GOVERNMENT MUST SET UP POLICY FRAMEWORK TO BRIDGE GAP BETWEEN ACADEMIA AND INDUSTRY

The subject matter permeating all presentations at a seminar and job fair organised by the School of Business at the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST) is the need for an effective collaboration between academia and the corporate world.

The fair was held on March 1, 2012 at the campus of the KNUST as part of the 6^TH Annual Business Week of the School on the theme: “Bridging the gap between Academia, Industry and Government”.

Addressing participants at the programme, the Managing Director of Barclays Bank Ghana Ltd, Mr. Benjamin Debrah, noted the need for government as major stakeholders to provide a policy framework for the educational sector which will target areas steering the economy.

“Too often policy is geared towards the sectors that the government will like to develop as supposed to sectors driving the economy. For example, recent Gross Domestic Product figures suggest that services sector is of growing importance. Have we revised our education policy to reflect this? ” he questioned.

The banking mogul also emphasised the need for government to encourage industry players to create linkage with academia by providing incentives such as tax reduction.

“If the money I give for research for instance is treated as tax deductible when I declare my results, it will encourage me to do more than I currently do,” Mr. Debrah added.

The Managing Director also acknowledged the inability of research conducted by the universities to meet industry problems. He therefore proposed a system that should be instituted for lecturers to take jobs in industries during sabbatical to keep them abreast of industry problems.

“When lecturers take sabbatical, they go to universities in other countries to teach; what about taking a sabbatical and going into the industry to actually learn the needs of industry so that you can reflect that in your teaching work,” he advised.

Presenting a speech on the role of academia, the Provost of the College of Arts and Social Sciences, Prof. S.K. Afrane, admitted the need for the universities to be dynamic in order to meet changing trends of the modern corporate world.

The professor is therefore calling for the review of academic curricula of business schools in Ghana.

“I propose that, curriculum of business schools should be redesigned to make a large number of students practical entrepreneurs. There should be a shift from head knowledge to more use of hands”.

 

By David Apinga, Focus FM, KNUST, Kumasi

awintida@scientist.com

 

Wikipedia shut down at midnight

Wikipedia is one of several websites to shut down at midnight in protest of anti-piracy bills that critics say could amount to censorship.

Instead of the usual encyclopedia articles, visitors to Wikipedia were greeted by a message about the decision to black out its English-language Web page for an entire day.

“Imagine a World Without Free Knowledge,” a stark message in white letters on a black and gray backgroundread.

“For over a decade, we have spent millions of hours building the largest encyclopedia in human history. Right now, the U.S. Congress is considering legislation that could fatally damage the free and open Internet. For 24 hours, to raise awareness, we are blacking out Wikipedia.”

source: cnn

 

VODAFONE LAUNCHES ULTRA MODERN INTERNET FACILITY IN KNUST

Telecommunication giant Vodafone has commissioned its first ultra modern campus cafe with one of the best internet speeds in Africa on the campus of the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST).

Commissioning the facility, Chief Executive Officer of Vodafone Ghana, Kyle Whitehill said his organisation believes that education is the key to Ghana’s future. The internet cafe is therefore tailored to meet the needs of users and enhance collaborative learning and research so as to build the capacity of individuals in the area of education.

He stressed that, “we are very confident that this facility will meet your every educational and lifestyle need. We believe that it will improve the quality of teaching, learning and research in this university, while catering for the needs of customers in the region as well”.

The cafe which promises to bring the best Vodafone 3G experience has a 200 plus seating capacity with more than 150 seats slated for WiFi users,  a 38 user section ideal for group work that requires access to online research and 5 round tables for one-on-one discussions.

According to the Chief Executive, Vodafone also believes in providing equal opportunities for all and encouraged female students to build their curiosity in engineering. In relation to that, six brilliant female students from the College of Engineering were provided scholarships.

The Vice Chancellor of KNUST, Prof. William Otoo Ellis expressed his gratitude to Vodafone for building one of the biggest internet facilities on the continent on the campus of KNUST.

He also thanked Vodafone for providing scholarships worth Gh¢ 6,000 to students during the just ended 45^th Congregation of the KNUST and for supporting students with bursaries and laptops.

