The Cocoa Marketing Company (Ghana) Limited (CMC) says the forward sale of cocoa beans is its highest achievement in the 50 years of the company's existence.
Launching the 50th anniversary celebration of the company in Accra, the Managing Director of the CMC, Nana Oduro Owusu, said “the CMC has so far stood out as the only parastatal that undertakes forward sales of cocoa beans and products”.
The celebration is on the theme “50 years of cocoa trade- Sustaning the momentum towards the achievement of the one million metric tonne production target” and would run from now till June.
Th launch which also saw the unveiling of a new corporate logo for the CMC, brought together the company’s stakeholders in the cocoa business, past executives and board of directors as well as MDs.
According the MD, the CMC’s forward sales and pricing strategy had over the years enabled the COCOBOD to “determine a free on-board (FOB) price which forms an important ingredient in the determination of the producer price paid to farmers for the upcoming cocoa year”.
“COCOBOD’s success in external borrowing for the trade facility which, in the last sixteen years has enabled the board to finance to cocoa purchasing was made possible by the collateral arrangements provided by the company’s forward contracts”, Mr Owusu noted.
He observed that the money borrowed over the last 16 years for the initiative had risen from US$ 10million in the 1993/4 crop year to US$1.2 billion in the 2010/11 year.
On the future of the company, Mr Owusu said the CMC as a company responsible for sales and storage of cocoa of the nation’s bean would “re-strategise our current modus oparandi” as it awaits the attainment of the one million metric tonnes of cocoa in 2012/2013 set by the COCOBOD.
“Our aim therefore is to ensure that whatever the level of the increase in the volume of the production, we would be able to sell, store, evacuate and ship accordingly”, he added.
He, however, mentioned limited warehousing infrastructure and labour intensive nature of the company’s operations as factors that require attention as the nation moves to attain the one million metric tonne target by 2013.
According to him, the dramatic shift in the world of shipment of cocoa from bagged to bulk and containerised shipment has placed the country in a tight corner due to its only facility for bulk lodgement at Takoradi.
The Takoradi facility, he said “appears to be overburdened and lacks adequate capacity to handle the increased demand for bulk shipment of Ghana’s cocoa”.
“Its location at Takoradi makes it even more restrictive and unavailable for the handling of the larger volumes of cocoa which are shipped from the Tema Port”, he noted.
Mr Anthony Fofie, the Chief Executive Officer and Board Chairman of the CMC, said the COCOBOD was “edging closer to our production target of one million tonnes.
But that, he said, also came with challenges and, thus called on stakeholders of the cocoa industry to join hands to meet the set target.
He was optimistic that the new corporate logo of the CMC which was unveiled would “spur on the management staff of the CMC to put in their best to move in tandem with the theme of the anniversary”.
The CMC Ghana Limited was established in June 1961 following the movement of the Ghana Cocoa Marketing Company (UK) Ltd in London to Accra.
The company is currently a wholly owned subsidiary of the Ghana Coca Board and engages in marketing and maximisation of revenue from the country’s cocoa bean.
Friday, February 25, 2011
CHOLERA death toll rises in Accra
SEVENTEEN people are confirmed dead from the cholera outbreak which hit the Accra Metropolitan Assembly (AMA) early this month.
“As at yesterday, February 22, 2011, we had recorded 17 deaths resulting from 1,376 reported cases in the metroplis”, Dr Simpson Anim Boateng, Director of Public Health Department of the AMA, told the Daily Graphic in an interview.
“This is just what we are aware of”, he said adding that the recorded figure may as well just be “10 per cent of the actual situation on the ground.”
Accordingly, Dr Boateng said the assembly had intensified public education on the disease and further called on the public to visit the nearest clinic if they realise any signs of the disease for a free treatment.
He said 13 out of the 17 persons who died were sent to the hospital already dead adding “early detection and treatment give you higher chances of survival”.
On the way forward, Dr Boateng said the assembly was using the Information Service Department’s vans to sensitise residence on the need for frequent and thorough washing of hands especially after visiting the toilet and before eating.
He said health officers in the various sub-metros within the AMA have equally been tasked to do a house to house inspection “to see if people are violating hygienic rules”.
Cholera, he said is a communicable disease that is mostly transmitted through food and water and was optimistic that the AMA would sensitise food vendors on the need for clean surroundings and habits as a way of tackling the outbreak.
“Our health workers are visiting all the hospitality premises to see if their food is prepared in accordance with the AMA Public Health rules”, he added.
Food vendoring in the metropolis is a sprawling business for all kind of persons on any available space. Though the assembly’s public health rules requires vendors to be periodically screened as a way of weeding out persons with communicable disease, little success had been achieved.
But Dr Boateng says the assembly is now intensifying those measures as a wake up call to the cholera outbreak.
“Vendors who are found not to have screened themselves would be given short notice to do that and if they don’t, we would prosecute them”, he stated.
According to him, it was now illegal for people to sell on the streets and thus cautioned the public against patronising street-side foods.
He noted that the present rains in the metropolis was likely to complicate the sanitation situation in the assembly, a major source of the cholera and thus called on households to register with the assembly’s accredited waste contractors for a frequent lifting of waste.
“As at yesterday, February 22, 2011, we had recorded 17 deaths resulting from 1,376 reported cases in the metroplis”, Dr Simpson Anim Boateng, Director of Public Health Department of the AMA, told the Daily Graphic in an interview.
“This is just what we are aware of”, he said adding that the recorded figure may as well just be “10 per cent of the actual situation on the ground.”
Accordingly, Dr Boateng said the assembly had intensified public education on the disease and further called on the public to visit the nearest clinic if they realise any signs of the disease for a free treatment.
He said 13 out of the 17 persons who died were sent to the hospital already dead adding “early detection and treatment give you higher chances of survival”.
On the way forward, Dr Boateng said the assembly was using the Information Service Department’s vans to sensitise residence on the need for frequent and thorough washing of hands especially after visiting the toilet and before eating.
He said health officers in the various sub-metros within the AMA have equally been tasked to do a house to house inspection “to see if people are violating hygienic rules”.
Cholera, he said is a communicable disease that is mostly transmitted through food and water and was optimistic that the AMA would sensitise food vendors on the need for clean surroundings and habits as a way of tackling the outbreak.
“Our health workers are visiting all the hospitality premises to see if their food is prepared in accordance with the AMA Public Health rules”, he added.
Food vendoring in the metropolis is a sprawling business for all kind of persons on any available space. Though the assembly’s public health rules requires vendors to be periodically screened as a way of weeding out persons with communicable disease, little success had been achieved.
But Dr Boateng says the assembly is now intensifying those measures as a wake up call to the cholera outbreak.
“Vendors who are found not to have screened themselves would be given short notice to do that and if they don’t, we would prosecute them”, he stated.
According to him, it was now illegal for people to sell on the streets and thus cautioned the public against patronising street-side foods.
He noted that the present rains in the metropolis was likely to complicate the sanitation situation in the assembly, a major source of the cholera and thus called on households to register with the assembly’s accredited waste contractors for a frequent lifting of waste.
Thursday, February 24, 2011
GSE registers steady growth
Consistent decline in inflation and a stabilised Cedi helped pushed the volume of shares traded at the country's stock market from 97milllion in 2009 to 330 million in 2010 at the close of the market for last year.
