Browsing: Ghana

The Ghananian government officially handed over the headquarters of the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) Secretariat to the African Union.

The ceremony which was held in Accra, Ghana was attended by Ghanaian President Nana Akufo-Addo, Moussa Faki Mahamat, African Union Commission Chairman and AfCFTA Secretary-General Wamkele Mene.

Ghana was selected as the venue for the headquarters by African leaders during a Summit of AU heads of states in July 2019, to launch the implementation phase of the African Continental Free Trade Area.

“The economic integration of Africa will lay strong foundations for an Africa beyond aid. Africa’s new sense of urgency and aspiration of true self-reliance will be amply demonstrated by today’s ceremony,” Akufo-Addo said.

He also appealed to 28 member states that have not ratified to do so before the next AU summit in December so as to pave the way for the smooth commencement of trading from …

The African Development Bank approved a grant worth $69 million to support Ghana’s efforts to tackle the COVID-19 pandemic and mitigate its socio-economic impact.

The grant is from the African Development Fund (ADF) a concessional arm of the African Development Bank.

The grant will provide fiscal budget support to finance the national COVID-19 Emergency Preparedness and Response Plan and Coronavirus Alleviation Program in Ghana.

The funds will specifically help upgrade the capacity of healthcare facilities to isolate, diagnose and care for the patient and provide more pharmaceuticals, test kits, equipment and beds. It will also support financial incentives and an insurance package for health and allied professionals as well as ensure adequate personal protective equipment (PPE) for health workers.

“Overall, the objective is to help contain the spread of the virus, expand testing and ease the impact of the virus on social and economic life, through measures aimed at protecting …

Investment banking fees in Sub-Saharan Africa reached an estimated US$128.2 million during the first quarter of 2020, a decline of 15 per cent from last year’s strong start.

Advisory fees earned from completed mergers and acquisitions (M&A) transactions generated US$33.5 million, down 38 per cent year-on-year, while syndicated lending fees declined 47 per cent to US$35.7 million.

The authors of the report, Refinitiv, note that Equity capital markets underwriting fees more than tripled to reach US$36.7 million, a first quarter total only exceeded twice since the company’s records began in 2000.

China’s Belt and Road Initiative, AfCFTA to anchor Africa’s economy

Bond underwriting fees increased 20 per cent to US$22.3 million, again the third-highest first quarter fee total since our records began.

Almost one-quarter of fees in the region during the first quarter of 2020 were earned from government and agency deals.  Almost two-thirds of all fees were generated in …

For Tullow Oil, the year 2020 has not started particularly well with collapsing hopes, poor oil output and boardroom maneuvers almost pushing the British oil firm into oblivion. In the peak of the storm, the company lost half its value on the stock market after bad fairing in Ghana and Guyana and a delay in the sale of the Ugandan stake. This led to global readjustment with the Kenyan operations announcing job cuts.

This is a situation well explained by Dorothy Thompson, Executive Chair, Tullow Oil plc.  “This has been an intense period for Tullow as we have worked hard on a thorough review of the business which has led to clear conclusions and decisive actions. We are focused on delivering reliable production, lowering our cost base and managing our portfolio to reduce our debt and strengthen our balance sheet. Even with recent events in oil markets, Tullow’s assets remain …

Since the turn of the century, Africa’s GDP has grown by 4.6 per cent annually, on average.

Domestic demand has been Africa’s key driver of the growth performance accounting for 69 per cent of annual growth between 2000 and 2018, according to the African Union (AU).

The AU notes that this is reflected in the demand for processed food which is growing 1.5 times faster than the global average. On the other hand, the demand for many other products such as vehicles, manufactured metals and industrial machinery, is expanding faster than the global average.

This makes it a good opportunity for local firms to grow in size and productivity.

Start-ups in Africa

On the tech front, start-ups in Africa have also increasingly emerged with the top three activities relating to information technology and communications (ICT) and internet services; digital applications and software; and the creation of audio-visual content and broadcasting.…

Already, the decision is sending shockwaves around the chocolate world with those opposed to the move painting a doom and gloom picture of why the plan cannot work.…

Leading mobile payments company WorldRemit saw a 43% growth in remittances to Africa from higher-income nations in 2019.

The top five countries receiving remittances from the diaspora in 2019 included Ghana, Kenya, Uganda, Zimbabwe, with Nigeria receiving the most remittances. The top sending countries to the region included the United States, Australia, Canada, and Sweden, with the UK sending the most remittances.

The diaspora plays a key role in Africa’s development story, today the value of remittances is three times larger than official development assistance (ODA) and forecasted to become higher than foreign direct investment for a handful of African countries in 2019.

WorldRemit has disrupted an industry previously dominated by offline legacy players by taking international money transfers online – making them safer, faster and lower-cost. We currently send from 50 to 150 countries, operate in 6,500 money transfer corridors worldwide and employ over 800 people worldwide.

On the …

Remittances to Sub-Saharan Africa are set to increase by over 5.6 per cent between 2019 and 2020…

The Chinese government offered Ghana a grant of $42.62 million for economic and technical projects implementation.

The economic and technical cooperation agreement was signed on Thursday by Chinese Ambassador to Ghana Wang Shiting and Kenneth Ofori-Atta Ghana’s Finance Minister.

This follows Madam Sun Chunlan China’s First Premier visit to Ghana where she had promised to give the grant to finance some economic and technical projects.

The Minister of Finance, Ken Ofori-Atta commended the Chinese government for its continuous support to Ghana during the signing ceremony in Accra

Also Read: Ghana hosts key African Continental Free Trade Area meetings

“We would like to acknowledge the immense support the government of the People’s Republic of China has provided Ghana over the decades especially in the areas of infrastructure, information communication technology, trade and investment, tourism and education including technical vocation education training,” he said.

Mr Ofori-Atta said the grant would be used …

Ghana hosts the 17th Meeting of the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) Negotiating Forum which began on Tuesday this week at the Accra International Conference Centre.

An official statement, issued by Ghana’s Public Relations Office of the Ministry of Trade said the three-day meeting would be followed by the 10th meeting of the Committee of Senior Trade Officials which will begin from December 12 to 13, 2019. While the African Ministers of Trade Meeting and the AfCFTA Council of Ministers Meeting will follow from December 14 to 15, 2019.

According to the statement, the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) Negotiating Forum will seek to finalise outstanding works on the first phase negotiations which deal with the trade in goods and services protocols and dispute settlement mechanisms.

The meeting will also see the establishment of technical Working Groups on investments, competition policy and intellectual property rights.

AfCFTA is a …