Friday, December 18, 2015

Newmont’s Adiki named among 100 Global Inspirational Women in Mining

One of Ghana’s foremost communications experts in the mining industry, Adiki Ayitevie’s has been recognised internationally for her contribution towards the growth of the sector globally.

Adiki, the Communications and External Relations Director for Newmont’s Africa, has been adjudged one of world’s 100 Global Inspirational Women in Mining for 2015 at an award ceremony held in London recently.

Adiki’s nomination comes as no surprise to many miners and communications experts within the industry. A passionate communications expert, she has experience in providing internal and external communications solutions, and has considerable experience working in extractives, financial and utility sectors of the country.

“The younger generation in Ghana and Africa should be inspired and encouraged to give it their best shot. My being named to this list provides hope for the hundreds of up and coming African women who wonder what value they can bring, and shows them they can make it to the top with hard work, courage and a dash of boldness,” she said after the award.

“This recognition gives credence to Newmont’s Global Diversity and Inclusion programme of increasing the representation of women and nationals across the organization and I am pleased w with it.” She added.

Adiki Ayitivie has been a Director at Newmont Ghana Gold Ltd since June 2007. She was the primary voice of Newmont Ghana in getting two significant mines – Ahafo and Akyem – up and running amidst daily national media attention.

Powered by a drive to change the face of communications in the Ghanaian mining industry starting, in her words, “at my small corner in Newmont Africa”, Adiki works relentlessly to improve communication across the mining industry. Her efforts to instill responsible mining practices have delivered real and sustainable impacts.

Colleagues know her as an outstanding strategist in the area of mining communications and external affairs, and a strong role model for women in an industry still dominated by men.

Adiki sharpened her skills in communications while working for the SG-SSB bank, and was previously an award-wining journalist with the acclaimed advocacy newspaper, Public Agenda.

In a congratulatory message, Jeff Couch & Jennifer Wyllie both officials of BMO Capital Markets, lead promoters of Global Inspirational Women in Mining said: “It is with great pleasure that we introduce The 100 Global Inspirational Women in Mining 2015.

“Gender diversity is a subject that raises passion and it is fantastic to be involved in the promotion and recognition of successful women in the mining sector.
                                                
“In such a difficult time for the industry, when People are having to take tough decisions, why should we continue to talk about women in mining? Put simply, gender diversity is vital to the success of our businesses.”

The mining sector has had a poor record in attracting and promoting women. In part, this is understandable: Historically, mining was a male-dominated industry that required physical strength.

The skills needed in the mining sector today have changed dramatically, but mindsets have taken longer to shift. Women, as much as men, have needed persuading that mining is an attractive sector with lots to offer.

The list of inspiring women in mining shows that real progress is being made. There are now multiple role Models who prove that women can and do succeed in building interesting and rewarding careers in mining.

This celebrates those who have already begun to make a difference. We would like to take this opportunity to congratulate each of the women included in this book. Their talent and achievements are truly exceptional and we hope that their successes will inspire many more women to follow in their footsteps.

100 Global Inspirational Women in Mining 2016
WIM (UK) is a non-profit organisation dedicated to promoting the employment,retention and progress of women in the mining industry. Created in 2006, WIM (UK) has a dynamic membership of over 1,500 members, who participate in most mining-related businesses and professions.

Part of WIM (UK)’s role is to speak for women in the mining sector, informing industry participants and decision-makers of the challenges and opportunities women are finding in pursuing careers in mining companies and other mining-related businesses: this entails participating in market meetings and industry bodies and constantly increasing the visibility of our organisation.


Another aspect is to promote the mining sector as a career choice to women in all professions, through our work with universities and other organisations. 

The network aims to serve as a means for individual members to come together, and also to partner with WIM groups worldwide, and exchange ideas and information, creating connections that allow our membership to support raise the profile of women in the mining sector, both locally and globally.

Netherlands Embassy holds ‘Human Rights Movie Day’

To celebrate International Human Rights Day, the Netherlands Embassy in Ghana held a movie screening followed by a discussion.

The movie ‘Stories of our Lives’, a documentary of Artists’ collective The Nest from Nairobi depicting the dangers that lesbian, gay, bisexuals and transgender (LGBT) people face while they fight for their rights in modern-day Kenya.

This year the Human Rights Day’s theme was ‘Our Rights, Our Freedoms, Always’ At its core, Freedom, underpins the Universal Declaration of Human Rights –freedom from fear, freedom of speech, freedom of worship and freedom from want.