In per cent terms however, the Ghana Stock Exchange all share index gained 32 per cent, far higher than treasury instruments and interest rates on bank deposits.
The Chairman of the Ghana Stock Exchange (GSE), Mr Frank Adu disclosed this to the press at a press soiree organised by the GSE last Friday.
He added that the 330 million shares traded within the year under review had a face value of GH¢151 million as against GH¢74 the market recorded in 2009 .This represents a 104 percentage increase.
However, Mr Adu noted "the value traded for last year, despite the huge increase represented only 41 per cent of the record level of GH¢ 365 million of the total value of shares traded in 2008".
Giving the performance of the GSE for 2010, the Chairman said the year under review "was on balance a difficult one for Ghana's Stock Market" adding that the GSE had recovered but "on a weak and slow" pace since "remnants of the difficulties lingered on".
Explaining further, the Chairman said though 2010 saw a consistent decline in inflation and a stronger Cedi in the global currency market, interest rates in the country remained at a "relatively high rate for business growth".
On corporate and government bonds, Mr Adu said "the value traded in 2010 was GH¢453 million compared to the GH¢17 million traded in 2009".
He noted that the capitalisation of the market, which was a measure of the value of all the listed companies put together, amounted to GH¢20.12 billion, a 26 per centage increase from 2009's GH¢15.94billion value.
According to him, the significant appreciation in prices of several securities and the issuance of additional shares by some listed companies both helped push the market capitalisation to inch above the Gh¢20billion mark.
On the way forward, Mr Adu said the GSE would "reposition the exchange much more stronger in the country's financial sector, grow existing businesses, and develop new ones".
"In the next decade, we want to fully utilise our new system to bring more companies to the market so that Ghana will be in a stronger position to compete as an investment destination", Mr Adu added.
He noted that the GSE was working to ensure that the exchange becomes the preferred choice for "corporate Ghana in raising capital for investments".
The GSE Chairman also thanked the media for its contribution to issues of the exchange and further called on them to "devote more attention from politics to educate the populace on matters of finance and economics".
"The media, he said should "join players of the stock exchange to impress on policy makers to adopt a local content listing policy or legislation" as away of encouraging more companies in other sectors to list on the market.
With the GSE's recently automated systems, Mr Adu said we now have a "modest but modern Information Technology (IT) centre" , adding that trading activities at the exchange can now be recovered upon disasters.
In per cent terms however, the Ghana Stock Exchange all share index gained 32 per cent, far higher than treasury instruments and interest rates on bank deposits.
The Chairman of the Ghana Stock Exchange (GSE), Mr Frank Adu disclosed this to the press at a press soiree organised by the GSE last Friday.
He added that the 330 million shares traded within the year under review had a face value of GH¢151 million as against GH¢74 the market recorded in 2009 .This represents a 104 percentage increase.
However, Mr Adu noted "the value traded for last year, despite the huge increase represented only 41 per cent of the record level of GH¢ 365 million of the total value of shares traded in 2008".
Giving the performance of the GSE for 2010, the Chairman said the year under review "was on balance a difficult one for Ghana's Stock Market" adding that the GSE had recovered but "on a weak and slow" pace since "remnants of the difficulties lingered on".
Explaining further, the Chairman said though 2010 saw a consistent decline in inflation and a stronger Cedi in the global currency market, interest rates in the country remained at a "relatively high rate for business growth".
On corporate and government bonds, Mr Adu said "the value traded in 2010 was GH¢453 million compared to the GH¢17 million traded in 2009".
He noted that the capitalisation of the market, which was a measure of the value of all the listed companies put together, amounted to GH¢20.12 billion, a 26 per centage increase from 2009's GH¢15.94billion value.
According to him, the significant appreciation in prices of several securities and the issuance of additional shares by some listed companies both helped push the market capitalisation to inch above the Gh¢20billion mark.
On the way forward, Mr Adu said the GSE would "reposition the exchange much more stronger in the country's financial sector, grow existing businesses, and develop new ones".
"In the next decade, we want to fully utilise our new system to bring more companies to the market so that Ghana will be in a stronger position to compete as an investment destination", Mr Adu added.
He noted that the GSE was working to ensure that the exchange becomes the preferred choice for "corporate Ghana in raising capital for investments".
The GSE Chairman also thanked the media for its contribution to issues of the exchange and further called on them to "devote more attention from politics to educate the populace on matters of finance and economics".
"The media, he said should "join players of the stock exchange to impress on policy makers to adopt a local content listing policy or legislation" as away of encouraging more companies in other sectors to list on the market.
With the GSE's recently automated systems, Mr Adu said we now have a "modest but modern Information Technology (IT) centre" , adding that trading activities at the exchange can now be recovered upon disasters.
Vodafone investigates fake SIM registration
Story: Charles Benoni Okine & Maxwell Adombila Akalaare
VODAFONE Ghana has began intensive investigations to reveal how fake names and addresses were used to register hundreds of SIM cards used for international gateway bypass by some fraudsters who have found the country a safe haven for their business.
It said it was also collaborating with the National Communications Authority (NCA) to constantly block lines which are used for such fraudulent acts on its network which, according to the company, had become attractive because of the very low tariffs.
The Chief Executive Officer, Mr Kyle Whitehill, disclosed this to the Daily Graphic shortly after some selected newsmen had been conducted round the new ultra modern headquarters of the company at the Airport City in Accra.
He described the issue as worrisome and noted that those found culpable would be made to face the full rigours of the law.
Mr Whitehill also gave the assurance that the fraudulent acts would not force the company into reviewing its present tariff regime upwards but would continue to keep it at its present lowest on the market.
International Gateway Bypass is a growing problem which is costing 3G, GSM, mobile and fixed network operators millions of dollars each year. It is also one of the most severe threats to a telecom operator's revenue.
GSM Gateway operators are said to be deliberately routing international voice calls to avoid operator charges at the respective interconnection points.
The most common method uses a GSM gateway (often referred to as a ‘SIM box’ or ‘GSM Router’) to terminate Voice Over Internet Protocol (VOIP) on an operator’s network as a local call. Similarly, in fixed networks, switch bypass operators use a TDM Gateway to terminate VOIP on an operator’s networks as a local call.
The “grey route” operator or carrier brings international minutes over the Internet and terminates them as local calls on the GSM or Fixed operator's network, denying the operator the international termination rates.
Global losses due to telecom fraud have reached $35-$40 billion annually. Low cost entry barriers for Switch Bypass and GSM gateway operators are getting lower as Internet bandwidth prices plummet.
Mr Whitehill said the company had put in place some internal mechanisms that allowed kit to detect some of the fraudulent lines and are blocked within two hours.
“What baffles us is how these people manage to activate these SIM cards and we are on our way to unravel those behind it in the company and they will be dealt with,” he said.
With the collaboration of the NCA, National Security and the ???telcos???, two separate gangs have been busted and are being tried.
On why the company moved from its old head office at the Nkrumah Circle, Mr Whitehill said the management of the company wanted a new environment and edifice that would befit the status and strong brand the company had internationally.
“We also wanted to have all the staff in every department, apart from the technicians, to be under one roof to feel a new ambience to be able to deliver their best,” he said.
