SARPONG'S BLOG

Tullow Ghana Limited on Wednesday October16th 2013 handed over two projects valued at GHc950, 000 to the leadership of Legon Hall, of the University of Ghana. The Two projects involved the re-roofing of Annex A and B and the provision of two concrete underground water tanks to help solve the perennial water problem in the hall. The company intervened based on an appeal made by the late President, Professor John Evans Atta Mills on behalf of the university to save the situation in which there were constant leakages as a result of defects in the concrete roofs, sometimes leading to the destruction of students’ property. The perennial water problem in the hall has also been ameliorated with the construction of two underground concrete water storage facilities with a pump station. Speaking at the handing over ceremony, Nana Appia Kyei, Exploration Manager of Tullow Ghana Limited said for the company, investment in education is one of the surest means of leaving a lasting lega...

Bank of Africa (BOA) Group is celebrating its 30 th anniversary this year. The bank which was founded in 1983 by Paul Derreumaux in Mali as a private African bank dedicated to serving Africans at a time when the West African banking sector was experiencing serious difficulties is celebrating success in all resident countries. The bank in line with its pan African operational strategies, has adopted the Moroccan Bank business model – ACAP (Annual Commercial Action Plan) model to increase its margin across Africa. The ACAP model has helped the Moroccan BMCE Bank who holds majority share stake of 68% to increase profit due to increased work efficiency, effectiveness, improve customer satisfaction and loyalty. The model is expected to expand Bank of Africa from the 21 countries where it currently has a presence to all countries in Africa in the next 10 to 15 years. BOA Group investors believe Africa has an immense potential and over the years have been supportive projects tha...

Ghana Commercial Bank Limited. (GCB) and its Managing Director, Mr Simon Dornoo, have emerged winners of the 2013 Africa investor (Ai) Index Series Awards held at the New York Stock Exchange. While GCB as a corporate entity was adjudged the ‘Best Performing (Ai 100) Company’, 2013 in Africa, the Managing Director, Mr. Simon Dornoo was also recognised as the ‘Ai100 Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the Year’.   The Bank emerged first among eight nominated financial institutions across the African continent in the Best Performing Ai100 Company category. Mr. Dornoo was also adjudged the ‘Ai100 CEO of the Year’ from a shortlist of eight best Managing Directors/Heads of financial institutions on the continent in the Ai100 category. GCB’s   award was based on performance, commitment to increasing volumes of shares traded, share performance compared with market performance between September 2012 to August 2013, volatility compared with market, portion of shares ...

The government is taking steps to convert the status of the Tema Development Corporation (TDC) to a limited liability company to empower it to operate anywhere in the country to help bring sanity in the country’s development schemes. The Minister of Water Resources, Works and Housing, Alhaji Collins Dauda, made this disclosure at the corporation’s third Annual General and Stakeholders Meeting (AGM) at Tema. He commended the corporation for its effort in meeting the economic challenges in the industry and added that: “you need to be commended for your foresight.” The TDC declared a profit of GH¢10.6 million as at the end of December 2012, as against GH¢4.3 million profit in 2011. The corporation also generated gross income of Gh¢28.9 million in 2012, representing an increase of 82.9 per cent above GH¢15.8 million in 2011. Alhaji Dauda urged the Tema TDC to use all legal means available to ensure that people comply with the payment of fees associated with plot r...

The Technical Working Group (TWG) on Utility Tariffs has stated that a 50 per cent increase in the price of electricity is not sustainable. This is because the revenue that will accrue from that increase will not be able to cover the production and transmission cost. The analysis made by the TWG indicated that in order to cover at a minimum the cost of generation and transmission, tariff adjustments above 60 per cent might be necessary, taking into consideration the need to minimise the negative budget implication. The recommendations were contained in an interim report that the TWG presented to the government yesterday. The Chairman of the TWG, Dr Joe Abbey, presented the report to the Chief of Staff, Mr Prosper Douglas Bani, at the Flagstaff House. Present at the presentation was the Minister of Finance, Mr Seth Terkper. The TWG was constituted by the Vice-President, Mr Kwesi Bekoe Amissah-Arthur, following the increases in utility tariffs by the Public Uti...

Ghana's energy crisis will be over if government can fund it with US$4 billion, the Technical Working Group set up by government has said. The astronomical figure will permanently erase the cyclical crisis that has plagued the country for decades, the group said, adding that a bonus benefit of solving the power crisis was that it will naturally help solve another perennial utility problem - water. A technical committee was set up by President John Dramani Mahama in reaction to strong public opposition to "steep" increase in electricity and water tariffs by 78% and 52% respectively. The Committee was composed of representatives from Ghana Employers Association, Association of Ghana Industries and Private Enterprise Federation as well as the Utility Companies including Volta River Authority, Electricity Company of Ghana, Ghana Grid Company Limited and Bui Power Authority, Public Utilities Regulatory Commission among others. It was to examine "p...

The Ghana Poultry Farmers Association has appealed to the government to expedite action on a proposal which seeks to introduce eggs to the daily meals of school children under the School Feeding Programme. Mr. Stephen Owusu, Brong Ahafo regional chairman of the association, repeated the call at a durbar of chiefs and people of Asunsu No.1 in the Dormaa Municipality of the Brong Ahafo Region. The gathering was part of a nationwide advocacy campaign to highlight the potential of adding eggs to the feeding programme. Government in collaboration with the Dutch government in 2005 initiated the Ghana School Feeding Programme (GSFP). Its stated long-term goal is to contribute to reducing poverty and enhancing food security in Ghana. It also seeks to achieve the objectives of boosting domestic food production, increasing school enrolment, attendance and retention among kindergarten and primary school children, and reducing hunger and malnutrition, thus contributing to the...

Samsung Electronics Ghana has presented ten Galaxy S4 Zoom Smartphones worth GHc12,500 and an amount of GHc5,000 to the Ghana Journalists Association (GJA) as sponsorship for the 18 th Annual GJA Awards, in a short presentation ceremony at the Accra International Press Centre. The Sales Director for Handheld products at Samsung Ghana, Ryan Na said the decision to sponsor the awards was influenced by Samsung’s appreciation of the contributions of journalists towards the development of Ghana.“At Samsung we believe in excellence, and support any effort though which it is recognized or rewarded. The GJA Awards have over the years done just that, and this has proven to be very relevant to the development of journalism in Ghana.” Ryan noted. “Samsung is and has always been a friend of the media and to reiterate our commitment to them, we have developed a tool to help lighten the work load of our journalists. Our new Galaxy S4 Zoom was designed with journalists and media practi...