 

By David Apinga, Focus FM, KNUST, Kumasi.

awintida@scientist.com

 

GHANA TO RECORD TRADE SURPLUS 1ST TIME IN 20 YEARS

The Rector of West End University, Prof. Kodwo Ewusi has predicted a trade surplus for the country by the end of 2011.

In a keynote address on the problems of middle income status of a nation, Prof. Ewusi said, “Ghana for the first time in 20 years will record a trade surplus”.

He was speaking at the 1^st Annual Economics Conference at the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology on the theme: Expectations for Ghana as a middle income economy.

The former director of the Institute of Statistical, Social and Economic Research (ISSER) noted that most sectors are contributing positively to the economy.

He cited the Cocoa Marketing Board’s announcement that cocoa production this year will hit a target of 1 million tonnes.  According to the Economist, gold production is also increasing at a fast pace and he believes increase in income has resulted in the rise of activities in the financial and insurance sectors.

The Professor opines that the impact of oil production will be felt strongly in the export sector. This he believes in combination with the increase in other sectors will propel the country to record a trade surplus by the end of the year.

By David Apinga, Focus FM, KNUST, Kumasi.

awintida@scientist.com

 

GHANA TO ATTAIN PER CAPITA INCOME OF $4800 BY 2015

A former director of the Institute of Statistical, Social and Economic Research (ISSER) has projected that Ghana will achieve a real per capita income of $4800 by the year 2015.

Delivering a keynote address, Prof. Kodwo Ewusi said by exceeding $4000, Ghana will become a true middle income country. The Rector of West End University College was speaking at the 1^st Annual Economics Conference at the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology on September 19, 2011.

He explains that according to World Bank figures in 2010 for classification, middle income nations have been grouped from $1006 to $3975; $3976 to $6285 and $6286 to $12785. This represents lower middle income, middle-middle income and upper middle income respectively.

Ghana currently falls under lower middle income and he believes the production of oil will propel the nation into middle-middle income status by the next four years.

“Because of the oil, Ghana is going to be a true middle – middle income nation by the year 2015. If oil did not come in, Ghana will remain in the lower middle income for a long time,” he reiterated.

Prof. Ewusi also noted that Ghana will achieve the 1^st Millennium Development Goal of reducing poverty by 50%. He however stated that Ghana must pursue the objective of reducing the poverty rate to less than 9%.

He said, “Ghana is slated to achieve the millennium goal by reducing the poverty rate from 56% in 2000 to 26% in 2015. Poverty rate reduced to 28% in 2008 but we do not have to be alluded in complacency. With oil, I will recommend that the government should target to reduce the poverty rate to a single digit by the year 2020 because even at the present rate of  28%, 7 million Ghanaians are desperately poor and population will still cause people to be poor even at a poverty rate of 10%”.

By David Apinga, Focus FM, KNUST, Kumasi.

awintida@scientist.com

 

COCOA FARMERS URGED TO PARTICIPATE IN SUSTAINING AGRO-FORESTRY PROGRAMME

Mr. Michael Okine, Customer Service Officer of Asankrangwa Forest Services Division has urged farmers living along the fringes of the nation’s forest to contact and register with their respective Cocoa Buying Companies for the Supply of Seedlings to sustain the Agro-Forestry Programme.

Mr. Okine explained that over the last few years Samartex has been collaborating with Cocoa Swollen Shoot Virus Disease Control Unit of the CMB and other Cocoa Purchasing Companies by raising seedlings for the rehabilitation of depleted off-reserve areas which have been planted into cocoa.

Mr. Okine was answering questions from farmers during a one-day workshop organized by Forest Research Institute on the theme “Strengthening the Capabilities of Forest Fringe Communities in Southern Ghana to halt illegal logging at Asankrangwa in the Wassa Amenfi West District of the Western Region.

The workshop which is an F.A.O, A.C.P – FLEGT VGA Project is funded by Food & Agricultural Organization and European Union.

Speaking at the workshop, the District Forest Officer, Mr. Joseph Bempah said the workshop was a booster towards halting illegal logging within the nation’s forest.