Mr Whitehill said the new office housed about 650 employees of the company and noted that through this, their work could easily be monitored to ensure effective service delivery.
VODAFONE Ghana has began intensive investigations to reveal how fake names and addresses were used to register hundreds of SIM cards used for international gateway bypass by some fraudsters who have found the country a safe haven for their business.
It said it was also collaborating with the National Communications Authority (NCA) to constantly block lines which are used for such fraudulent acts on its network which, according to the company, had become attractive because of the very low tariffs.
The Chief Executive Officer, Mr Kyle Whitehill, disclosed this to the Daily Graphic shortly after some selected newsmen had been conducted round the new ultra modern headquarters of the company at the Airport City in Accra.
He described the issue as worrisome and noted that those found culpable would be made to face the full rigours of the law.
Mr Whitehill also gave the assurance that the fraudulent acts would not force the company into reviewing its present tariff regime upwards but would continue to keep it at its present lowest on the market.
International Gateway Bypass is a growing problem which is costing 3G, GSM, mobile and fixed network operators millions of dollars each year. It is also one of the most severe threats to a telecom operator's revenue.
GSM Gateway operators are said to be deliberately routing international voice calls to avoid operator charges at the respective interconnection points.
The most common method uses a GSM gateway (often referred to as a ‘SIM box’ or ‘GSM Router’) to terminate Voice Over Internet Protocol (VOIP) on an operator’s network as a local call. Similarly, in fixed networks, switch bypass operators use a TDM Gateway to terminate VOIP on an operator’s networks as a local call.
The “grey route” operator or carrier brings international minutes over the Internet and terminates them as local calls on the GSM or Fixed operator's network, denying the operator the international termination rates.
Global losses due to telecom fraud have reached $35-$40 billion annually. Low cost entry barriers for Switch Bypass and GSM gateway operators are getting lower as Internet bandwidth prices plummet.
Mr Whitehill said the company had put in place some internal mechanisms that allowed kit to detect some of the fraudulent lines and are blocked within two hours.
“What baffles us is how these people manage to activate these SIM cards and we are on our way to unravel those behind it in the company and they will be dealt with,” he said.
With the collaboration of the NCA, National Security and the ???telcos???, two separate gangs have been busted and are being tried.
On why the company moved from its old head office at the Nkrumah Circle, Mr Whitehill said the management of the company wanted a new environment and edifice that would befit the status and strong brand the company had internationally.
“We also wanted to have all the staff in every department, apart from the technicians, to be under one roof to feel a new ambience to be able to deliver their best,” he said.
Mr Whitehill said the new office housed about 650 employees of the company and noted that through this, their work could easily be monitored to ensure effective service delivery.
Yutong distributor trains drivers
LOCAL distributor of Yutong vehicles in the country, J K Plant Pool Ghana Limited, has launched a four week retraining course for drivers and transport operators in the country.
Dubbed: “Traning drivers saves life”, the refresher course is a collaborative effort between the company and the National Road Safety Commission (NRSC), the National Drivers’ Academy (NDA), as well as other transport operators and road safety stakeholders in the country focused on equipping participants with basic rules and regulations of driving.
During the launch in Accra, the General Manager of the J K Plant Pool, Mr Lolo Akendele, said the J K Plant Pool as a vehicle distribution and servicing company in the country was concerned with the surging incidents of road accidents recorded in the country.
“We believe safety on our roads can be achieved by a collective responsibility of all concerned stakeholders of road safety”, Mr Akendele said and added that the company’s reason for organising the course was not to “train people to drive, but to train them to drive safely”.
Road accidents has, for sometime now being on the increase and is estimated to be causing 1,600 deaths annually in the country.
These accidents are estimated to cost the nation about 1.6 per cent of the country’s annual Gross Domestic Product (GDP), an equivalent of US$288 million.
According to the Transport Minister, Mr Collins Dauda, these road crashes were mainly due to road user behaviours and incompetence on the part of drivers in which “driver error ranks highest.”
During the launch, Mr Dauda said “Driver’s attitude in traffic is characterised by aggressiveness and impatience which leads to overspeeding, driving under the influence of alcohol, fatigue, wrongful overtaking and above all, disrespect for traffic laws and regulations”.
The minister, therefore, welcomed the initiative by the Yutong local agent and the other road safety stakeholders to refresh drivers on the various safety regulations necessary on the road.
Mr Dauda said the NRSC under the ministry had for sometime now trained over 300 drivers nation-wide.
He noted that these driver Training programmes had been restructured resulting in the setting up of the NDA last year March to provide upgrading and refresher training courses for drivers nation-wide.
The Managing Director of the NDA, Mr Franklin Asare, said the academy was currently liaising with the Driver Vehicle and Licensing Authority (DVLA) to make it mandatory for all drivers issued with a driver’s license to have completed a training course at the academy.
According to Mr Asare, if suggestions that road accidents in the country would in the coming years kill more people than malaria does are “truth, then it is a shame on us as a nation”.
The J K Plant Pool Limited has so far distributed over 600 million species of Yutong vehicles throughout the country. The company also imports and trades spare parts of the various vehicles it deals in and further engages in servicing of the distributed vehicles.
Dubbed: “Traning drivers saves life”, the refresher course is a collaborative effort between the company and the National Road Safety Commission (NRSC), the National Drivers’ Academy (NDA), as well as other transport operators and road safety stakeholders in the country focused on equipping participants with basic rules and regulations of driving.
During the launch in Accra, the General Manager of the J K Plant Pool, Mr Lolo Akendele, said the J K Plant Pool as a vehicle distribution and servicing company in the country was concerned with the surging incidents of road accidents recorded in the country.
“We believe safety on our roads can be achieved by a collective responsibility of all concerned stakeholders of road safety”, Mr Akendele said and added that the company’s reason for organising the course was not to “train people to drive, but to train them to drive safely”.
Road accidents has, for sometime now being on the increase and is estimated to be causing 1,600 deaths annually in the country.
These accidents are estimated to cost the nation about 1.6 per cent of the country’s annual Gross Domestic Product (GDP), an equivalent of US$288 million.
According to the Transport Minister, Mr Collins Dauda, these road crashes were mainly due to road user behaviours and incompetence on the part of drivers in which “driver error ranks highest.”
During the launch, Mr Dauda said “Driver’s attitude in traffic is characterised by aggressiveness and impatience which leads to overspeeding, driving under the influence of alcohol, fatigue, wrongful overtaking and above all, disrespect for traffic laws and regulations”.
The minister, therefore, welcomed the initiative by the Yutong local agent and the other road safety stakeholders to refresh drivers on the various safety regulations necessary on the road.
Mr Dauda said the NRSC under the ministry had for sometime now trained over 300 drivers nation-wide.
He noted that these driver Training programmes had been restructured resulting in the setting up of the NDA last year March to provide upgrading and refresher training courses for drivers nation-wide.
The Managing Director of the NDA, Mr Franklin Asare, said the academy was currently liaising with the Driver Vehicle and Licensing Authority (DVLA) to make it mandatory for all drivers issued with a driver’s license to have completed a training course at the academy.
According to Mr Asare, if suggestions that road accidents in the country would in the coming years kill more people than malaria does are “truth, then it is a shame on us as a nation”.