The Netherlands presses for international action on LGBT human rights. “We do this firstly, by actively contributing to international and regional organisations like the United Nations Human Rights Council or the Council of Europe.

Secondly, by supporting local human rights organizations such as the Human Rights Advocacy Centre in Ghana. And lastly, by including LGBT people in our sexual and reproductive health programmes.

It is important that LGBT people worldwide have access to sexual and reproductive health services and products and that they are protected from discrimination and stigmatization. Human rights are for all, regardless of who you are or whom you love.

Caecilia Wijgers, acting Ambassador of the Netherlands Embassy, speaking after the movie explained that the movie is to highlight the importance of human rights in every jurisdiction as it is part of Netherland’s foreign policy, “It is an integral part of our foreign policy and dialogues is the best way to go.”

She said: “We promote human rights anywhere in the world and the dialogue can be about for instance child protection, gender equality but also on respect for the human rights of LGBT people.”

The 10th of December commemorates the day on which, in 1948, the United
Nations General Assembly adopted the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.

The Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the related UN conventions apply to all people, in all places, without discrimination on any grounds.


As the Declaration states in Article 1, each human being is born free and equal in dignity and rights.

Economy’s prospects hang on oil price fall

The economy’s bright prospects, largely anchored in the expectation of an expansion in the oil sector, appears to be in jeopardy as crude oil prices continue their downward trend, the Institute of Fiscal Studies (IFS) has warned.

Executive Director of the economic think-tank, Professor Newman Kusi, told B&FT that the persistent fall in price of black gold could act as a disincentive to oil exploratory activities -- and to some extent ongoing works such as the Tweneboa, Enyerra and Ntomme (TEN) oilfields.

The country’s GDP growth is expected to move from 5.4 percent next year to 9.9 percent in 2017, and then to 9.3 percent in 2018.

The massive leap in the GDP performance the Finance Minister has attributed to the coming on-stream of new oil projects. Presenting the 2016 budget, Seth Terkper said: “We are implementing several programmes to secure the bright medium term prospects of the economy, notably through substantial investments in the oil and gas sector among others”.

As the price of crude oil continues its decline, Prof. Kusi explained that this will severely impact the country’s growth prospects.

“The implication is that the medium-term prospects are completely undermined because the medium-term prospects are based on these new oil projects. Of course, some of these projects will slow down due to the low prices. The TEN Project [expects its first oil in mid-2016] though they have started, may not have the enthusiasm they had.

“Also, this price fall means that investment in new exploration is not likely to come,” he said.

The price of Brent crude has fallen from US$115 in June last year to about US$37 per barrel as at Thursday.

A fall below US$36.20 will be the lowest since July 2004. Analysts said such a move in the run-up to year-end will be likely.

Price forecasts for the coming year show that the worsening trend is not likely to rebound. Credit rating agencies like Moody’s have downgraded Brent crude oil for 2016, adding that prices could average around US$43 per barrel in 2016, as compared to previous estimates of US$53 per barrel.

The ratings agency further stated that the price could reach as low as US$30 per barrel in 2016, a situation that could spell doom for Ghana’s oil revenue projections as well as prospects which hinge on expansion in the oil sector.
Apart from its negative impact on the medium-term prospects, the low price of oil could force government to cut its oil revenue expectation of GH¢2billion, which is 1.3 percent of GDP.

Mr. Terkper in presenting next year’s budget based oil revenue expectation on a barrel of oil selling at US$53.05; but the price has since declined to about US$37 -- more than 25 percent fall, prompting concerns that government will head to Parliament to cut its oil revenue expectation.

The Finance Minister made a similar cut earlier this year after prices of crude oil had fallen by more than 50 percent. The revenue expectation was cut from GH¢4.2billion (3.1 percent of GDP) to GH¢1.5 billion (1.1 percent of GDP).

 Prof. Kusi told the B&FT the ministry’s decision not to hedge the price of the country’s oil continues to have a debilitating effect on the economy.

He argued that apart from not hedging, the country’s petroleum benchmark pricing is ineffective and does not reflect trends in the market, especially at a time when the price of a barrel of oil predictably could reach US$20 -- only for it to fix price at US$53.05 per barrel.


