Featured Articles

BUSINESS NEWS | GHANA AND BEYOND

Official first-quarter trade figures released by the Ghana Shippers Authority have revealed the severity of the impact of Covid-19 on the country’s maritime sector, with significant declines in all aspects of the business. The total volume of cargo—comprising both containerised and general cargo—handled by the country’s two seaports in the first quarter of 2020 decreased by a whopping 44.9 percent year-on-year, the data showed. The volume recorded was 3.8m metric tonnes compared with the 6.9m metric tonnes recorded for the same period of 2019. The import trade volume for the first quarter stood at 2.7m metric tonnes, representing a 24.5 percent fall year-on-year, while the export trade volume registered 996,331 metric tonnes, representing a 66.1 percent fall year-on-year. The total volume of transit cargo—that is, cargo moved to Ghana’s landlocked neighbours—and transshipped cargo—that is, cargo moved to neighbouring ports by sea—was 79,629 metric tonnes, indicating a 76.1 percent drop year-on-year.

The 3% levy charged all consumers of electricity for street lighting has generated GH¢273.9million of revenue to government in 2018 and 2019, Energy Minister John Peter Amewu said when he appeared before Parliament to answer questions from members last Thursday. Out of that amount, the minister noted GH¢134,266,116 was collected in 2018, and GH¢139,610,716 collected the following year. Meanwhile, in his account he also indicated that out of the total amount only GH¢64.5million has been utilised by the Ministry of Energy for payment of energy consumed by traffic, streets, and public lights, as well as the investment and maintenance of same as required by the Energy Sector Levies (Amendment) Act, 2017, (Act 946).

An international rating agency, Global Credit Rating Agency (GCR) has upgraded Fidelity Bank Ghana’s national scale long term ratings from A- to A and short-term ratings from A2 to A1, with a stable outlook. In a press release announcing the upgrade of Fidelity Bank, the rating agency indicated that Fidelity’s business profile is positive, supported by its above average distribution network, good spread of local geographic diversification, adequate capitalization and stable funding structure. “Fidelity Bank Ghana’s risk position is sound, balancing the probability of asset quality deterioration due to the COVID-19 related economic shock and modest oil prices, and the better than market gross non-performing loans (NPLs). The bank recorded a regulatory NPL ratio of 2.1% at 31 March 2020, better than its competitors and against the industry average of 14.5%,” stated GCR.

Businesses seeking to access support from the NBSSI MasterCard Foundation Recovery and Resilience Program for Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises, will be able to secure the funds after its launch on Wednesday, 12th August, 2020. MasterCard Foundation, in partnership with the National Board for Small Scale Industries, an agency under Ghana’s Ministry of Trade and Industry, announced the creation of an Emergency Program to support MSMEs and start-ups in Ghana, affected by the COVID-19 pandemic with an initial amount of GH¢90 million. A statement issued on the NBSSI MasterCard Foundation Recovery and Resilience Program, said it would focus on supporting MSMEs that need support to survive the COVID-19 pandemic; and businesses in growth sectors where the employment of young people, especially young women, will be negatively impacted as a result of business operation disruptions, supply chain challenges, liquidity shortages, declining sales and profits, and business closures.

Commissioner of Insurance at the National Insurance Commission (NIC) has said the introduction of the Motor Insurance Database (MID) policy has recorded 554,000 electronic stickers since its introduction. This follows an earlier 507,000 motor insurance stickers issued electronically in July this year following the implementation of the MID in January 2020 to curb fake insurance stickers plying the roads. The Commissioner, Justice Yaw Ofori speaking in an interview with GhanaWeb indicated the growing confidence in the system, as most Motorists now buy valid insurances with approved entities.

Ghana needs GH¢3.5 trillion to provide adequate nutrition to 850,000 pregnant women and more than 4,000 infants in the country. The nutritional value should include multiple micronutrient and calcium supplementation, exclusive breastfeeding of infants and improving complementary feeding interventions. It is expected that adequate nutrition would reduce maternal deaths by 82 percent and 16 percent stunted growth in children under-five years and ultimately minimise infant mortality. Currently, one out of every five children in Ghana is malnourished due to endemic poverty, especially in the northern parts of the country.

➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖

The 2nd InvestinGh webinar comes off on 15th August, 2020 @ 17:00GMT. Mr. Akwasi Adu-Boahene, Head of Fidelity Securities Ltd., will speak on the topic *“How to choose a Mutual Fund”*. Visit *www.investingh.info* to register for free.

➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖

Secure your Tomorrow with *MY OWN PENSION* on your MTN Mobile Money and make contributions that you can rely upon tomorrow. To Register, Simply dial **170#*, select *Option 5* (Financial Services) and select *Option 4* (Pensions and Investments) to Begin

➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖

The Investingh team put together a Financial Planning Template to help you plan your budget, retirement, child’s fees, weddings, buying a car, land acquisition etc. Follow this link to download: http://eepurl.com/gb8arv

➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖

INTERBANK FOREX RATES
US$GH¢ Buy 5.6768 Sell 5.6824
GB£GH¢ Buy 7.4263 Sell 7.4343
AUD$GH¢ Buy 4.0667 Sell 4.0725
CAD$GH¢ Buy 4.2529 Sell 4.2562
JP¥GH¢ Buy 0.0537 Sell 0.0537
ZARGH¢ Buy 0.3206 Sell 0.3209
EU€GH¢ Buy 6.6814 Sell 6.6856
CHN¥GH¢ Buy 0.8170 Sell 0.8176
GH¢CFA Buy 98.1149 Sell 98.1766
GH¢NG₦ Buy 67.0470 Sell 67.2230

CRYPTOCURRENCY MARKET
Bitcoin $11,895.68