Volta basin vital for economic development

The Volta Basin with its transboundary river, has become of increasing importance in supporting development in the six riparian countries in West Africa. The Volta basin, with is the ninth largest African river, is shared by six countries in West Africa namely; Benin, Burkina Faso, Cote d’Ivoire, Ghana, Mali and Togo. Recognising the importance of coordinated management of shared natural resources, the Heads of State established the Volta Basin Authority (VBA) to promote permanent consultation and sustainable development of water and related resources of the Volta basin for equitable distribution of benefits towards poverty alleviation and better socio-economic integration. In response to that, the Volta River Basin Strategic Action Implementation Project has been launched in Accra to improve the capacity of the VBA for trans-boundary water resources management and address its institutional weaknesses. The three-year project is being co-financed by the World Bank and the Global Environmental Facility (GEF). Dr Charles A. Biney, the Acting Executive Director of VBA, speaking to the Ghana News Agency after the launch, said the legal and institutional arrangements among the riparian countries for managing the water resources of the Volta basin were formally established in January, 2007 with the signing of the Convention on Status of the Volta River and Establishment of the VBA. The Convention came into force in August 2009 with its ratification by four out of the six riparian countries. By 2012, all six countries had ratified the Convention, which was mandated to promote permanent consultation tools among the parties for the development of the basin and to develop joint projects and works. He said they were to promote implementation of integrated water resources management and the equitable distribution of the benefits resulting from their various utilisation, authorise the development of infrastructure and projects planned by the stakeholders and which could have substantial impact on the water resources of the basin. The VBA contributes to poverty alleviation, the sustainable development of the Parties in the Volta basin, and for better socio-economic integration in the sub-region, he said. Dr Biney said the riparian countries were developing countries whose economies were currently growing appreciably, between four and six per cent, which will catapult them into lower-income status in the near future. “The Volta basin will continue to be a key factor in this process of improving livelihoods as it plays an important role in the socio-economic development of these riparian countries,” he added. It stretches from north to south over a distance of 1850 kilometres with a basin covering an area of approximate 400,000 kilometres squares with a population of about 20 million depending on the river for domestic water supply, electricity production, irrigation, fishery, navigation and tourism.

PrProject to manage resources in Volta Basin lunched

Ghana and the five other Volta River Basin (VRB) riparian countries have launched a project to implement a strategic action programme for the effective management of their shared water resources in the basin. It is known as the Volta River Basin Strategic Action Implementation (VRBSAI). The five other countries are Togo, Benin, Burkina Faso, Mali and Cote d’Ivoire. The implementation of the VRBSAI is expected to begin soon and will be completed by 2019. To address some challenges associated with the Volta River Basin, the Volta River Basin Authority (VRBA), the management authority of the basin, developed a five-year strategic plan in 2009, which is to be implemented by the project. Two development partners - the World Bank and the Global Environmental Facility have provided $10 million to the management of the VRBA, to support the effective management of the VRB. The World Bank provided $3million, while the Global Environmental Facility also provided $7million, which will also be used to support the implementation of the strategic action programme. Project launch Launching the project in Accra yesterday, the Minister of Water Resources, Works and Housing, Dr Kwaku Agyemang-Mensah, said it was an undeniable fact that the world was in an era where the promotion of regional and global integration was an important trigger and solution for national development. “Against this backdrop, it is heart-warming that the government of Ghana and its riparian neighbours continue to demonstrate genuine concern to manage and develop their shared water resources by partaking in international cooperation and arrangements among and between themselves,” he said. Dr Agyemang-Mensah said that despite the obvious challenges of sharing the river basin, the riparian countries should be delighted that their collective efforts and cooperation had culminated in the VRBA promoting the proper management and development of the water resources. “This cooperation has also helped to ensure equity in sharing the benefits thereof among all riparian countries,” he said. The minister also said even though the management authority for the VRB had been provided with working principles and had established its institutional framework, it could only fulfil its mandate effectively, if it was adequately supported and strengthened technically, financially and building human resource capacity. Make operational soon In his opening remarks at the ceremony, the acting Executive Director of VRBA, Dr Charles Biney, called on all stakeholders in the VRBSAI project to make the project operational as soon as possible. He thanked the government of Ghana for accepting the authority’s request for it to host the launch. Dr Biney also expressed the authority’s gratitude to the World Bank and the Global Environmental Facility for providing financial assistance to the project. In his remarks, the Executive Director of the Water Resources Commission, who doubles as the focal person for the VRBA, Mr Ben Ampomaa, said the authority was growing steadily and currently was better poised to handle the challenges the riparian countries faced in sharing the Volta River Basin