He said his outfit is educating the farmers to understand the damages of tree felling and its benefits so that our forests would be sustained for generations yet unborn.

Mr. Bempah said there is now than ever the need for farmers to embrace the idea of planting and maintaining trees on their farm lands to sustain the Climate for their cocoa growing and other farm cash crops.

Mr. Bempah said in the area of good governance, tree felling would be transparent and revenue earmarked would be used judiciously.

The Resource Officer of the Workshop, Mr. Sparkling Samar, a Research Social Scientist at the Forest Research Institute of Ghana stated that the Country has signed Voluntary Partnership Agreement with the European Union which will provide a legal framework and compliance monitoring system aimed at ensuring that all timber imports into the European Union from our country have been legally acquired, harvested, transported and exported.

Mr. Samar made it clear that with the implementation of the Voluntary Partnership Agreement, individuals and communities will benefit through a guaranteed share of formal timber royalties in the form of stumpage fees and land rents and have better control over equitable distribution of timber benefits among different local stakeholders.

According to Mr. Samar, community development activities would not have less than 5% of stumpage value within the Social Responsibility Agreement and exploitation of timber for non-commercial and development purposes.

Later in an interview with management of Samartex to find out about their Agro – Forestry Programme, the General Manager Mr. Richard Nsenkyire explained that the engagement with the farming communities in Samartex catchment area is part of the company’s Social Responsibility.

The Project Advisor, Mr. K. K. F. Ghartey also explained that Samartex executed the project with assistance from GTZ with the aim of empowering the farmers by improving their living standards.

He said, the project involved raising seedlings free of charge for the farmers for planting in the cocoa farms liaising with the customary lands secretariat for the survey and mapping of cocoa farms and obtaining Land Titles to such farms thus enabling the farmers to own the trees they have planted.

He further said other activities included the training of the farmers in alternative income such as bee keeping, animal husbandry and fish farming. He said under the project which lasted 3 years, about 35,000 seedlings were raised each year for distribution to the cocoa farmers.

He expressed satisfaction at the outcome of the project since it has now attracted the participation of CSSVD and other cocoa purchasing companies which are now sourcing their seedlings from Samartex for distribution to farmers.

 

Story By:

Mr. PETER KPAKPO ANKRAH

District Information Officer

Wassa Amenfi West and East District,

Western Region – Ghana.

Tel: 0209295873

Email: pkankrah@gmail.com

 

DEG TO SUPPORT GHANA’S PRIVATE SECTOR

The German development finance institution, DEG, plans to commit over $270 million dollars in Ghana and three other West African economies to support bankable projects capable of generating large employments.

Last year, the bank hit its highest ever disbursement of $250 million dollars in those West African economies to reach 1.2 billion dollars investment mark for the entire African region. This was at a time that it was recovering from the effects of the financial crisis which allowed it to commit only 230 million dollars to investments in Ghana, Nigeria, Cote d’Ivoire and Senegal in 2009.

The outgoing Regional Director of DEG, Dr. Amichia Biley, told the Daily Graphic at a farewell party for him in Accra that disbursement of funds covered the real sectors of the economy, including the financial sector, telecom industry, power plants in the energy sector, as well as agriculture and agro-processing.

Dr. Biley would now head the African investment unit at DEG headquarters in Cologne, Germany.  He said although the development bank had provisions for the manufacturing sector, it had not been able to support any bankable project in Ghana yet due to peculiar challenges the sector faced.

“The only sector missing in Ghana is manufacturing. This is because the sector is not growing properly as it is struggling with high operational costs, such as high cost of power  and access to cheaper short-term credit,” the outgoing director of DEG, said Dr. Biley spent the last three years in Ghana to set up the DEG regional office.

DEG commits both debt and equity investments, and sometimes intermediary or bridge financing arrangements known as ‘mezzanine financing’, in profitable projects across the regions with the ultimate goal of contributing to sustainable development by helping the private sector to create jobs and reduce poverty.

Over the last three years, the development bank has been growing in the West African region at about 10 per cent in financing, while adding other countries to the traditional four. So far, Benin and Togo have been brought under the regional office in Accra.