The J K Plant Pool Limited has so far distributed over 600 million species of Yutong vehicles throughout the country. The company also imports and trades spare parts of the various vehicles it deals in and further engages in servicing of the distributed vehicles.
AMA finds land for a new cementery
THERE is increasing pressure on the Accra Metropolitan Assembly (AMA) to find an alternative resting place for the dead as the present three cemeteries operated by the assembly are filled to capacity.
Dr Simpson Anim Boateng, Director of Public Health Department of the AMA, told the Daily Graphic in an interview that the said cemeteries were not “alarmingly full” adding “this no space thing would soon be over”.
The AMA’s health director observed that the assembly was responsible for all burials in the metropolis “and if there is no place for the dead in the metropolis, then this must be a concern”.
Dr Anim Boateng last year indicated that the three cemeteries managed by the assembly were “technically full” and could only operate for the next two years.
He, however, told this paper that the assembly had earmarked a place in Accra to replace the present burial sites and thus gave the assurance that the lack of space for the dead would soon be over.
Dr Anim Boateng would, however, not disclose the location of the said site except to say “the new site is well-situated in Accra and could even be larger than the Awudome cemetery”.
The Awudome cemetery is presently the largest and busiest graveyard among the 25 cemeteries operating in the Greater Accra Region. The walled cemetery is only younger to the Osu cemetery and currently receives about 30 bodies a week apart from being used as a site for mass burials.
Dr Anim Boateng bemoaned the inability of the assembly to re-use the present sites as burial grounds except after 25 years, a situation he attributed to the unprofessional manner in which those sites have been managed by people with little knowledge in that area.
“Cemeteries all over the world are built in a way that they can immediately be re-used after they are full. But, not in Ghana, because of the haphazard manner in which these cemeteries were managed”, the director noted.
As a result, Dr Anim Boateng said the assembly intended to apply the needed professional techniques required in managing the cemetery at the new site.
According to him, his outfit, if given the opportunity would promote cremation as an option to the fast diminishing land situation in the capital “but not the one presently done at the crematorium division of the Osu cemetery”.
“Not the physical burning of the dead where you see wood and all that. That one is very crude and degrading”, Dr Anim Boateng observed and noted that the modern form of cremation practised in other countries was cost effective and hygienic making a suitable option to the capital’s unavailable land.
The assembly presently manages three cemeteries, the Awudome, Osu and the La cemeteries which add up to a total of 25 cemeteries presently operating in the region.
The three cemeteries have been in operational for well over 100 years, serving as resting places to over a million persons across all walks of life.
Dr Simpson Anim Boateng, Director of Public Health Department of the AMA, told the Daily Graphic in an interview that the said cemeteries were not “alarmingly full” adding “this no space thing would soon be over”.
The AMA’s health director observed that the assembly was responsible for all burials in the metropolis “and if there is no place for the dead in the metropolis, then this must be a concern”.
Dr Anim Boateng last year indicated that the three cemeteries managed by the assembly were “technically full” and could only operate for the next two years.
He, however, told this paper that the assembly had earmarked a place in Accra to replace the present burial sites and thus gave the assurance that the lack of space for the dead would soon be over.
Dr Anim Boateng would, however, not disclose the location of the said site except to say “the new site is well-situated in Accra and could even be larger than the Awudome cemetery”.
The Awudome cemetery is presently the largest and busiest graveyard among the 25 cemeteries operating in the Greater Accra Region. The walled cemetery is only younger to the Osu cemetery and currently receives about 30 bodies a week apart from being used as a site for mass burials.
Dr Anim Boateng bemoaned the inability of the assembly to re-use the present sites as burial grounds except after 25 years, a situation he attributed to the unprofessional manner in which those sites have been managed by people with little knowledge in that area.
“Cemeteries all over the world are built in a way that they can immediately be re-used after they are full. But, not in Ghana, because of the haphazard manner in which these cemeteries were managed”, the director noted.
As a result, Dr Anim Boateng said the assembly intended to apply the needed professional techniques required in managing the cemetery at the new site.
According to him, his outfit, if given the opportunity would promote cremation as an option to the fast diminishing land situation in the capital “but not the one presently done at the crematorium division of the Osu cemetery”.
“Not the physical burning of the dead where you see wood and all that. That one is very crude and degrading”, Dr Anim Boateng observed and noted that the modern form of cremation practised in other countries was cost effective and hygienic making a suitable option to the capital’s unavailable land.
The assembly presently manages three cemeteries, the Awudome, Osu and the La cemeteries which add up to a total of 25 cemeteries presently operating in the region.
The three cemeteries have been in operational for well over 100 years, serving as resting places to over a million persons across all walks of life.
Sunday, February 13, 2011
Gift and Capital Gains tax bags GH¢2.24million
The Ghana Revenue Authority (GRA) collected GH¢2.24million as tax revenues from Capital Gains and Gift Tax within 2010.
This represents a 12.51 percent increase from the previous year's GH¢280,746.
The Head of Statistics at the Direct Tax division of the GRA Mr Jackson Berko, disclosed this to the Daily Graphic in an interview.
He said the contributions of both taxes to the Direct Tax account of the Ghana Revenue Authority in 2010 represented a 0.09 per cent of the GH¢2,441.33million collected by the account last year.
According to Mr Berko, taxes are difficult to collect and attributed the low revenue collected by the agencies to what he refereed to as "the unwilling nature of Ghanaians to tax payments".
"Their yield is very discouraging. You know, in Ghana, no one is willing to pay taxes and these taxes depends heavily on the will of us Ghanaians to declare the gifts and disposed assets we've acquired within the year", he said.
Mr Berko observed that the cost of collecting these taxes is so high that it is discouraging to deplore more staff into that area.
Both taxes oblige individuals, corporate entities and organisations to willingly make 15 per cent yearly payments on all assets and gifts that have been acquired and are valued to be above Gh¢ 50, as Capital Gains or Gift Tax depending on the situation.
The two taxes cover assets such as shares and bonds, buildings, business and business assets, all means of transport, chattle (hampers) , land, among others that have been acquired as gifts or disposed assets.
They, (both taxes) however, exempts properties acquired from family members as gifts or disposed assets valued above the Gh¢ 50 mark from attracting the 15 per cent charge as tax.
On the essence of both taxes, Mr Berko noted that those properties acquired as gifts or disposed assets are income to the receiver and must therefore attract tax.
"The gifts or disposed assets are income to you the receiver and we (the direct tax unit) tax incomes that accrue to the individual", he explained.
The interest rate chargeable on items acquired as gifts was initially 10 per cent but currently revised upward to 15 per cent as pertains to the Capital Gains tax.
According to Mr Berko, the upward adjustment in the rate chargeable on gifts to be at par with that of the Capital Gains was necessary to help curb possible tax avoidance.
“The two, Capital Gains and Gift Tax move in tandem. If people dispose assets or acquire disposed assets valued above Gh¢ 50, they are likely to say those properties were gifts because of the low tax rate placed on gifts, thus avoiding the tax".
This represents a 12.51 percent increase from the previous year's GH¢280,746.
The Head of Statistics at the Direct Tax division of the GRA Mr Jackson Berko, disclosed this to the Daily Graphic in an interview.
