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Ghana AIDS Commission launches updated website
By Oladele AWOLERI People Living with HIV/AIDS will soon be able to access an HIV/AIDS special fund aside from other funds available for the Ghana AIDS Commission?s activities, if it is approved by Cabinet. This was revealed by the Director-General of the commission, Professor S. A. Amoa, during the launch of an updated website of the commission [...]
Source : BusinessWeek Ghana | 21-Nov-2007 13:44

CPP Settles on ¢100m Filing Fee
The top decision-making body of the Convention Peoples Party (CPP), the National Executive Council, last week held a meeting in which it settled on a ¢100 million as filing fee for its presidential aspirants. The council also settled on November 24 as the date for the party?s delegates congress which will elect a flagbearer as well [...]
Source : BusinessWeek Ghana | 21-Nov-2007 13:43

GRAND MASTER CHOA KOK SUI
Modern Founder of Pranic Healing and Arhatic Yoga
Source : BusinessWeek Ghana | 21-Nov-2007 13:43

ICAG Urges Enforcement of Anti-Corruption Laws
As political campaigning ahead of next year?s general elections begins to heat up, the Kufuor administration?s top contenders are united, at least in their glowing tribute to the incumbent government?s macro-economic management performance, since it assumed power in January 2001. To be sure, the figures support their collective assertions. Economic growth has nearly doubled its pace, while inflation has fallen to barely a third of its level at the beginning of the year and interest rates have been halved.
Source : BusinessWeek Ghana | 21-Nov-2007 13:43

Marketing Communication Agencies Strengthen Global Ties
About six international marketing communication agencies have met in Paris, France to discuss issues affecting the industry globally. The meeting was also to strengthen the relationship among them.
Source : BusinessWeek Ghana | 21-Nov-2007 13:42

10% Rise in Minimum Wage Proposed
The Tripartite Committee on wages has proposed an increase of about 10% on the daily minimum wage. The committee on which government is represented by the Ministry of Manpower, Youth and Employment together with the Trades Union Congress (TUC) and the Ghana Employers Association (GEA) has been meeting to fine tune the proposal. The increase is expected to be announced early 2008.
Source : BusinessWeek Ghana | 21-Nov-2007 13:40

Baah-Wiredu Presents 2008 Budget
? minority says it?s unrealistic By Kofi AHOVI The government expects to spend an estimated amount of GH¢819.7 million on three priority areas; road infrastructure, water and energy under the 2008 fiscal policy for the country which was presented to Parliament last week. Out of this amount, an estimated GH¢199.2 million would be spent integrating [...]
Source : BusinessWeek Ghana | 21-Nov-2007 13:40

Why China Beats Its Competitors
Low costs give Chinese investors in Africa a competitive advantage over their counterparts from other countries, a Chinese analyst told the U.S.-Africa Business Summit in Cape Town.
Source : BusinessWeek Ghana | 19-Nov-2007 16:14

MMDAs & MDAs are reactive to financial fraud, abuse & waste
In a typical Ghanaian way, the response from many management executives of ministries, departments and agencies (MDAs) and metropolitan municipal and districts assemblies (MMDAs) to internal audit systems being put in place has been reactive instead of being proactive.
Source : BusinessWeek Ghana | 19-Nov-2007 16:11

Commodities
Oil Trades below $94 after Falling on U.S. Stockpile Increase Crude oil traded below $94 a barrel in New York last Friday after falling earlier on a report showing U.S. imports rose for a third week.
Source : BusinessWeek Ghana | 19-Nov-2007 16:09

Audit Service Constrained ? PAC Chair
The chairman of the Public Accounts Committee (PAC of Parliament, Samuel Sallas-Mensah has called for increment in the budgetary allocation of the Audit Service to enable it perform efficiently.
Source : BusinessWeek Ghana | 19-Nov-2007 12:26

Industrialists Urged to Raise Output
The Deputy Minister of Trade, Industry, President?s Special Initiative (PSI) and Private Sector Development (PSD), Kwaku Agyeman-Manu, has urged industrialists to increase productivity and pay attention to problem solving in their enterprises as a way of growing their businesses.
Source : BusinessWeek Ghana | 19-Nov-2007 12:23

