Puma Energy to enter retail market

International fuel trader Puma Energy is gearing up to enter the fuel retail market in Ghana, after acquiring Oil Marketing Company – UBI.

 

Speaking to the B&FT in Johannesburg during the company’s launch of operations in South Africa, Chief Operating Officer Christophe Zyde said through the UBI acquisition the company has got some 18 fuel stations, with an additional two, to start with. 

Puma Energy, he said, has acquired a licence and necessary authorisation from the National Petroleum Authority to operate as an oil marketing company in the country.

“Two weeks ago, we received approval from the NPA to change the name UBI to Puma Energy; and that, of course, will go hand in hand with rebranding the fuel stations. You will now see the Puma Energy brand coming up in Ghana,” Christophe Zyde said.

The company, he said, has met the NPA’s requirement that stipulates OMCs coming from abroad should be 50%-owned by Ghanaians to encourage strong local participation in the business of oil marketing.

“We are truly a Ghanaian company because more than 50% of our shareholding is Ghanaian,” he said.

While it is now entering the retail sector, Puma Energy is not new to Ghana; it is already a major player in the supply of aviation fuel. The company has a number of infrastructures in the country -- a 46million litre depot in Takoradi, an aviation depot at the Kotoka Aiport, and an ongoing 100million litre terminal in Tema.

The company currently sells some 6billion litres of fuel in 47 countries globally,19 of which are in Africa. 

“In Africa we have 660 retail stations, and I can tell you that those statistics are typically valid only for a week because they keep changing,” Christophe Zyde said. 

“Puma Energy’s business model is to link demand with supply, through investment in infrastructure. It therefore makes a lot of sense for Puma Energy to be in Africa because it is a high-growth area, but there is a lack of infrastructure,” he said.Source:B&FT

Nana Addo promises tax reforms

Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo Addo, leader of the country’s largest opposition party, the New Patriotic Party (NPP), has pledged to introduce a raft of tax reforms to lessen the burden on consumers and businesses should he win the November 7 polls.

 

The former Foreign Affairs Minister under the NPP administration, 2001-2008, who is now the flagbearer of the opposition party, said the introduction of some tax measures by the ruling National Democratic Congress (NDC) has further compounded the plight of businesses.

Nana Akufo Addo was speaking at a press conference held in response to the State of the Nation address presented by President John Dramani Mahama to Parliament last Thursday.

According to the opposition leader, businesses under the administration of President Mahama face several challenges including the nagging power crisis as well as high cost of credit -- which is as a result of government borrowing on the domestic market.

He stated that while businesses are finding it difficult to operate under such trying circumstances, the worst government could do was to introduce more taxes to exacerbate the already high cost of doing businesses in the country.

He told a packed room full of party functionaries and pressmen that his approach “will be different from the tax, borrow and spend approach of the Mahama administration. My priority will be to reduce the cost of doing business to help small and medium-scale enterprises grow and make the Ghanaian economy become globally competitive.”

“We will provide tax incentives for increasing productivity. We are opposed to National Democratic Congress measures that cripple businesses and cause unemployment.   

“My intention is to reduce the corporate tax rate, abolish VAT on Financial Services, and remove duties on the importation of raw materials and manufacturing equipment, amongst other fiscal incentives to stimulate growth of the private sector,” he said,

Government in 2014 introduced a 17.5 percent VAT on fee-based financial services in line with the revised VAT law, which expanded coverage of the tax to include financial transactions and a host of new, previously unaffected sectors.

Financial transactions on which VAT are levied include debit and credit card usage, and banking services which are delivered or accessed via a mobile phone or the Internet.

Reacting to concerns that the tax could derail the central bank’s strong efforts to promote a society in which less cash is used as compared to electronic payment tools, Head of the BoG’s Financial Stability Department Dr. Benjamin Amoah said: “While we admit it may not help in our pursuit of a cash-lite society, changes can only come from Parliament”.

Introduction of the tax was greeted with public uproar, forcing its implementation to be shelved till sometime in January 2015, several months after Parliament gave its approval.