He said the contributions of both taxes to the Direct Tax account of the Ghana Revenue Authority in 2010 represented a 0.09 per cent of the GH¢2,441.33million collected by the account last year.
According to Mr Berko, taxes are difficult to collect and attributed the low revenue collected by the agencies to what he refereed to as "the unwilling nature of Ghanaians to tax payments".
"Their yield is very discouraging. You know, in Ghana, no one is willing to pay taxes and these taxes depends heavily on the will of us Ghanaians to declare the gifts and disposed assets we've acquired within the year", he said.
Mr Berko observed that the cost of collecting these taxes is so high that it is discouraging to deplore more staff into that area.
Both taxes oblige individuals, corporate entities and organisations to willingly make 15 per cent yearly payments on all assets and gifts that have been acquired and are valued to be above Gh¢ 50, as Capital Gains or Gift Tax depending on the situation.
The two taxes cover assets such as shares and bonds, buildings, business and business assets, all means of transport, chattle (hampers) , land, among others that have been acquired as gifts or disposed assets.
They, (both taxes) however, exempts properties acquired from family members as gifts or disposed assets valued above the Gh¢ 50 mark from attracting the 15 per cent charge as tax.
On the essence of both taxes, Mr Berko noted that those properties acquired as gifts or disposed assets are income to the receiver and must therefore attract tax.
"The gifts or disposed assets are income to you the receiver and we (the direct tax unit) tax incomes that accrue to the individual", he explained.
The interest rate chargeable on items acquired as gifts was initially 10 per cent but currently revised upward to 15 per cent as pertains to the Capital Gains tax.
According to Mr Berko, the upward adjustment in the rate chargeable on gifts to be at par with that of the Capital Gains was necessary to help curb possible tax avoidance.
“The two, Capital Gains and Gift Tax move in tandem. If people dispose assets or acquire disposed assets valued above Gh¢ 50, they are likely to say those properties were gifts because of the low tax rate placed on gifts, thus avoiding the tax".
Sunday, February 6, 2011
OUR REVENUE leakages; The role of ICT
AS the country continues to lose tax revenues through loopholes at the various tax units, ICT-based solution provider to the revenue body, the Ghana Community Network Services Limited (GCNet) says it is devising sophisticated methods to deal with the identified problems.
A source close to the Information, Communication and Technology (ICT)-based solutions provider to the Ghana Revenue Authority (GRA) indicated that the Valuation Assurance Programme, an upgraded aspect of the warehousing module, the Ghana Integrated Cargo Clearance Systems (GICCS), among other programmes would all be rolled out this year.
Most of these initiated programmes, the source said were targeted at the Customs division of the GRA and other revenue sensitive sectors of the country such as the Tema Harbour.
The customs account of the GRA last year felt short of its end of year target, possibly causing the integrated revenue body to marginally exceed its 2010 revenue target by 0.5 per cent.
The customs, however, explained that its 2010 revenue target short fall was as a result of the unannounced reductions in fuel tariffs after it had set its targets on grounds of the then prevailing circumstances.
But, barely a week after the announcement, startling revelations poured in from investigative journalist, Anas Aremeyaw Anas on the various revenue leakages occurring at the revenue collection points of the Tema Harbour mostly involving custom officials.
As a result, many wondered why despite the revenue agencies automation systems controlled and administered by the GCNet, these rampant leakages still exist.
According to the source at the GCNet, the various leakages recorded at the respective revenue units after they were linked to automated systems by GCNet were due to human factors. ‘We only provide the electronic platform against these linkages but we don’t control the human beings working with the systems”, the source intimated.
The source spoke to the Daily Graphic on the sidelines of an academic tour by the University For Development Studies (UDS), Navorogo Campus’ branch of the Mathematics Students Associations of Ghana (MASAG) to the company’s head office in Accra.
Government last year contracted the GCNet to provide assurances on goods declared by Destination Inspection Companies (DICs) as based on the monetary values placed on them by their respective importers on a special programme dubbed the VAP.
Per the programme, GCNet is suppose to ensure that goods declared by the DICs fall under the right range as per the value placed on them by their respective importers. The VAP presently operates in some limited revenue units and covers only eight rpoducts thereby leaving the other units and products uncovered.
The source admitted that the geographically limited nature of the VAP at the moment gave most people undue advantages of diverting their goods to points that have not been covered.
“The tendency is that, people are beginning to divert to other entry points in the country that have not yet been covered to clear thereby avoiding the programme. But these loopholes that we have identified would be addressed this year”, the source assured.
As a result, the Source "we are also extending the VAP to cover more goods than the current eight such as electronic and construction goods as well as more geographical locations ”, the source added.
The source further explained that the upgraded warehousing module soon to be deplored “would block the rampant usage of permits to clear goods at the ports”.
“The new thing is to force the people to go and perfect the duty (place the actual value on the goods initially cleared on permit to attract the needed duties and tax) that was cleared on permit”, the source explained.
Also, the source added, the module would help address incidents of importers leaving their goods in the harbour’s warehouses for more than the required time period.
The annual education tour by the students is meant to give them practical experiences on the operations of the ICT company, according to Emmanuel Fritz Dogbe, leader of the group.
Their academic time, Mr Dogbe observed “had been compensated for the first hand information we got about their networking for the revenue agencies”.
“I could have been on campus busily chewing and pouring but I wouldn’t have known that the GCNet is designing a software which would soon be used nation-wide”, he added.
The 28 students, according to their leader started their tour from Navorogo in the Upper East region on Monday, January 31, in which they visited the Kumasi offices of the State Insurance Company (SIC), Vodafone Ghana and continued to the Mahyia Museum for sight seeing.
In Accra, Mr Dogbe said the group after the familiarisation tour at the GCNet would do same at the head offices of the Ghana Statistical Services (GSS) and later proceed to the Tema Harbour after which they would round up their five day tour to the Cape Coast castle in the Central region on Friday February 4.
A source close to the Information, Communication and Technology (ICT)-based solutions provider to the Ghana Revenue Authority (GRA) indicated that the Valuation Assurance Programme, an upgraded aspect of the warehousing module, the Ghana Integrated Cargo Clearance Systems (GICCS), among other programmes would all be rolled out this year.
Most of these initiated programmes, the source said were targeted at the Customs division of the GRA and other revenue sensitive sectors of the country such as the Tema Harbour.
The customs account of the GRA last year felt short of its end of year target, possibly causing the integrated revenue body to marginally exceed its 2010 revenue target by 0.5 per cent.
The customs, however, explained that its 2010 revenue target short fall was as a result of the unannounced reductions in fuel tariffs after it had set its targets on grounds of the then prevailing circumstances.
But, barely a week after the announcement, startling revelations poured in from investigative journalist, Anas Aremeyaw Anas on the various revenue leakages occurring at the revenue collection points of the Tema Harbour mostly involving custom officials.
As a result, many wondered why despite the revenue agencies automation systems controlled and administered by the GCNet, these rampant leakages still exist.
According to the source at the GCNet, the various leakages recorded at the respective revenue units after they were linked to automated systems by GCNet were due to human factors. ‘We only provide the electronic platform against these linkages but we don’t control the human beings working with the systems”, the source intimated.