He is confident that the recent oil price performance on the world market will push government to cut its oil expectation revenue expectation in coming weeks, but Mr. Terkper told the B&FT it is too early to talk about cutting oil revenue expectation, adding: “The budget is not even out of the House [Parliament] and the global situation is still volatile”. Source:B&FT

Ghana Cocoa Board secures US$300m to retire debt

Ghana's Parliament has approved a syndicated loan facility of US$300million to enable the Ghana Cocoa Board (Cocobod) to pay off debts owed local investors.

The 275-member legislature on Wednesday also approved a request for an interim Stamp Duty waiver of US$3million on the syndicated facility to refinance domestic bills.

Cocobod, which currently owes investors in excess of GH¢1.35billion, is confident the loan facility will help it cut the high interest payments on domestic debts.

The Deputy Minister of Finance, Ato Forson, and the Chief Executive Officer of Cocobod, Dr. Stephen Opuni who made the case to the Parliamentary Select Committee on Finance for the loan facility to be approved, said while it is currently paying an annual interest rate of 29 percent on its debts to local investors, the new facility attracts a rate of 3.48 percent per annum, which makes it prudent to use the syndicated facility to refinance the local debts.

Mr. Ato Forson is convinced the arrangement will help Ghana Cocoa Board to “make significant savings”, since the annual cost of the medium term loan facility is estimated at GH¢39million; which is below the cost of GH¢345million paid on the local facility.

However, some legislative members argued the increasing cost of servicing domestic debt was necessitated by failure of the Cocobod to pay off the debt when it fell due.

Cocobod chief Dr. Opuni explained that in the 2012/2013 and 2013/2014 crop season, the Board in collaboration with the Bank of Ghana issued a 182-day bill to finance cocoa purchases. However, as a result of low cocoa prices which averaged US$2,130 and US$2,300 on the world market within the period, the Board was unable to pay the investors that had bought its securities -- forcing it to roll-over the facility.

But as a result of high interest payments on the bill, the Board of Directors of Cocobod gave approval for the firm to take a medium-term facility of US$300million to refinance the principal and interest on the 182-day bill, which currently amounts to GH¢1.35billion.

A report of the Finance Committee of Parliament noted that high interest payments have adversely affected Cocobod finances, “making it necessary to refinance the bills with proceeds from the medium-term facility, which will improve the cash flows, liquidity and the viability of COCOBOD and reduce high interest payment on bills”.

Government believes the syndicated loan facility with the seven banks, which has a three-year repayment period and a one-year grace period, will give Cocobod a respite in the face of the country’s liquidity challenges.

This year, Cocobod has sold more than US$500million of local bills to finance its operations, which include purchasing the beans from farmers in the world’s second-largest producer of the crop. The regulator has been selling more of the securities than expected since at least the 2012-2013 season. Source:B&FT                                                                                        

CSO worry over GH¢3.6m MMT buses rebranding

The Centre for Social Impact Studies (CeSIS), a research and advocacy organization, has expressed concern over government’s decision to use GH¢3.6million to rebrand 116 Metro Mass Transit (MMT) buses.  

According to the 2015 Annual Report on the Petroleum Funds discussed in Parliament, government spent GH¢31,457 on each bus, leading to a cumulative expenditure of GH¢3.6million. This expenditure incurred by the Ministry of Transport was made from the Petroleum Funds.

“We roundly condemn the use of petroleum funds to rebrand Metro Mass Transit buses. Not only is the expenditure for the rebranding immorally outrageous, but the very idea that they came from petroleum funds makes it even more disappointing to say the least.

“We are furthermore compelled to question the government’s own sense of priority in the utilisation of revenues.

“At a time when various regulatory and oversight agencies in the natural resource sector like the Minerals Commission, Environmental Protection Agency, Petroleum Commission and Public Interest and Accountability Committee are under-resourced, it makes no sense to spend GH¢3.6million to rebrand vehicles,” said in a statement signed by Richard Ellimah, Executive Director of CeSIS, and made available to the B&FT.

Mr. Ellimah said: “It is sad to note that successive governments have ignored key principles regarding natural resource revenue management, and gone ahead to utilise revenues on items of expenditure that add no value to the lives of residents living in frontline communities, or ameliorate their development challenges occasioned by the presence of these natural resources.

Considering the finite nature of natural resource revenues, it is absolutely necessary for government to concentrate expenditure on sectors like education, health, agricultural productivity and infrastructural development. This is the only way that the people of Ghana can collectively benefit from exploitation of their natural resources.