As a way of boosting job-creation by the private sector, the opposition leader promised that he will introduce “an enhanced employment Tax Credit Scheme to provide incentives for companies employing fresh graduates”. 

According to the Finance Ministry, the country’s total tax revenue for this year is estimated at GH¢28,868.5 million, representing 18.2 percent of GDP. With the reforms proposed by the opposition leader, it is not immediately clear as to what impact these reforms will have on tax revenue should they be implemented. Source:B&FT

Waste management by-laws need strengthening

Discussants at a plastic waste management debate have called for an urgent review of the country’s waste management by-laws to help maintain environmental cleanliness in the country’s cities, which has remained a daunting task for local authorities over the years.

They agreed that despite all efforts, the country simply has not found above-average solutions to waste management; be it solid, liquid, hazardous or even radioactive materials. 

The discussants, Dr. Edward Larbi-Siaw, Tax Policy Adviser at the Ministry of Finance; Mrs. Ama Ofori-Antwi, Executive Secretary of Environmental Services Providers Association; and Mr. Quaranchie Adama-Tettey, Project Coordinator, Plastic Water Collectors Association, made this known in Accra at a panel discussion organised by the Ghana Journalist Association’s Business Advocate programme.

Aimed at exploring some of the causes for the country’s environmental sanitation policy dilemma and considering the possible way forward, the programme was supported by the Business Sector Advocacy Fund (BUSAC), Denmark Embassy and the United States Agency for International Development.

Dr. Larbi-Siaw disclosed government has so far received GH¢44.3million from the waste management fund between 2011 and 2014, and that the money is yet to be disbursed to the various service providers to enable them to manage waste in an effective and efficient manner, because the regulations to govern its operations are not ready.

He was optimistic that by the end of 2016 the required legal regulations and document on disbursement modalities will have been developed to ensure onward transfer of the funds to service providers in waste management.

Dr. Larbi-Siaw explained that when the legal documentation is finalised for disbursement, it will follow the Export Trade, Agricultural and Industrial Development Fund’s structure.

“Let me assure our stakeholders that government is committed in giving out the money. We want to increase productivity in the economy.

“The modalitieswill be spelt out and we are even thinking about migrating onto the green fund, and they should rely on government -- both Ministry of Finance and Local Government -- for our highest support.”

He explained that waste management is a shared responsibility and urged Ghanaians to keep their surroundings clean. “Water scarcity or pollution means fish stocks will reduce, soil degradation reduces yields and output, and deforestation pushes you near to desert conditions. This is why it is in the interests of government to ensure that environmental cleanliness is in place.

“If we get enough funding the general public awareness will be enhanced, which will require capacity development, information sharing, education and communication,” he stated.

Mr. Adama-Tettey confirmed working with some city authorities and dealing with people based on the waste management by-laws; and said that in 2007 city authorities introduced a programme on plastic waste to promote easy collection for recycling. 

This, he said, has grown over time and generated a lot of income and employment for a lot of Ghanaians, with minor waste collectors numbering over 7,000; but it has observed some major challenges and cost implications because of lacking logistics. 

Commenting on punitive measures under the by-laws, he indicated that the current fine of GH¢300 or in default six months imprisonment is outrageous -- but he suggested the inclusion of Community Service as a penalty or sentence on conviction for open littering, which would be much easier to enforce and “I trust that the review could deal with some of the challenges”.

Ofori-Antwi called for effective enforcement of the sanitation laws: “We need enforcement for the sanitation by-laws.  It’s illegal to openly dump refuse, practice open defecation, littering, burning refuse, and refusing to subscribe to service providers in waste management. So we need to enforce and do a lot of education”.

She called for strengthening the assemblies which have the power to enforce, adding that for service providers the delay in paying for services rendered is a bane that threatens their survival.

She explained that sanitation should be embedded in the property rate so that the service provider will not go from house to house to collect debts.

“This should be backed by policy and be embedded in an existing system. This policy dimension is required to salvage the mess we are in now,” she remarked.