy group that aims to address Africa’s power deficiency—the continent has approximately 620 million people without electricity.

Elumelu said, “Investors in this space are rational. The risks are huge; the capital requirements are equally huge. If you want to invest in this space, you have to first survey the environment beyond economics; policy, stability, enforceability of rules, the nature of the regulatory framework. If the right policies are in place, investors and financiers will be encouraged to invest.”

AELG will bring the continent’s leaders together in an effort to build public-private partnerships, leverage political support and mobilize funds for sustainable energy and development. Created by a working group of African leaders including billionaires Elumelu, Aliko Dangote; Donald Kaberuka, President of the African Development Bank; Prime Minister Daniel Duncan of Ivory Coast; and President John Mahama of Ghana, AELG’s mission takes the form of three pillars—driving universal access, driving efficiency and driving renewables.

“Currently, every single African country is experiencing energy shortages and power outages. This costs the continent 2 percent of its GDP,” said Kaberuka. “We are a continent of miracles; if we are growing at 5 percent without enough electricity, think of what the continent could do with enough electricity.”

Kaberuka also added that the African Development Bank does $5 billion of infrastructure per year; half of that investment is ear-marked for energy, in both the private and public sectors.,

Elumelu, the leading voice highlighting the African private sector agenda at WEF, was the third most tweeted person at Davos after Bill Gates and Kenneth Roth (Executive Director, Human Rights Watch