Executive Profile: DR. KOFI KONADU APRAKU
He is a visionary, strong effective and competent leader. He is youthful, yet matured and experience at 53 years of age. He is an articulate, dynamic and issues-oriented leader.
Source : BusinessWeek Ghana | 19-Nov-2007 12:12

2008 BUDGET: GOVT MUST WALK THE TALK
Kwadwo Baah-Wiredu, Minister for Finance and Economic Planning, last Thursday, November 15, 2007, presented the Budget Statement and Economic Policy for the 2008 financial year to Parliament.
Source : BusinessWeek Ghana | 19-Nov-2007 12:10

Gov?t targets 7% GDP for 2008
The government of Ghana has set a 7% Gross Domestic Product (GDP) for next year as against 6.5% targeted for 2007. Though this year?s target was not achieved due to major shocks in the economy, particularly in the energy sector, the governmenet is hopeful of achieving the 7% target as the robustness of the economy over the year is expected to continue.
Source : BusinessWeek Ghana | 19-Nov-2007 12:03

Mobile phone users face double taxation
All current and potential mobile phone users in the country should brace up for paying more for talking on their phones come next year, according to Kwadwo Baah-Wiredu, Minister of Finance and Economic Planning.
Source : BusinessWeek Ghana | 19-Nov-2007 12:01

TUC makes proposals for 2008 Budget
In line with the government?s collaboration with the private sector for economic growth, the Trades Union Congress (TUC), the umbrella labour union for Ghanaian workers, has offered inputs into the 2008 budget. As usual employment and incomes are the priority areas that TUC wants the government to address in next year?s budget. According to the TUC, though the country has consistently recorded economic growth in the past two decades, employment creation is still sluggish.
Source : BusinessWeek Ghana | 14-Nov-2007 10:44

Ashiaman roads to be upgraded
Following its recent upgrading to a municipal status, roads within the Ashiaman community are to undergo serious upgrading to befit its status. The Ministry of Roads and Transport?s strategic plan for 2008 to 2012 shows that over the period, a total of about 17 kilometers of gravel roads in Ashiaman are expected to be upgraded to bitumen surface.
Source : BusinessWeek Ghana | 13-Nov-2007 15:18

GT Relocates 620 Payphones
Ghana Telecom has relocated its payphones mounted at areas where patronage is low due to improvement in mobile telephony service in the urban areas. The beneficiaries are mostly in the hinterlands where their services would be much more needed.
Source : BusinessWeek Ghana | 13-Nov-2007 15:13

Ghana?s Insurers eye oil and gas
Ghana?s general insurance industry is beginning to look up to oil and gas insurance for a new spurt of growth. The discovery of oil off the Western Region?s coast, in commercial quantities is being seen by the insurance industry as a vast new vista of opportunity.
Source : BusinessWeek Ghana | 13-Nov-2007 00:38

Stanchart Bank launches insurance product
Standard Chartered Bank Ghana Limited has partnered Enterprise Life Assurance Company to launch Bancassurance, an insurance product for the benefit of the bank?s customers in the country.
Source : BusinessWeek Ghana | 13-Nov-2007 00:37

MET Insurance plots to win market share
Metropolitan Insurance, one of the nation?s largest private general insurers, last week announced that it is embarking on an ambitious business plan next year to increase its market share in Ghana?s Insurance industry. Kwame Gazo Agbenyadzie, MET?s Chief Executive, revealed this at the company?s Sales Representatives Day Out at Kokrobite, near Accra.
Source : BusinessWeek Ghana | 13-Nov-2007 00:16

Association of Software Companies Form Asso.
A Ghana Association of Software and IT Services Companies (GASSCOM) has been launched in Accra. The association comprises stakeholders in the ICT and IT industries in the country.
Source : BusinessWeek Ghana | 13-Nov-2007 00:13

Public Sector Reform Min. Adopts ICT Strategy
The Ministry of Public Sector Reform (MPSR) has adopted a small but significant change in its reform process by elaborating the information and communication technology component of the comprehensive work programme within the government?s medium-term expenditure planning framework.
Source : BusinessWeek Ghana | 13-Nov-2007 00:08