“We wish to once again call on government to refrain from spending natural resource revenues on items of expenditure that do not accrue to the benefit of residents living in frontline communities.  The wanton use of natural resource revenues for such reckless expenditure should give every Ghanaian cause for concern. Natural resource revenues are not like other conventional sources of revenue available to the state.

“For instance in the past we have seen mining revenues being used on recurrent expenditure like waste management, painting of district assembly administration buildings, purchase of fuel for District Chief Executives’ (DCEs)’ vehicles, repair of telecommunication facilities, among others.

“This has gone a long way to contribute to the increasing social tension in resource-rich communities. Sadly, after more than 100 years of “formal” mining in Ghana the country has very little to show for it.”

He explained that going by lessons in the mining sector, one would have thought that government -- since the discovery of oil and gas in 2007 and commercial production in December 2010 -- would be mindful of the need to utilise petroleum revenues prudently.

Several reports, including those of the Public Interest Accountability Committee (PIAC), have implicated government in the misuse of petroleum funds.

For the past three years mineral royalty has also not been paid, stalling development in mineral-dependent district assemblies.


Moreover, SEND Ghana -- a Ghanaian civil society organization -- reports that government’s own fertiliser subsidy programme has slumped from 50 percent in 2008 to 21 percent in 2015. 

Ghana Revenue Authority exults partnership with EOCO

The Ghana Revenue Authority (GRA) says its collaboration with the Economic and Organised Crime Office (EOCO) has been useful in dealing with delinquent taxpayers, as over 1,000 taxpayers who were outside the tax net have been identified.

GRA management and EOCO’s top management at the beginning of last year collaborated to retrieve taxes owed to state by recalcitrant individuals and institutions. The partnership, which has approval from the highest level of government, was to enable the GRA attain its goal of generating enough revenue for the state and also find ways of dealing with debtors that have long been on the Authority’s books.

Mr. George Blankson, Commissioner-General GRA, said this in Accra when presenting office equipment including computers, accessories, heavy-duty printers and photocopiers to management of the EOCO to enhance its operations.

Presenting the items, Mr. Blankson explained that the gesture was to strengthen the existing partnership between the two institutions.

He said the GRA is ready to extend the boundary of support to EOCO when revenues increased to enable them collaborate to enhance revenue collection target.     

Mr. Justice Tsar, acting Executive Director EOCO, said his outfit will continue to work in close collaboration with the GRA to help retrieve taxes owed to the state.


“The cooperation was necessary as a collective activity to bring the state the necessary revenue for development,” he remarked.

Unique Insurance holds 2015 Agents’ Appreciation Day

Unique Insurance Company Limited has awarded 10 best-performing insurance agents during the 2015 financial year, with a call to build formidable relationships between the client and the company. 

In 2014 the company made approximately GH₵6.3million and hopes to achieve about GH₵9million by the end of 2015. 

“As at 30th November 2015 we have already achieved GH₵8.4million, and as at the end of November we do not have an outstanding claims.  We have settled all claims and do not have any outstanding claims to be made,” said Mr. Victor Obeng-Adiyiah, Managing Director of the company, at the 2015 agents’ appreciation ceremony aimed at thanking the company’s agents nationwide for their outstanding performance during the financial year.
  
Presenting citations to the company’s deserving and hardworking staff at a colourful ceremony in Accra that brought together agents from nation-wide, Mr. Obeng-Adiyiah said: “The new phase of unique insurance is to bring strategic partnerships with our agencies and our clients. 

“We want to build relationships between the company and our clients, such that the client will feel part of the business; and it’s not just creating value for ourselves but we’ll have to create value for our clients. 

“We do that through our intermediates, the bookers and agencies and our strong marketing team spread over the country.” 

Unique Insurance operates about nine branches nationwide and boasts a highly technologically enabled network; and next year the company will unveil a new multi-purpose website that will allow people to make their claims, fill and submit their proposal forms, and submit their claims and demands on the Internet.  

The company expects to grow by 40% by end of the year 2015 as it grew by 34% last year.  This, he said, was achieved through collaboration with brokers and agencies in particular. 

 “I think we have the least broker business relationships. I mean most of our businesses come from our agents because we want to nurture and grow with them; that is how come we are appreciating our agents. 

“We want to appreciate them for what they have done so far; we want to sit talk and listen to their concerns and then get them addressed so that they can outperform what they did this year. In 2016 we want to double-up and grow faster than we did last year,” Obeng-Adiyiah said. 