The source spoke to the Daily Graphic on the sidelines of an academic tour by the University For Development Studies (UDS), Navorogo Campus’ branch of the Mathematics Students Associations of Ghana (MASAG) to the company’s head office in Accra.
Government last year contracted the GCNet to provide assurances on goods declared by Destination Inspection Companies (DICs) as based on the monetary values placed on them by their respective importers on a special programme dubbed the VAP.
Per the programme, GCNet is suppose to ensure that goods declared by the DICs fall under the right range as per the value placed on them by their respective importers. The VAP presently operates in some limited revenue units and covers only eight rpoducts thereby leaving the other units and products uncovered.
The source admitted that the geographically limited nature of the VAP at the moment gave most people undue advantages of diverting their goods to points that have not been covered.
“The tendency is that, people are beginning to divert to other entry points in the country that have not yet been covered to clear thereby avoiding the programme. But these loopholes that we have identified would be addressed this year”, the source assured.
As a result, the Source "we are also extending the VAP to cover more goods than the current eight such as electronic and construction goods as well as more geographical locations ”, the source added.
The source further explained that the upgraded warehousing module soon to be deplored “would block the rampant usage of permits to clear goods at the ports”.
“The new thing is to force the people to go and perfect the duty (place the actual value on the goods initially cleared on permit to attract the needed duties and tax) that was cleared on permit”, the source explained.
Also, the source added, the module would help address incidents of importers leaving their goods in the harbour’s warehouses for more than the required time period.
The annual education tour by the students is meant to give them practical experiences on the operations of the ICT company, according to Emmanuel Fritz Dogbe, leader of the group.
Their academic time, Mr Dogbe observed “had been compensated for the first hand information we got about their networking for the revenue agencies”.
“I could have been on campus busily chewing and pouring but I wouldn’t have known that the GCNet is designing a software which would soon be used nation-wide”, he added.
The 28 students, according to their leader started their tour from Navorogo in the Upper East region on Monday, January 31, in which they visited the Kumasi offices of the State Insurance Company (SIC), Vodafone Ghana and continued to the Mahyia Museum for sight seeing.
In Accra, Mr Dogbe said the group after the familiarisation tour at the GCNet would do same at the head offices of the Ghana Statistical Services (GSS) and later proceed to the Tema Harbour after which they would round up their five day tour to the Cape Coast castle in the Central region on Friday February 4.
Accra: Commodity Prices after the fuel price increases
Traders in the various markets in the capital have resorted to various strategies as they respond to the effects of last month’s petroleum price increments.
The traders' strategies, according to checks by the Graphic Business are in response to the surge in the prices of various goods which was induced by the January 4 petroleum price increments.
The Graphic Business realised that while some traders in the markets are costing their wares higher now than before and maintaining the quantities of those wares, some are doing the reverse, selling at the old prices but sliced the quantity of those same products downward as compared to their initial quantities prior to the increment.
A visit to the Kaneshie Central, Tema Station, and the Makola markets indicated that most of the traders who are into consumer goods, such as food vendors and those selling goods that do not have fixed quantities have reduced the quantity of those commodities but still sell at the initial prices.
The National Petroleum Authority, regulators of the nation’s petroleum industry on January 4 this year increased the ex-pump prices of petrol and diesel by 30 and 20 per cent respectively while citing the rising crude oil prices in the global market and the accumulating Tema Oil Refinery’s (TOR) debt as factors that necessitated the upward adjustment.
Following this, a gallon of gasoline (premium) moved up from GH¢5.26 to currently sell at GH¢6.84. That of diesel also moved up from GH¢5.31 to sell at GH¢6.91, while a kilogram of Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG) now sells at GH¢1.047 after the same quantity was initially sold at GH¢0.8381 prior to the increment.
These upward changes caused transport operators in the country to also adjust transport fares upward by 18 per cent across board.
As a result, the cost of transporting traders’ wares from wholesale destinations to their respective points also went up as the traders explained to this reporter.
Madam Elizabeth, a dealer in corn related products such as corn dough, gari and sugar at the Tema Station Lorry park said the wholesale prices of the products she deal in had risen following the increment.
According to her, the cost of transporting those goods to the market had also gone up causing her to reduce the quantity of the various commodities and in some cases, increase the prices.
A bag of maize, she said now sells at Gh¢ 80, a Gh ¢10 upward adjustment from its initial Gh¢70 price prior to the petroleum price increment, a situation she insisted caused her to reduce the quantity of corn dough offered at 50p.
The small alonka of gari which was sold at ninety pesewas now goes for one cedi with the price of the big alonka also stretching to two cedis from its initial price of one cedi eighty pesewas.
Though Madam Elizabeth thinks the stretch in transport fares had a direct response on prices of gari and maize, she also thought the seasonal nature of her commodities also had a hand in the price changes.
Seasonal commodities, she observed are subject to price flatuations depending on the time of the season and the nature of the harvest.
“Even if fuel prices increase, prices of seasonal commodities will still go up and come down”, Madam Elizabeth explained.
Mr Andrew Nartey, a patron of Madam Elizabeth’s corn dough also observed “the quantity of this one cedi corn dough has reduced. This, (then referring to a ball of corn dough in his possession) was sometime ago sold at fifty pesewas”.
The wholesale prices of rice had also gone up by an average of Gh¢10 which in effect induced retail prices of the various brands upward.
Though, most of the rice traders at the Tema Station Lorry park would not dismiss any direct effect of the petroleum price increases on the upward adjustments of rice prices, they insisted that the main cause of the price surge was due to taxes and the Ivoirian crisis.
According to Madam Akosua Ankah, a dealer in Uncle Sam, a brand of the Ricemaster mostly imported through Cote d’ Viore, a bag was initially selling at Gh¢ 13.50p but the crisis pulled it upward to currently sell at Gh¢15 per bag.
Prices of construction and manufacturing wares were also realised inching up following the increments.
Cement prices for instance went up by approximately Gh¢2 across the various dealers visited by the Graphic Business.
Though Ghana Cement Company (GHACEM), a major cement manufacturer in the country had not announced any price increases, most of the dealers told this reporter that the distributors who increased the prices cited last month’s fuel price increments as a factor.
Interestingly however, prices of fish and fish related products have also gone up despite the NPA's resolve to raise prices of premix fuel, a product used by fishermen for fishing, citing its economic implications on the fishing folks as the reason.
The price of sachet water, popularly called 'pure water' has also folded back to its normal five pesewas per one after it was sold at 10 pesewas in the early days of the increment.
The traders' strategies, according to checks by the Graphic Business are in response to the surge in the prices of various goods which was induced by the January 4 petroleum price increments.
The Graphic Business realised that while some traders in the markets are costing their wares higher now than before and maintaining the quantities of those wares, some are doing the reverse, selling at the old prices but sliced the quantity of those same products downward as compared to their initial quantities prior to the increment.
A visit to the Kaneshie Central, Tema Station, and the Makola markets indicated that most of the traders who are into consumer goods, such as food vendors and those selling goods that do not have fixed quantities have reduced the quantity of those commodities but still sell at the initial prices.