MTN Launches Spot the Ball
The Mobile Telecommunication Net work (MTN) the largest mobile phone operator in the country has launched a promotion dubbed ?Spot the ball.? The promotion is to allow subscribers of the network to feel the excitement of the forthcoming Ghana CAN 2008 event.
Source : BusinessWeek Ghana | 13-Nov-2007 00:00

Govt?s fiscal deficit grows, pushes up interest rates
The Government of Ghana?s fiscal deficit grew yet again during the third quarter of 2007 to reach GH¢638.3 million by the end of September, amounting to 4.8% of the country?s Gross Domestic Product. This year?s fiscal deficit so far is significantly larger than the GH¢522.65 million incurred during the first nine months of 2006 and appears to indicate that the Kufuor administration in its closing years, is relaxing the tight fiscal discipline it showed during most of its first six years in office.
Source : BusinessWeek Ghana | 12-Nov-2007 23:58

Inflation down again to 10.1%
Headline inflation, for the second successive time has declined to 10.1% in October 2007, from 10.4% in August 2007. The rate fell to 10.2% in September due to contributions from the food group towards the downward movements of the index, which was the third month running.
Source : BusinessWeek Ghana | 12-Nov-2007 23:54

2008 budget out this week
The Minister of Finance and Economic Planning, Kwadwo Baah-Wiredu, is expected to, this week, present to Parliament the nation?s fiscal policy for 2008 on November 15. This would be the third consecutive year that the sitting government has presented the budget in accordance with the provision of the Constitution.
Source : BusinessWeek Ghana | 12-Nov-2007 23:48

IRS warns tax defaulters
The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) has cautioned that companies, ministries, departments and agencies that have deducted withholding taxes and are still holding onto them are doing so at their own risk. According to the service, penalties will be imposed and collections done without fear or favour.
Source : BusinessWeek Ghana | 05-Nov-2007 19:12

Energy Ministry needs $4.5 billion for rehabilitation
A shocking revelation by Kwadwo Baah-Wiredu, Minister of Finance and Economic Planning about the state of maintenance at Electricity Company of Ghana (ECG) is nerve-racking and points to the fact that the country?s utility companies have grossly mismanaged the resources at their disposal.
Source : BusinessWeek Ghana | 05-Nov-2007 19:08

Unique Trust Financial Service targets international market
Unique Trust Financial Services, a non-banking financial house, will soon venture into the West African market to explore its business avenues. The target countries include Nigeria and Liberia. More so, the company has plans to explore the European and American markets.
Source : BusinessWeek Ghana | 05-Nov-2007 19:05

Barclays Staff Take to Voluntarism
Barclays Bank Ghana Limited, one of the leading private banks in the country, has organized an event dubbed ?Make a Difference Day? (MADD). The event took place at all branches of the bank across the country last Saturday. The aim of ?Make a Difference Day? is to encourage staff of the bank to give their time, rather than their money, by getting involved in voluntarism and impact on the local community.
Source : BusinessWeek Ghana | 05-Nov-2007 19:04

CONTROLLING CORRUPTION IN CORPORATE GHANA
The problem of corruption, particularly how to control it, has become a central issue in the discourse on, and programmes of Ghana?s renewal and sustained development. Corruption in public and private life has been harmful to the socio-economic and political advancement of Ghana. It has been both a cause and consequence of the structural decay bequeathed by decades of rent-seeking politics of the post-colonial state in Ghana.
Source : BusinessWeek Ghana | 05-Nov-2007 19:00

Lakeside estate under siege
The management of Lakeside Estate Company Limited has expressed concern about the activities in recent times of a group of people believed to be land guards. The estate is located at Katamanso, a suburb of Kpone-Katamanso Constituency in the Greater Accra Region. The land guards allegedly burnt down two completed houses and partially destroyed three other completed houses.
Source : BusinessWeek Ghana | 05-Nov-2007 18:41

Parliament discuss CAN 2008
Members of Parliament (MPs) have called on the Local Organising Committee (LOC) of CAN 2008 to ensure that the country reaps the necessary economic, social and cultural benefits from the huge investment that is being put into the event.
Source : BusinessWeek Ghana | 05-Nov-2007 18:41