Sankofa-Gye Nyame to deliver first oil next year

Ghana’s third oil and gas field -- Sankofa-Gye Nyame -- is on course to deliver its first oil in August next year and subsequently its first gas in 2018, says Alex Mould, acting CEO of Ghana National Petroleum Corporation (GNPC).

The project is expected to deliver an additional 30,000 barrels of oil per day when it comes on stream, adding to production from the Jubilee Field and the Tweneboa-Enyenra-Ntomme (TEN) -- which should be in excess of 120,000 barrels per day.

The field will also produce 180 million standard cubic feet of gas daily, which is sufficient to generate approximately 1,100 megawatts of electricity.

Mr. Mould stated that: “Sankofa is a game-changer in the development of Ghana’s gas industry. GNPC, state institutions and the World Bank have been particularly effective in efforts to finalise the commercial and contractual arrangements for the project.

“We are pleased to have made significant progress in just one year, but there is much more to do. We will continue to collaborate with these institutions, and in addition provide access to use of project equipment, machinery and vehicles to ensure successful delivery of the project.”

He continued that: “As the national gas sector aggregator, GNPC will play an enabling role with the necessary investments. Investments in the construction of gas export pipelines to be integrated with the Ghana Gas pipelines, together with onshore receiving facilities, are necessary to ensure efficient supply of fuel to improve Ghana’s energy capacity. This will help provide electricity to households, schools, hospitals and businesses, and fuel Ghana’s economic development”.

The development of a robust gas sector is part of GNPC’s goal of evolving into an integrated energy company to support the developmental drive of Ghana.

GNPC along with other state institutions, including the Ministry of Finance, Ministry of Petroleum and the Bank of Ghana, have been instrumental in securing the project -- worth US$7.9billion -- which is the largest-ever foreign direct investment into Ghana.

Working with private partners ENI and Vitol, alongside the World Bank, GNPC is confident of delivering the Sankofa-Gye Nyame project on time and on budget.

Significant progress has been made in the first year of the project. The Floating, Production, Storage and Offloading (FPSO) vessel is more than half-way complete, and on Tuesday 26th January 2016 sailed out to the Keppel Shipyard in Singapore for integration of the oil and gas processing modules.

It had undergone conversion and life extension at the HRDD Shipyard in China, to meet the 20-year life of the field, without dry-docking (moving to a shipyard) for maintenance. It is expected to be completed and set sail to Ghana in the first quarter, 2017.

Also, the manufacture of sub-sea production systems and facilities are well underway. Five deep-water wells have been drilled in the field.

A statement from the GNPC said success on projects of this scale and complexity require not only commitment from GNPC, state institutions and project partners, but also huge logistical mobilisation.