The National Petroleum Authority, regulators of the nation’s petroleum industry on January 4 this year increased the ex-pump prices of petrol and diesel by 30 and 20 per cent respectively while citing the rising crude oil prices in the global market and the accumulating Tema Oil Refinery’s (TOR) debt as factors that necessitated the upward adjustment.
Following this, a gallon of gasoline (premium) moved up from GH¢5.26 to currently sell at GH¢6.84. That of diesel also moved up from GH¢5.31 to sell at GH¢6.91, while a kilogram of Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG) now sells at GH¢1.047 after the same quantity was initially sold at GH¢0.8381 prior to the increment.
These upward changes caused transport operators in the country to also adjust transport fares upward by 18 per cent across board.
As a result, the cost of transporting traders’ wares from wholesale destinations to their respective points also went up as the traders explained to this reporter.
Madam Elizabeth, a dealer in corn related products such as corn dough, gari and sugar at the Tema Station Lorry park said the wholesale prices of the products she deal in had risen following the increment.
According to her, the cost of transporting those goods to the market had also gone up causing her to reduce the quantity of the various commodities and in some cases, increase the prices.
A bag of maize, she said now sells at Gh¢ 80, a Gh ¢10 upward adjustment from its initial Gh¢70 price prior to the petroleum price increment, a situation she insisted caused her to reduce the quantity of corn dough offered at 50p.
The small alonka of gari which was sold at ninety pesewas now goes for one cedi with the price of the big alonka also stretching to two cedis from its initial price of one cedi eighty pesewas.
Though Madam Elizabeth thinks the stretch in transport fares had a direct response on prices of gari and maize, she also thought the seasonal nature of her commodities also had a hand in the price changes.
Seasonal commodities, she observed are subject to price flatuations depending on the time of the season and the nature of the harvest.
“Even if fuel prices increase, prices of seasonal commodities will still go up and come down”, Madam Elizabeth explained.
Mr Andrew Nartey, a patron of Madam Elizabeth’s corn dough also observed “the quantity of this one cedi corn dough has reduced. This, (then referring to a ball of corn dough in his possession) was sometime ago sold at fifty pesewas”.
The wholesale prices of rice had also gone up by an average of Gh¢10 which in effect induced retail prices of the various brands upward.
Though, most of the rice traders at the Tema Station Lorry park would not dismiss any direct effect of the petroleum price increases on the upward adjustments of rice prices, they insisted that the main cause of the price surge was due to taxes and the Ivoirian crisis.
According to Madam Akosua Ankah, a dealer in Uncle Sam, a brand of the Ricemaster mostly imported through Cote d’ Viore, a bag was initially selling at Gh¢ 13.50p but the crisis pulled it upward to currently sell at Gh¢15 per bag.
Prices of construction and manufacturing wares were also realised inching up following the increments.
Cement prices for instance went up by approximately Gh¢2 across the various dealers visited by the Graphic Business.
Though Ghana Cement Company (GHACEM), a major cement manufacturer in the country had not announced any price increases, most of the dealers told this reporter that the distributors who increased the prices cited last month’s fuel price increments as a factor.
Interestingly however, prices of fish and fish related products have also gone up despite the NPA's resolve to raise prices of premix fuel, a product used by fishermen for fishing, citing its economic implications on the fishing folks as the reason.
The price of sachet water, popularly called 'pure water' has also folded back to its normal five pesewas per one after it was sold at 10 pesewas in the early days of the increment.
Friday, February 4, 2011
Book on pensions launched
 |
| Dr Charles Andoh of the Department of Finance, UGBS launching the book while Mr Aglobi (right), Dr Yaw Baah, Dep. TUC Secretary General cheer on |
A 232-paged book on the country’s pension schemes and retirement planning has been launched in Accra.
Titled “Pensions: The New Investment Perspective for Retirement Planning”, it was authored by the Chief Executive Officer of the Advice Bank International, Mr Andrews D. Agblobi.
The writer is also a columnist with the Business and Financial Times newspaper, in which he has published over 40 articles on mortgage and pensions in the country.
According to the author, the 12-chapter book does a historic analyses of the development of pension in Ghana; from the CAP 30 through the Ghana Universal Salary Structure (GUSS) to the SSNIT scheme which was, last year, replaced by the new pension scheme.
Mr Agblobi expressed regret at the lack of indigenous books on the country’s pension scheme, a situation which compelled him to rely on foreign materials when he was doing a literature review on the subject of the book.
Mr Agblobi used the opportunity to call on all Ghanaians to take their pensions and retirement planning seriously by taking advantage of the voluntary pension scheme to contribute towards their retirement.
“The idea of pension”, he said, “is always to replace part of your earned income while working with regular monthly pension income until your death. It is always good to start planning early for your retirement so that in case you are knocked down one day, you can easily fall on your investments.”
According to him, the in-depth research and consultations that he undertook prior to coming out with the book make it a good reference material for persons seeking information on pensions and retirement planning in the country.
He maintained that “the aim of writing the book is not to make money but to motivate people to plan well towards their retirement and also to expose them to the country’s pension scheme.”
Dr Charles Andoh of the Department of Finance, University of Ghana Business School, also bemoaned the lack of writing habits among Ghanaians.
He said “most people in the country are authorities in various areas yet they refuse to write, making it difficult for their experiences to be shared with the young in society.”
The first copy of the book was bought for GH¢200 by the Director-General of the Social Security and National Insurance Trust (SSNIT), Dr Frank Odoom.
Ghana Revenue Authority exceeds 2010 target
Story: Charles Benoni Okine & Maxwell Adombila Akalaare
THE Ghana Revenue Authority (GRA) managed to bag GH¢5.94 billion as of the close of December last year, marginally exceeding its annual target of GH¢5.92bn by 0.5 per cent.
The figure posted by the GRA, an integrated body of all the three revenue collecting agencies in the country, namely, the Customs, Excise and Preventive Service (CEPS), the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) and the Value Added Tax (VAT) Service, also represents a 23.6 per cent increase over the previous year’s figure.
The Commissioner General of the GRA, Mr George Blankson, announced this at a news conference in Accra yesterday at which he also took steps to outline a number of initiatives to ensure that the authority met its target of GH¢7.5 billion by the close of the year.
He said revenue collection from the customs side of the account fell below its annual target but it was explained that the shortfall was due to, among others things, the reduction in some petroleum taxes during the year.
For the breakdown, Mr Blankson said domestic taxes (direct tax), formerly IRS, bagged GH¢2,441.33 million, while domestic tax (indirect tax), then VAT, collected GH¢1,061.22 million.
He said Customs (including petroleum) collected GH¢2,442.15 million, representing a shortfall of approximately nine per cent.
“In spite of the shortfall from the Customs side, we managed to exceed our target and we are working hard through the measures we have to ensure that we exceed our target this year,” Mr Blankson gave the assurance.
On the other challenges that hit the GRA as a body last year, he said, “The task of pressing ahead with the reform, while keeping up with revenue collection, is like juggling two balls in the air.”
He said the authority also had to grapple with the various training sessions and workshops for staff of the integrated authority to keep them abreast of the processes.
On the way forward, he said the management of the authority was committed to ensuring that the two prongs of tax reform and revenue enhancement were kept in perfect balance and proceeded in tandem.
Mr Blankson said this year and beyond the performance of the managers would be measured on both scores.