Ghana?s Total Public Debt at Moderate Levels
The total public debt stock of Ghana has reduced from a level of about 150% of Gross Domestic Product (GDP) in year 2000 to about 50% and is projected to float around 40% over the next five years. This was disclosed in Accra last week by Benedicta Vibe Christensen, Deputy Director, International Monetary Fund, African Department at the launch of World and African Regional Economic Outlooks.
Source : BusinessWeek Ghana | 05-Nov-2007 18:39

Lakeside estate under siege
The management of Lakeside Estate Company Limited has expressed concern about the activities in recent times of a group of people believed to be land guards.
Source : BusinessWeek Ghana | 05-Nov-2007 18:39

GIPC Records GH¢880m Investment Inflows in 9 Months
The Ghana Investment Promotion Centre (GIPC) recorded a total of about GH¢880 million (¢8.8 trillion) as investment inflows into the country between January and September 2007. Out of the figure, GH¢29 million (¢290 billion) constituted new investment from new companies that registered during the period. In the same period in 2006, total investment was GH¢530 million, GH¢380 million being new investments).
Source : BusinessWeek Ghana | 05-Nov-2007 18:37

SIC presents prospectus to SEC
As a major part of the requirements for listing on the Ghana Stock Exchange (GSE), the State Insurance Company (SIC) has presented its prospectus to the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) for scrutiny and subsequent approval.
Source : BusinessWeek Ghana | 05-Nov-2007 18:34

Establishment of Lands Court Proposed
The Land Administration Project (LAP) at the Ministry of Lands, Forestry and Mines has proposed the establishment of a separate court to deal specifically with land issues in the country. BusinessWeek understands that LAP has already had discussions with the Judicial Service on the establishment of a lands court. The proposal forms part of a land reform programme being undertaken by the government through LAP.
Source : BusinessWeek Ghana | 05-Nov-2007 18:31

National Youth Summit provides course in leadership
Last week, Waves International, a non-profit youth orientated organization with the vision of empowering the youth with tools and entrepreneurial skills, held its National Youth Leaders Summit for 2007 in Accra. The summit had as its theme for this year: ?Youth Leadership and Nation Building?.
Source : BusinessWeek Ghana | 29-Oct-2007 18:29

Free Zone Firm To Print Ghana 2008 Football Tickets
Turnstiles Printing Limited, a free zone company, has been contracted by the Local Organising Committee (LOC) and the Confederation of African Football (CAF) Executive Committee to produce tickets for the 32 matches of the Ghana 2008 tournament. BusinessWeek?s investigation revealed that the ticket will be printed in India and brought into the country.
Source : BusinessWeek Ghana | 29-Oct-2007 18:26

AGI to produce Regional Competitiveness Index
The Executive Director of Association of Ghana Industries (AGI), C. Kosiba, has stated that the successful completion of the AGI Business Climate Survey conducted this year has encouraged AGI to design and implement AGI Regional Competitiveness Index (RCI) in the country before the close of the year.
Source : BusinessWeek Ghana | 29-Oct-2007 18:10

MIDA Signs US$10.7m Implementing Pact With MOFA
The Ministry of Food and Agriculture (MOFA) and the Millennium Development Authority (MIDA) have signed an Implementing Entity Agreement worth US$10.7 million. This will operationalize all activities linked with the support, upgrading and development of Farmer-Base Organisations (FBOs) which are major beneficiaries of the millennium challenge compact.
Source : BusinessWeek Ghana | 29-Oct-2007 18:00

Parliament Resumes for Final Business in 2007
The third meeting of the fourth parliament as the Fourth Republic of Ghana has begun for its final meeting for the year 2007. This was after an 11 week recess of enable the Members of Parliament have a rest after a hectic eleven weeks of sitting in the last session.
Source : BusinessWeek Ghana | 29-Oct-2007 17:56

BUSINESS OPPORTUNITIES
An International Programme of Hotel Promotion and Services to travelers based in Norway, for the development of its network in Africa, is looking for serious and professional companies willing to increase their line of products with a strong added value. Job Purpose: To ensure the promotion and the distribution of Hotel Express International Cards in West and Central Africa.
Source : BusinessWeek Ghana | 29-Oct-2007 17:14