Explaining the role of the agency and marketing team to participants, he urged the agents to attempt reaching out to the unreached, “as that is our core business; and this technology and innovation we are bringing on board is going to help the upper and middle-class market as well, so even though we have segments in our market we are attacking all fronts.  We have these mediums of reaching out to each market so we have our agencies, our branch, our staff going out; we have our brokers and we have this website which is on trial, and we going to launch come early next year.” 

Unique Insurance (UIC) was incorporated in October 1999 and licenced by the Ghana National Insurance Commission to underwrite General Insurance businesses is a member of the Ghana Insurers Association. 

The company is owned by influential local workers’ unions: a financial house and high net worth individuals, the Ghana Mine Workers Union, Jislah Financial Holdings, the TUC and other Workers’ Unions including the Ghana National Association of Teachers and other cooperative organisations are shareholders of the company. 


It is affiliated to the International Cooperative and Mutual Insurance Federation (ICMIF) with its secretariat based in Manchester, United Kingdom. The ICMIF is represented in about 72 countries by 200 insurance companies, and controls 30% of the global insurance market. Unique Insurance Company Limited is the only member from Ghana.

University of Limerick and UG sign MoU

The University of Limerick, Ireland, has signed a formal agreement with the University of Ghana to facilitate collaboration between the institutions and develop models of cooperation in a number of areas, including education and academic research.

The signing ceremony took place during a visit to the University of Ghana by Irish Minister for Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine, Simon Coveney T.D., and Ireland's Ambassador to Nigeria, Ghana & Senegal, Sean Hoy.

This signing marks the first agreement between an Irish university and the University of Ghana. It was attended by the Vice Chancellor of the University of Ghana, Professor Ernest Aryeetey, and Vice President Academic and Registrar of the University of Limerick, Professor Paul McCutcheon.

The memorandum of understanding (MoU) will enable collaboration between the two universities and provide the framework to explore co-operation on academic programmes; development of joint research activities; facilitation of university staff exchanges; training and development post-graduate students; student exchange and/or visiting programmes; exchange of information, research collaboration in areas of mutual interest, and any other activities viewed to be mutually beneficial.

Professor McCutcheon at the ceremony stated the groundbreaking agreement is in keeping with the University of Limerick’s (UL) new strategic thinking, ‘Broadening Horizons’, which is outward-looking in every sense.

The university is building connections to communities and businesses, to external collaborators, and to the international scene.

He pointed out that the University of Limerick, like the University of Ghana, is a research-led institution and looked forward to an exciting and fruitful collaboration at all levels. The Vice President announced the award of scholarships to UG students for postgraduate studies at the masters and doctorate levels.

Commenting on the agreement, Minister Simon Coveney pointed out that while this is the first formal agreement between an Irish and Ghanaian University, Ireland has had a long association with the University of Ghana.

Dr. Conor Cruise-O’Brien, an Irish academic and politician, was appointed Vice Chancellor of the University of Ghana by Ghana’s first president Dr. Kwame Nkrumah in 1963, and remained VC until 1965. In fact, 2015 is the 50th anniversary of his tenure ending.

Dr. Conor Cruise-O’Brien came to President Nkrumah’s attention when he was the special UN Representative in the newly-independent Congo in 1961.  He was delighted to see the bust of Conor Cruise-O’Brien in the forecourt of the VC’s office.

The Vice-Chancellor of the University of Ghana, Professor Ernest Aryeetey, stated that the agreement with a research-led university is part of his vision for the UG to become a world-class research-intensive university over the next decade. He looks forward to a genuine and active partnership between the two institutions.

The University of Limerick, Ireland, was established in 1972 and named 'University of the Year’ 2015 in the Sunday Times Good University Guide.  UL’s leading position in graduate employability, strong research commercialisation, the €52million Bernal Project in science and engineering, and a rising academic performance were among reasons for the Award.


The University of Ghana was established in 1948 and is Ghana’s oldest and largest tertiary institution. It is the highest-ranked university in Ghana. It is seeking to become a world-class research-intensive university over the next decade, and is focused on enhancing the quality of post-graduate programmes and research.

Revenue Administration Bill submitted to Cabinet

The Deputy Minister of Finance, Mrs. Mona Quartey, has said the proposed Revenue Administration Bill is in its final draft and will be submitted to Cabinet for onward transmission to Parliament for passage.

“All the common administrative provisions in the previous tax laws have been pooled together into a single legislation. I wish to inform you that the proposed Revenue Administration Bill is in the final draft and will be submitted to Cabinet very soon for onward transmission to Parliament.”