Dr. Biley said the organization had used the last few years to properly set up the regional office; interact with partners and grow customer base in order to bring products and knowledge to the customers in the region, adding that the bank’s support for the private sector was because it was the engine of growth and the future of the African continent.

“The region is key to achieving our objectives because it boasts stable economies such Ghana which is now developing an oil sector, while cocoa and gold have been a driving force for a long time.  Nigeria also has the population and the market, and these combine to make it very appropriate for the region to help us deliver on our objectives,” Dr.  Biley explained.

In addition, he said the ECOWAS region was very important to DEG because the region alone accounted for about a third of the entire population of Africa.

Dr.  Biley expressed the hope that the organization would commit more resources in the coming years as the private sector gears up to lead Africa’s development process in the next couple of years.

The incoming Regional Director, Mr. Andreas Voss, commended Dr.  Biley and his team for laying a solid foundation and expressed satisfaction at the economic stability in the region.

“I am convinced that the work started here is sustainable and I will continue it with my team to respond to the needs of the customers in the region,” Mr. Voss said.

The farewell occasion was graced by the German Ambassador Eberhard Schanz, representatives of some of DEG’s partners, clients, sister bodies and beneficiaries of their financial interventions.

DEG, member of KfW Bank Group, is one of the largest European development finance institutions for long-term project and company financing.  For almost 50 years, DEG has been financing and structuring the investments of private companies in developing and transition countries.

Source: Daily Graphic

 

GHANA AND FRANCE SIGN FINANCIAL AGREEMENT

The governments of Ghana and France at the weekend renewed their commitment to enhanced bilateral cooperation and economic partnership.

While France pledged to increase its support for Ghana’s growth agenda, Ghana pledged to fully partner France in pursuing development initiatives, as well as the consolidation of democracy in Africa.

President John Evans Atta Mills and the French Prime Minister, Francois Fillon, made the pledge after holding bilateral talks at the Castle and stressed the need for strategic partnership between their two countries.

The French Premier, who was in Accra over the weekend for a two-day  official visit, among other things, assured Ghana of France’s support and cooperation, following reforms in France’s foreign policy which had seen Ghana become a priority in its relations with non-francophone countries.

To demonstrate its commitment to Ghana, four financing agreement  were signed after the bilateral talks, in which France will be providing millions of Euros in loans and grants support a number of projects in Ghana.

The agreements were for a loan of 40 million Euros, and a grant agreement of 500,000 Euros for the financing of the Ghana Urban Management Pilot Programme (GUMPP), signed by Ghana’s Finance Minister, Dr Kwabena Duffour, and Henri de Raincourt, French Minister of Cooperation and Dov Zerah, Chief Executive Officer of the French Development Agency.

The support for the GUMPP is to ensure success in the implementation of the programme aimed at addressing the challenges of increasing urbanization in Ghana.

Mr Zerah, who is chairman of the Board of Proparco, the private-sector arm of the French Development Agency, also signed two financing agreements for the funding of two local banks – CAL and Fidelity Bank.

The first one was signed by Frank Abu Jnr, Managing Director of CAL Bank, for a loan of 10 million dollars while the second was signed by Edward Effah, Chief Executive Officer of Fidelity Bank, for a loan of eight million dollars, to support the two banks’ credit financing to small and medium scale enterprises.

The agreements come days after the French Development Agency announced a 50 million Euros loan for the government for the expansion of the kpong hydroelectric dam.

In his remarks, Mr Fillon noted that the project for which the facilities had been provided were a true reflection of French cooperation’s dynamism which provides adequate responses to development challenges in developing countries.

France, he said, had a lot of admiration for Ghana based on her laudable democratic credentials as well as her contribution to peace and good government in Africa.

He commended Ghana for the assistance it continues to offer Cote d’Ivoire in the former French colony’s efforts to get back onto the path of democracy, saying the French government highly respects Ghana for its achievements in the area of democracy.

Mr Fillon, who becomes the first French Prime Minster to visit Ghana, said observing political happenings around the globe, especially the recent uprising in the Arab world, “the future belongs to those who respect democracy and the rule of law”

President Mills, thanked the Prime Minister for the visit, which underscored the importance of the ties between the two nations, and said “there is a lot we can achieve when we work together”

Touching on the compliment by Mr. Fillon about Ghana’s democracy, President Mills noted that Ghanaians chose the path of democratic rule because of the enormous benefits, although it comes with challenges.

