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President Nana Akufo-Addo has directed Metropolitan, Municipal, District Assemblies (MMDAs) and other Government agencies to prioritize locally assembled vehicles when making buying decision for new vehicles. Chief of Staff, Akosua Frema Osei-Opare made this known in a statement. According to the statement, the directive takes effect from July 2020. It says the Ministry of Trade would provide information about assembling vehicles in Ghana. German auto manufacturers, Volkswagen, Chinese Sinotruck and Japanese Toyota are three of the companies assembling vehicles in Ghana. The statement urged all MDAs, MMDAs, and other Government establishments to comply with the policy.

The newly introduced Integrated Customs Management System (ICUMS), which began a month ago at the Terminal Three of the Kotoka International Airport (KIA), has yielded a total revenue of GH¢55.4 million. This represents a 20 percent increment over last year’s revenue performance for June, which was about GH¢46 million. Mr Festus Mensah, the Chief Revenue Officer in-charge of General Duties at the KIA, disclosed this to stakeholders at a forum in Accra. The forum, which was organised by the Accra Airport sector of the Custom Division of the Ghana Revenue Authority, at the Terminal Three, revealed that revenue mobilization under the new system was doing quite well.

The Finance Committee of Parliament has tasked the management of the Micro Finance and Small Loans Centre (MASLOC) to improve on its loan recovery as the scheme recovered only 55% of loans disbursed in 2019. This follows a drop in the recovery rate from 64% in 2016 to 55% in 2019. Presenting a report of the Finance Committee on the budget performance of the office of government machinery for 2019 on the floor of the House, Chair of the Committee Dr Mark Assibey-Yeboah disclosed many targets set by the management of MASLOC in the year under review were not met.

The Institute for Energy Security, IES, says the drop in Ghana’s oil revenue in 2019 could be attributed to the movement of crude prices on the world market and the challenges faced by Tullow Oil in the TEN Fields. Oil revenue dropped by 5 percent to US$925 million in 2019 from US$977 million in 2018, even though oil production in the period under review went up by 15 percent. Speaking to Citi Business News, the Executive Director of IES, Nana Amoasi VII, (The seventh), explained that Ghana’s oil revenue forecast in the national budget was also over-projected comparing to global benchmark prices.

African countries have lost almost US$55 billion in travel and tourism revenues in three months due to the coronavirus pandemic, the African Union (AU) commissioner for infrastructure and energy said on Thursday. Amani Abou-Zeid told a news conference the economic impact of lockdowns and border closures to curb the spread of the virus would be severe, with the continent’s air industry hit particularly hard. She said tourism and travel represented almost 10% of the gross domestic product of Africa. “We have 24 million African families whose livelihood is linked to travel and tourism,” Abou-Zeid said, adding the downturn had come in a year when Africa was expected to see an increase in travel and air transport.

Oil fell below US$43 a barrel on Friday as a resurgence of coronavirus cases raised concern that fuel demand growth could stall, although crude was still headed for a weekly gain on lower supply and wider signs of economic recovery. The United States reported more than 55,000 new coronavirus cases on Thursday, a new daily global record for the pandemic. The rise in cases suggested US jobs growth, which jumped in June, could suffer a setback. Brent crude was down 52 cents, or 1.2 percent, at US$42.62 a barrel as of 0805 GMT, and US West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude fell 50 cents, or 1.2 percent, to US$40.15.

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