The B&FT has gathered that the Revenue Administrative Bill is expected to be laid in Parliament during 2016. Its passage will focus on measures that will ensure tax compliance and improve revenue administration rather than introduce new taxes.

These measures will include the following: moving all processes to an electronic platform and accelerating the shift to a functional form of administration in all tax offices; review the current thresholds for classification of persons as large, medium or small to reflect current trends; establish joint audit/investigation teams to conduct audits and investigations; intensify the monitoring of Free Zones Enterprises by rolling-out the Integrated Free Zones Unit in line with the 2nd GRA Strategic Plan 2015 -2017. 

The measures will also implement the Electronic Point of Sale project and roll-out fully the excise tax stamp project. 

Mrs. Quartey said this at the official launching of the new Income Tax Act 2015, Act (896) which seeks to revise and consolidate the law relating to income tax and simplify provisions of the Act.

The Act also makes it more user-friendly, retains provisions that are peculiar to income tax administration, and also enhances efficiency and facilitates compliance while broadening the tax base -- removing the narrow and distorted tax base of the Internal Revenue Act 2000 (Act 592); thus rationalising, streamlining and restricting tax concessions in the country.

“A great challenge facing our nation today is the ever-increasing demand for development and the needed revenue to meet such demands.  Government finds such demands legitimate and part of the social contract between citizens and government. Such demands also serve as a constant reminder for government to find avenues of raising revenue,” she said.

She stated that the national governments must have the revenue necessary to fund operations of their various departments, provide infrastructure and services for the population, invest in economic development, and advance various other priorities.

“To be able to raise the required revenue, government must be able to enhance the main mission of tax administration, which is to collect the tax revenue due from taxpayers under the country’s tax laws without hindering private sector development,” she indicated.

The main responsibilities of the tax administration, she explained, is to administer tax laws fairly and impartially and also minimise the cost and burden on taxpayers in complying with their tax obligations.

“ It is in this light that l see the launch as another means of letting our countrymen/women know the law that regulates the payment of tax from their hard-earned income, and of need to honour their tax obligations,” Mrs. Quartey said, adding that the role of taxes in the lives of any nation’s people cannot be over-emphasised. It is largely in this regard that nations and governments attach great importance to taxation, and have tax laws as key parts of their domestic legislation.

Taxation, she explained, is a major fiscal tool in mobilising revenue and directing investment flow -- and has never been popular. One political maxim is that no one likes paying taxes.

“However unpopular, we must also remember that taxation is the price we pay to live in civilised societies. While the tax administrator aims at maximising revenue, the tax payer finds ways and means of paying the minimum tax possible,” she said.

The Commissioner General of the Ghana Revenue Authority, Mr. George Blankson, said the integration of Revenue Agencies in 2010 created a need for the harmonisation of administrative and new tax laws expressing the need to incorporate charging provisions and administrative processes peculiar to the divisions.

Prior to passage of the Ghana Revenue Authority Act, 2009 (Act 791), the three revenue agencies had their respective tax laws made up of the charging provisions and administrative provisions. Some of the administrative provisions were common to the respective tax laws, while other provisions were inconsistent with similar ones in these tax laws.

Income Tax administration in Ghana has seen several challenges over the years. The business environment within which the tax administrator operates has been in a continuous state of flux. Technological, social, economic and cultural factors have had great impacts on the tax administrator over the years. The growing complexities of business organisations and the advancement in technology call for a tax administrator who is abreast with changing trends in society.

For a number of reasons, efficient tax administration is a major problem in developing countries. Not only do developing governments face an uphill battle in bringing individuals and businesses into the taxation process, but there are also challenges arising from insufficient administrative staff, high levels of illiteracy among taxpayers, lack of sufficient equipment and facilities, and lack of reliable statistical data…all negatively affecting revenue mobilisation.

Apart from these challenges confronting developing nations: “Ghana’s problems seem to have been compounded by a direct tax act, the Internal Revenue Act 2000 Act, which was complex and not user-friendly. There is therefore need to replace it with a new Act that takes into consideration international best practice”.

Mr. Blankson said the Income Tax Act, 2015 (Act 896) is therefore part of the process of reorganising the tax laws known as the Tax Law Project, confirming that it reorganises the residual provisions in Act 592; simplifies it and makes it user-friendly, while retaining provisions that are peculiar to income tax administration.