“On agency-based institutional loyalties, it is heart-warming to note that labour leaders have already taken the first steps in unifying the labour front and merging staff associations,” he said.
The move, he explained, was to ensure industrial harmony which was key to ensuring that the work ahead of the authority was executed without any hitches.
He said the reform process aimed at putting revenue collection on a higher growth path in the long term would be supported by the short and medium-term measures put in place by the authority.
As a result, Mr Blankson said, the authority would intensify arrears collection, a responsibility that would fall under the ambit of the Debt Management team of the authority.
He said the GRA would also intensify tax audit, while ensuring the proper and effective management of information at the district office of the authority.
THE Ghana Revenue Authority (GRA) managed to bag GH¢5.94 billion as of the close of December last year, marginally exceeding its annual target of GH¢5.92bn by 0.5 per cent.
The figure posted by the GRA, an integrated body of all the three revenue collecting agencies in the country, namely, the Customs, Excise and Preventive Service (CEPS), the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) and the Value Added Tax (VAT) Service, also represents a 23.6 per cent increase over the previous year’s figure.
The Commissioner General of the GRA, Mr George Blankson, announced this at a news conference in Accra yesterday at which he also took steps to outline a number of initiatives to ensure that the authority met its target of GH¢7.5 billion by the close of the year.
He said revenue collection from the customs side of the account fell below its annual target but it was explained that the shortfall was due to, among others things, the reduction in some petroleum taxes during the year.
For the breakdown, Mr Blankson said domestic taxes (direct tax), formerly IRS, bagged GH¢2,441.33 million, while domestic tax (indirect tax), then VAT, collected GH¢1,061.22 million.
He said Customs (including petroleum) collected GH¢2,442.15 million, representing a shortfall of approximately nine per cent.
“In spite of the shortfall from the Customs side, we managed to exceed our target and we are working hard through the measures we have to ensure that we exceed our target this year,” Mr Blankson gave the assurance.
On the other challenges that hit the GRA as a body last year, he said, “The task of pressing ahead with the reform, while keeping up with revenue collection, is like juggling two balls in the air.”
He said the authority also had to grapple with the various training sessions and workshops for staff of the integrated authority to keep them abreast of the processes.
On the way forward, he said the management of the authority was committed to ensuring that the two prongs of tax reform and revenue enhancement were kept in perfect balance and proceeded in tandem.
Mr Blankson said this year and beyond the performance of the managers would be measured on both scores.
“On agency-based institutional loyalties, it is heart-warming to note that labour leaders have already taken the first steps in unifying the labour front and merging staff associations,” he said.
The move, he explained, was to ensure industrial harmony which was key to ensuring that the work ahead of the authority was executed without any hitches.
He said the reform process aimed at putting revenue collection on a higher growth path in the long term would be supported by the short and medium-term measures put in place by the authority.
As a result, Mr Blankson said, the authority would intensify arrears collection, a responsibility that would fall under the ambit of the Debt Management team of the authority.
He said the GRA would also intensify tax audit, while ensuring the proper and effective management of information at the district office of the authority.
Tuesday, February 1, 2011
Stanbic fund over subscribedStory
Story: Maxwell Adombila Akalaare
THE Initial Public Offer (IPO) of the Stanbic Investment Fund (SIF), closed early last month with over 171 per cent over subscription.
The fund is an open-ended unit trust, investing in fixed income securities and seeks to maximise short-term income as well as long-term sustainable returns and capital appreciation.
It had 200,000 units on offer with an initial offer price of GH¢1.00 per unit. The offer lasted from December 15, 2010 to January 6, 2011.
The Head of Stanbic Investment Services Limited ( SIMS), Mr Alex E Asiedu, a subsidiary of Stanbic Bank and managers of the fund told the Daily Graphic “the public responded positively to the IPO”.
“It was heavily over subscribed. As at the end of the IPO on January 6, 2011, it had been oversubscribed by 171 per cent”.
Giving the breakdown, Mr Asiedu said out of the 342 clients who bought into the fund, approximately 300 of them did so in their private individual capacities while the remaining, which he said constituted an insignificant figure were corporate institutions.
According to the head of the SIMS, the over subscription of the fund did not come as a surprise. “We knew it; because, there was a ready market for a tried and tested brand in investments and we knew that prior to launching,” Mr Asiedu explained.
The fund’s over subscription, he noted was also testimony to the fact that despite the numerous complaints from the public about low income, most people were still ready to invest part of their incomes for future use, adding “People are looking for investment products that would offer them higher interest but have lower risks”.
He stated that the subscriber base of the fund was currently moving towards a million after hitting 800, 000 last week.
“The size of the fund currently moving close to a million”, Mr Asiedu added and further promised subscribers that the fund’s resolved to ensure “ high yields and relatively low risks resulting from prudent management from the fund managers".
“We have started doing aggressive marketing and we are bringing the experience and track record that the Standard Bank Group has in fund managements world-wide to bear in managing this fund,” he added.
The Stanbic Bank Ghana is a member of the Standard Bank Group that, among other things manages over 60 billion funds world-wide.
The IPO of the SIF was launched on December 15 last year and ran for nearly a month. The fund which has Merchant Bank as its trustee is focused on fixed income funds.
THE Initial Public Offer (IPO) of the Stanbic Investment Fund (SIF), closed early last month with over 171 per cent over subscription.
The fund is an open-ended unit trust, investing in fixed income securities and seeks to maximise short-term income as well as long-term sustainable returns and capital appreciation.
It had 200,000 units on offer with an initial offer price of GH¢1.00 per unit. The offer lasted from December 15, 2010 to January 6, 2011.
The Head of Stanbic Investment Services Limited ( SIMS), Mr Alex E Asiedu, a subsidiary of Stanbic Bank and managers of the fund told the Daily Graphic “the public responded positively to the IPO”.
“It was heavily over subscribed. As at the end of the IPO on January 6, 2011, it had been oversubscribed by 171 per cent”.
Giving the breakdown, Mr Asiedu said out of the 342 clients who bought into the fund, approximately 300 of them did so in their private individual capacities while the remaining, which he said constituted an insignificant figure were corporate institutions.
According to the head of the SIMS, the over subscription of the fund did not come as a surprise. “We knew it; because, there was a ready market for a tried and tested brand in investments and we knew that prior to launching,” Mr Asiedu explained.
The fund’s over subscription, he noted was also testimony to the fact that despite the numerous complaints from the public about low income, most people were still ready to invest part of their incomes for future use, adding “People are looking for investment products that would offer them higher interest but have lower risks”.
He stated that the subscriber base of the fund was currently moving towards a million after hitting 800, 000 last week.
“The size of the fund currently moving close to a million”, Mr Asiedu added and further promised subscribers that the fund’s resolved to ensure “ high yields and relatively low risks resulting from prudent management from the fund managers".
“We have started doing aggressive marketing and we are bringing the experience and track record that the Standard Bank Group has in fund managements world-wide to bear in managing this fund,” he added.
The Stanbic Bank Ghana is a member of the Standard Bank Group that, among other things manages over 60 billion funds world-wide.
The IPO of the SIF was launched on December 15 last year and ran for nearly a month. The fund which has Merchant Bank as its trustee is focused on fixed income funds.
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