ECOWAS Single Currency: Let's devalue currencies - Veep

Vice President Kwesi Amissah-Arthur says it is about time central banks in the ECOWAS sub-region consider a deliberate policy to devalue their currencies if they are to make any tangible headway in meeting the key criteria for adopting a single currency by 2020. The Vice President, speaking at the 35th Meeting of the Convergence Council of the West African Monetary Zone (WAMZ), complained about the lack of progress in processes that will lead to creation of a single currency. “We continue to expend time and effort in holding meetings; 35 so far for the Convergence Council. Have meetings become an end in themselves? “We have postponed establishment of the second monetary zone five times. Given the lack of clear progress on the substantive convergence agenda, do we still need a WAMZ agenda that is costing our taxpayers a lot of money with no end in sight,” Mr. Amissah quizzed at Friday’s meeting. Suggesting the way forward, Mr. Amissah Arthur said sub-region leaders pursuing a regional economic bloc must be “innovative and confront dogmatic thinking”. According to him, given the centrality of exchange rates in the convergence process, its volatility and transmission role in reserve accumulation, price formation and the fiscal deficit, there is probably an advantage for countries to enhance currency stability by devaluing. “Will formal and discrete devaluation rather than creeping depreciation increase currency stability and resilience, thereby boosting convergence?” the Vice President said. He said the leaders of various institutions mandated to put in place the structures that will see the introduction of a regional economic bloc have to identify ways of extending the successes chalked up in other areas of integration, such as peace and security, and apply the same commitment to the task of economic convergence and integration. “It is also important for us to recognise that we can pursue institutional innovations based on the experience of others such as the Euro-zone. We need to design a stability mechanism, create a banking union, strengthen fiscal regimes in member-countries and improve information sharing and surveillance within the West Africa Monetary Zone,” Mr. Amissah Arthur said. Abandoned dream The dream of having a common currency, the ‘ECO’, for the English-speaking countries under ECOWAS by the West African Monetary Zone (WAMZ) began in 2000 -- but failed to materialise due to the inability of members to meet various performance benchmarks. After a series of postponements, the ECO dream was finally suspended due to challenges relating to the slow progress toward convergence by member-countries, weak integration of convergence criteria and other WAMZ benchmarks in national development frameworks and plans, inadequate and dilapidated infrastructure, as well as weak productive capacities. A Chief Economist at the West Africa Monetary Institute (WAMI), Dr. Christian Ahortor, said the presidential taskforce gave its blessing to the decision to abandon the ECO at the 45th Ordinary Session of ECOWAS held on July 10, 2014, in Accra. All countries in the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) sub-region are now expected to move to a single currency regime by 2020, after failed attempts to introduce the ECO for non-Francophone countries in the region. The new single currency, which is expected to facilitate trade among countries, will be introduced after all the 15 countries in the sub-region meet an outlined convergence criteria and also see the establishment of the ECOWAS central bank. ECOWAS countries are expected to meet four primary criteria for convergence including single-digit inflation; a fiscal deficit (excluding grants) of not more than 4.0 percent of GDP and 3.0 percent including grants; central bank financing of fiscal deficit of not-more-than 10 percent of the previous year’s tax revenue; and gross external reserves of not less-than 3.0 months of import cover. There are six secondary

Goldstar Airlines to recruit Ghanaians carbin crew

Goldstar Airlines, a Ghanaian airline company will set in motion a recruitment exercise to recruit Ghanaians as cabin crew for its aircrafts. The company as part of efforts to indigenize its airline operations will engage and rely on Ghanaians to man the aircraft which will touch down in no time. Towards this end, the airline will roll out a scheme to invite applications from qualified Ghanaians to apply for the position of cabin crew to take care of the passengers on the aircraft in flight. The objective of the airline is to promote and protect the interests of Ghanaians. In view of this, Goldstar Airlines, will roll out special programs tailored to the needs of the aviation and tourism sectors. Again the company will deliver promptly on its promise of getting Ghanaians and other nationals to the destinations such as London-Gatwick, Baltimore-Washington and Guangzhou-China and connecting them to some of the West African countries with the view to promoting and building national network. Goldstar Airlines is committed to working actively to promote national network and unity of purpose as a local host, will open up possibilities to get a feel of Ghanaian right from boarding the aircraft till when it will touch down at the designated destination. The company’s pride and joy will be to empower and equip the Ghanaian to pursue economic ventures in the aviation and tourism sectors. In a statement copied to Ghanaweb, the public relations officer, John Ashong-Mettle, indicated that the company will give credence to its mantra of indigenizing its operations. Owing to this, the company is flying down a cream of experts to train those who will make the grade after the interviewing exercise to put them through their paces to learn the tricks of the trade. He added that when the airline company gets off the ground it will rely on expatriates as the cockpit crew but will unfold a tailor-made course of study to be undertaken by some Ghanaians who will be sent abroad to train in order to get or have a handle on piloting the Boeing 767 series which Goldstar airlines will be using. After the training, the trainees will do a period of apprenticeship with the expatriate pilots to get hands-on experience and knowledge in line with the company’s plan of replacing the foreign pilots with Ghanaians.” he stressed. He also enumerated that the company is ready to respond to persistent call on individuals and corporate bodies to partner government in reducing and eliminating the unemployment canker in the country.

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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