These include provisions which specifically guide the different methods and time for payment: including tax payable by withholding, tax payable by installment and tax payable by assessment to improve/enhance efficiency and facilitate compliance. Added to these was the striking narrow and distorted nature of the tax base in the Internal Revenue Act, 2000 Act 592.

Ralph Tufour, Chairman of the launch, remarked that the GRA has since integration of the revenue agencies strived to improve service delivery, re-engineer its business processes and procedures, and simplify the tax laws to make them user-friendly.

“It is in this light that the Income Tax Act, 2015 (ACT 896) and the other tax acts must be seen. Since 2010, the GRA has through the Tax Laws Project, an initiative in the GRA Strategic Plan, worked closely with government and Parliament to pass the following Acts.

“It is important to remember as Ghanaians that the bottom line for provision of the needed infrastructural and social facilities and the many other numerous requests citizens legitimately make on government is revenue,” he said.

He added that people must therefore strike the needed partnership between our business activities and the tax administration, and accord taxation the required priority.

“It is time to stop the practice of putting our tax affairs on the back burner until we are compelled by circumstances to deal with them. We must appreciate that nothing gets done without revenue,” he remarked.


Nov inflation rate up to 17.6%

The year-on-year inflation for the month of November inched up marginally to 17.6 percent, up by 0.2 percentage points from the October 2015 figure of 17.4 percent, latest figures released by the Ghana Statistical Service have shown.

The figure is the highest inflation rate since July 2015, which was mainly driven by increases in cost of food, housing and utilities, transportation and clothing during the period under review.

Mr. Baah Wadieh, Deputy Government Statistician speaking at a media briefing in Accra, said the year-on-year food inflation rate for November was 7.9 percent compared with the 7.8 percent recorded for October 2015.

“We also have the year-on-year non-food inflation rate for November 2015, reading at 23.2 percent as compared with the 23.0 percent recorded in October 2015,” he said.

He explained that the year-on-year inflation rate for imported items of 18.6 percent for November 2015 was 1.4 percent higher than that for locally produced items at 17.2 percent.

Year-on-year, prices food and non-alcoholic beverages rose at a faster rate of 7.9 percent compared with the October figure of 7.8 percent; housing, water, electricity, gas and other fuels went up by 24.1 percent, with the previous month’s figure recording 23.1 percent while transport went up by 26.2 percent.

Clothing and footwear rose by 25.6 percent (+24.5 percent in October) and education increased 29.6 percent (+28.8 percent in October).

In contrast, cost of hotels and cafes (+18.1 percent from +18.7 percent in October) and recreation and culture (+26.5 percent from +29.9 percent in October) increased at a slower pace. 

The price-drivers for the food inflation rate were vegetables (13.4 percent), and mineral water, soft drinks, fruit and vegetable juices (8.4 percent) as the main price drivers for the food inflation rate.

Fast growth in the economy driven by exports of gold cocoa and oil has been undermined by fiscal challenges, including the rising budget deficit.

Imported inflation is expected to rise during this month to the December festive season, and this could influence the index in coming months. The monthly consumer prices went up by 1.0 percent, compared to a 2.7 percent rise in the previous month. 

Three regions -- namely Upper West, Greater Accra and Ashanti -- recorded inflation rates higher than the national average of 17.6 percent.


The Upper West Region recorded the highest year-on-year rate of 19.1 percent, while the Upper East Region recorded the lowest inflation rate of 13.0 percent.

Nov inflation rate up to 17.6%

The year-on-year inflation for the month of November inched up marginally to 17.6 percent, up by 0.2 percentage points from the October 2015 figure of 17.4 percent, latest figures released by the Ghana Statistical Service have shown.

The figure is the highest inflation rate since July 2015, which was mainly driven by increases in cost of food, housing and utilities, transportation and clothing during the period under review.

Mr. Baah Wadieh, Deputy Government Statistician speaking at a media briefing in Accra, said the year-on-year food inflation rate for November was 7.9 percent compared with the 7.8 percent recorded for October 2015.

“We also have the year-on-year non-food inflation rate for November 2015, reading at 23.2 percent as compared with the 23.0 percent recorded in October 2015,” he said.

He explained that the year-on-year inflation rate for imported items of 18.6 percent for November 2015 was 1.4 percent higher than that for locally produced items at 17.2 percent.