“Democracy is the only choice to help us to develop,” he said.

He expressed appreciation to the French government for the financial aid and improved bilateral co-operation, and gave the assurance that the resources would be utilized purposefully for the benefits of all Ghanaians.

On the investment front, President Mills encouraged French businesses to consider investing in Ghana which he said abounds with investment opportunities.

Source: Ghanaian Times

 

GHACEM TO INCREASE PRODUCTION CAPACITY

The Minister for Trade and Industry, Ms Hanna Tetteh, has revealed that the management of GHACEM has planned to increase its production capacity at the Tema factory from a current level of 1.2 million to 2.2 million tonnes per annum by September 2012.

According to her, the move which  involve additional investment, which include the installation of a 150 tonne per hour mill from Christian Pfeiffer in Germany, 7,500 metric tonne concrete silo and upgraded packing capacity is necessary  to ensure that GHACEM  meets demand.

The minister who revealed this in a  response to an urgent question in Parliament by Mr. Ben Abdallah Banda, Member for Offinso South, on the shortage of cement on the Ghanaian market between May and June 2011 said, with a 60 percent market share, the factory  is currently,  producing 4.5 million tonnes annually.

She explained that “ power outages coupled with irregular and inadequate raw material supply experienced by the three cement producing companies resulted in a  supply gap, hence  the increase in prices.”

Ms Tetteh noted that GHACEM on the average, experienced about 60 hours of power outages per week during the period which adversely affected the production and attendant supply of cement for distribution and sale,”   resulting in huge backlog of supply to meet effective demand.

”During the same period, Diamond Cement Ghana Limited at Aflao which holds a 33 percent market share and Greenview International Company –Tema also experienced a low level of production due to irregular supply of raw materials,” She added

The Minister observed that electricity supply had currently, improved at GHACEM whereas the raw material supply at the Diamond Cement Ghana Limited had also normalised due to the completion of the rehabilitation work at the Lome Harbour in Togo.

Ms Tetteh informed the House that GHACEM had increased its production to 57 tonnes per week, the highest volume of production recorded since GHACEM started commercial production in Ghana when ECG resumed regular power supply and that Savanna Diamond Cement would also start supply before the end of the year.

She stressed that cement producers had not increased their ex-factory prices to accredited distributors and added that the price per bag of 50 kilogrammes to accredited distributors inclusive of Value Added Tax (VAT) since August 2009 to date had been GHC10.35 for GHACEM and 9.43 for Diamond Cement Ghana Limited.

She assured the House that the Ministry would continue to dialogue and urged the power suppliers ECG, GRIDCO and Volta River Authority to deliver to meet the requirements of manufacturing companies in Ghana in order to promote smooth operations of industry to meet the demands of the consumers.

Source: ISD (Gilbert Ankrah)

 

GOVERNMENT ADOPT MEASURES TO REMOVE “GHOST NAME”

The Minister for Finance and Economic Planning, Dr Kwabena Duffuor,  yesterday disclosed that the Government has embarked on an effective way of dealing with the issue of “ghost names” on its  payroll, using an electronic approach that entails the capturing of biometric data of employees in the payroll system to check fraud  and impersonation. According to him, the  system  has proven to be successful in most countries that experienced payroll fraud in the past, adding that a process of capturing finger prints of pensioners and their dependents has already begun in the regions and is expected to be completed soon.

The Minister disclosed this yesterday in Parliament when he presented the mid-year review of the Budget Statement and Economic Policy and the Supplementary Estimates, for the 2011 financial year

He attributed the increase in the  public sector wage Bill in relation to GDP and other expenditures not only to wages or salary increases but also unauthorised names on government payroll popularly referred to as “ghost names”

He indicated that one  major contributing factor to the failure of past initiatives to remove “ghost names” has been the lack of adequate mechanisms to effectively identify these names on the payroll and delete them as well as prevent their re-appearance, adding that this electronic approach will effectively  deal with the issue.

Source: ISD (Gilbert Ankrah)