SARPONG'S BLOG

Financial analyst, Sydney Casely Hayford, has accused the Bank of Ghana (BoG) of lying to Ghanaians that it is injecting US$20 million daily into the money market to stabilise the cedi. The central bank announced the intervention Thursday after the cedi fell more than 20% in value to the major trading currencies between January and June 2015. According to the bank, instead of making US$14 million available to banks weekly, it will now be giving them US$20 million. We expect the cedi to stabilise by the end of the first half of the year when we have some major offshore inflows,” the Governor of the BoG, Dr Henry Kofi Wampah, told the Daily Graphic. ...

Accra Brewery Limited, (ABL), in collaboration with its sister company, Voltic (GH) Limited (Voltic), has officially launched Beta Malt, months after the soft launches of the brand in Kumasi, Bolgatanga, Tamale and Wa. The event which was characterized by glitzy moments of entertainment, at the ABL’s Club 31 premise also saw the official unveiling of Mzvee as the brand ambassador of the non-alcoholic beverage. Prior to the commencement of the event, trade partners of the two companies consisting, Key Distributors, Wholesalers and Retailers were conducted round ABL’s newly inaugurated multi-million dollar packaging facility. The novel product which is produced with the finest raw materials was designed with a touch of class, having been packaged on the newly installed state-of –the- art, UD$15m Sparkling Soft Drink (SSD) Packing line, which produces 32,000 bottles per hour. The brand which adds to ABL’s non-alcoholic brand portfolio has been designed in a handy 330ml PET ...

Prices of petroleum products could go up by 10% from Wednesday morning, unless government steps in to absorb the expected increase. According to Joy Business analysis on the factors and formula that guides the price review by the National Petroleum Authority (NPA), every two weeks prices of the various products could go up between 5 to 10 percent. The challenge for the NPA, however, has always been who should take up this cost. Should it be government, importers of the product, the marketers or allow the consumers to pay for the actual cost of every litre purchased at the pumps? But with the IMF pushing for an end to government subsidies, consumers are most likely to be at the receiving end of the fuel price hikes. Government may still do all within its power to cushion consumers in light of the current economic challenges and the political implications of another fuel price increase barely two weeks ago. Nevertheless this might come with its own challenges, as funds ...

The Network of Communication Reporters (NCR) has congratulated Mr. Ebenezer Twum Asante as the new and first Ghanaian CEO of telecoms giant, MTN Ghana. "We are glad about Mr. Asante's appointment to the top position at MTN Ghana and we are particularly proud of him because we have worked with him in his previous capacity in Ghana and we have no doubt he is cut for this job," a statement from NCR said. NCR noted that during Asante's days as the Sales and Distribution Executive (SDE) of MTN Ghana, the company's subscriber levels and product sales shot up drastically and it was, therefore, not a surprise the took him to Rwanda as the CEO. "We have no doubt what Mr. Asante can do to give value to and to further excite customers as CEO," said NCR,’’ adding that we look forward to more customer centric services and products with Mr. Asante at the helm of affairs at MTN Ghana. NCR also acknowledges the affability, approachability, and the dee...

..... Gov't acquires land at Adjein Kotoku to relocate residents By: Raphael Apetorgbor rapetorgbor@theeventpr.com Prohibited structures at Old Fadama , a slum suburb of Accra ,popularly referred to as ‘Sodom and Gomorrah’ has been pulled down by the Accra Metropolitan Assembly (AMA) to avoid a reoccurrence of the havoc caused by the June 3 flood and fire disaster. The illegal occupants of the land and their activities have mostly interfered with the progress of the restoration of the Odaw river project which has stalled for years.  The project was to improve selected drains in Accra focusing on the Odaw River Catchments area to mitigate the flooding problem in Accra. The Metropolitan Chief Executive, Dr Alfred Oko Vanderpuje told the Daily Express that the assembly wants to protect the residents from the dangers of floods that had consistently washed many houses and claimed many lives.   He added that the assembly had resolved to clean...

MTN Ghana has been made aware of an image circulating on various social media platforms showing condoms packaged in MTN colours and bearing the company’s logo.  MTN Ghana wishes to state categorically that it has neither produced nor authorised the production of condoms on its behalf for any purposes whatsoever. MTN has launched an immediate investigation into the matter. The abuse of the company’s brand is an infringement against MTN’s intellectual property rights and MTN will pursue the full rigours of the law against any perpetrators. MTN remains committed to carrying out its mandate per the communications license agreements issued by the National Communications Authority. MTN Ghana remains resolute and steadfast in its vision of leading the delivery of a bold new digital world to its customers.

By: Fred Yaw Sarpong (PUBLISHED in Daily Express on 09/06/2015) Ghana Gas Company has said that it is ready to accommodate gas that will proceed from Tweneboa, Enyenra and Ntomme (TEN) when production starts from these wells in 2016, according to the Director of Operation, Mr. Robert Kofi Lartey. According to the Director of Operation, the pipe laid from the FPSO to the Atuabo Gas at Anokyi in the Ellembelle District of the Western Region can accommodate gas up to 300 million standard cubic feet per day (MMscfd). But currently the Atuabo Gas facility can process gas up to 150 million standard cubic feet per day. He said what they have to do is to expand the facility of Atuabo Gas so that it can accommodate additional gas from TEN fields when production start. Daily Express gathered that currently Atuabo Gas receives raw gas of about 100 million standard cubic feet per day, but they process about 95 MMscfd of the raw gas from the Jubilee Field. The remaining five ar...