Year-on-year, prices food and non-alcoholic beverages rose at a faster rate of 7.9 percent compared with the October figure of 7.8 percent; housing, water, electricity, gas and other fuels went up by 24.1 percent, with the previous month’s figure recording 23.1 percent while transport went up by 26.2 percent.

Clothing and footwear rose by 25.6 percent (+24.5 percent in October) and education increased 29.6 percent (+28.8 percent in October).

In contrast, cost of hotels and cafes (+18.1 percent from +18.7 percent in October) and recreation and culture (+26.5 percent from +29.9 percent in October) increased at a slower pace. 

The price-drivers for the food inflation rate were vegetables (13.4 percent), and mineral water, soft drinks, fruit and vegetable juices (8.4 percent) as the main price drivers for the food inflation rate.

Fast growth in the economy driven by exports of gold cocoa and oil has been undermined by fiscal challenges, including the rising budget deficit.

Imported inflation is expected to rise during this month to the December festive season, and this could influence the index in coming months. The monthly consumer prices went up by 1.0 percent, compared to a 2.7 percent rise in the previous month. 

Three regions -- namely Upper West, Greater Accra and Ashanti -- recorded inflation rates higher than the national average of 17.6 percent.


The Upper West Region recorded the highest year-on-year rate of 19.1 percent, while the Upper East Region recorded the lowest inflation rate of 13.0 percent.

41 Irish companies explore business opportunities

Ireland’s Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine, Mr. Simon Coveney, has led the largest-ever Irish trade mission to Ghana, involving about 41 Irish companies, to explore business opportunities and deepen bilateral relations within the sub-region.

The delegation was comprised of 17 representative companies from the Pharmaceutical, Life Sciences, Medical Devices, Aviation, Construction, Oil & Gas, Education services, Food, Software, Financial Services and Telecommunications sectors. 

Last year, Irish bilateral merchandise trade with Ghana was worth €38.7million, with exports of €36.3million.

The trade mission spearheaded by Enterprise Ireland was aimed at growing export sales by 60% to €600million by 2018. It was also targetted at increasing the profile of Ireland’s business among Ghana and Nigeria while developing trade and business opportunities across a broad range of goods and services, which will play a key part in reaching this target.

At a media briefing in Accra, Mr. Coveney said the idea of the mission was not simply to sell but also build on the existing foothold in the West African sub-region.

 “I am very pleased to be here in Ghana, a country which is now firmly established as one of our key trading partners. It has particularly grown in significance over recent years, such that it is now one of our primary non-EU export destinations. The next two days here will be about exploring further opportunities for cooperation between Ghana and Ireland across a range of sectors from agro-food to energy to education,” Minister Coveney stated.

Ghana is a significant market for Irish meat, with exports of €8million of Irish beef last year and €2million of Irish poultry. This makes Ghana one of the leading beef export destinations outside the EU after the US, Hong Kong and the Philippines.

“Our visit to Ghana is a very important step in increasing the bilateral relationship between the two countries. Ireland currently exports 50 million euros of agricultural produce and dairy products into Ghana.”

Mr. Coveney observed that Ghana presents an opportunity because of the stable economy, high standard of education and the population, making it an attractive market for transfer of technology know-how in the field of finance and agriculture.   
    
He said the Irish government is committed to building a stronger and more vibrant relationship with West Africa, initially focusing on Nigeria and Ghana.

“I have seen the relationship between Ireland and Nigeria and Ghana go from strength to strength,” adding that the relationship continues to broaden through political visits, trade and educational and tourism links, increased cultural exchanges and growing contacts.

 There has been substantial increase in trade and investment between Ireland and Nigeria and Ghana, with total exports to Nigeria and Ghana reaching over 375 million euros in 2014.

The Chief Executive Officer of Enterprise Ireland, Julie Sinnamon, said the trade mission is about helping Irish companies to optimise the opportunity that exists -- adding that the ambition is to reach export sales of 600 million euros to the region by 2018.

“It is also a country that is now firmly established as one of our key trading partners. It has particularly grown in significance over recent years, such that it is now one of our primary non-EU export destinations.

“My visit here will be about exploring further opportunities for cooperation between Ghana and Ireland across a range of sectors, from agri-food to energy to education,” he said.

Nigeria has the biggest economy in Africa and the 20th-largest economy in the world. Both Nigeria and Ghana are experiencing healthy economic growth, and with a combined population of over 200 million, the region presents valuable opportunities for Irish companies in the agri food, education, training, geoscience and engineering, financial services and technology sectors.