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BUSINESS NEWS | GHANA AND BEYOND

Government, through the Ministry of Business Development, has launched a support programme for startups and small businesses across the country. The project, dubbed: “Presidential Business Support Programme”, aims at training and funding small scale and startup businesses to grow their capacities and create more jobs. This year’s edition, which marks the 3rd phase of the programme, will see a total of 26,000 startup and small business owners receiving training in various fields and sectors of the economy. Of this number, 5,000 businesses will receive financial support after the course. The support package ranges from GH¢5,000 to GH¢10,000 depending on the nature of participant’s business.

Ghana has been appointed as a member of the Independent Advisory Committee (IAC) of the Global Internet Forum to Counter Terrorism (GIFTC).
This nomination is due to Ghana’s political commitment and human right-centric approach to developing its cybersecurity as well as its active engagement at the regional and international levels to promote the responsible use of the internet. The GIFCT was established in July 2017 by a group of companies dedicated to disrupting terrorists’ abuse and misuse of member platforms. The original Forum was led by a rotating chair drawn from the four founding companies — Facebook, Microsoft, Twitter, and YouTube.

The Social Security and National Insurance Trust (SSNIT) has finally resolved its long-standing battle with pensioners over disagreements on Past Credit owed the latter ever since the three-tier Pension Scheme Act 766 was implemented. A press release from SSNIT stated that it has released GH¢59,612,321 which hit the accounts of the 19,918 affected pensioners on Thursday, June 11, 2020, thereby, bringing the matter to successful conclusion as agreed between government and sections of organized labour on the interest rate applied to the accrued Past Credit which is a one-time benefit for pensioners who are retiring under the National Pensions Act, 2008, Act 766. This comes in the wake of 12 public sector worker unions, on Wednesday, threatening to strike after they gave a two-week ultimatum to government to ensure that the Past Credit and other issues regarding their pensions are resolved.

Parliament has approved a request to waive Domestic VAT totaling US$3.1 million on local purchases and services in the rehabilitation and upgrading of equipment in Technical Universities, Polytechnics and Technical and Vocational Training Centres. The request for the VAT exemption complies with the Concessional Loan Agreement between the Government of Ghana and the Export-Import Bank of China. Dr Mark Assibey-Yeboah, Chairman of the Finance Committee presented the Committee’s report on the floor Parliament indicated that Parliament had in July 2018 approved by a resolution the Supplementary Contract Agreement Nos. 1&2 as well as the Commercial Contract between the Government of Ghana, acting through the Ministry of Education and Messrs AVIC International Holding Corporation of China for the implementation of the project.

An industry discussion has commenced between players in the insurance sector and the regulator – the National Insurance Commission (NIC) – for a possible extension of the GH¢50 million new minimum capital requirement set to take effect in June next year. The insurers, under the auspices of the Insurance Brokers Association of Ghana (IBAG) and Ghana Insurance Association (GIA) are requesting an extension of the minimum recapitalization as a result of the Coronavirus Pandemic that has severely impacted on all business activities across the globe. The new minimum capital requirement with a 230 percent increase from the initial GH¢15 million to GH¢50 million for both life and non-life (general) insurers created fierce controversy among industry operators following its announcement.

The Chairman of the Integrated Customs Management System (ICUMS) Technical Implementation Committee, Assistant Commissioner of Customs, Emmanuel Ohene, has assured freight forwarders that the UNIPASS clearing system at the country’s ports will improve within six months. This follows criticisms by the Ghana Institute of Freight Forwarders (GIFF), which says the new system has failed. Speaking at a press conference in Tema, Mr. Emmanuel Ohene, acknowledged that although the new system has some technical challenges, they are working to resolve them. “From our projections, we are anticipating that within the next six months ICUMS end-to-end clearance will take forty-eight hours. It is important to mention that when I was explaining the issue of SLAs, I indicated that we have several levels of activity in the post ICUMS where you have pre-arrival, clearance and post-clearance.” The UNIPASS/ICUMS platform is a new port clearing system that processes documents and payments through one window: a departure from the previous system where valuation and classification and risk management and payment were handled by different entities.

The Energy Ministry is confident of harnessing at least one gigawatt of power from nuclear sources, as it finalizes proposals to be submitted to Cabinet for approval. Officials of the ministry yesterday held a meeting with the Minister of Environment, Science, Technology, and Innovation, as well as other stakeholders, where an agreement was reached to nearly triple the country’s current, installed power capacity. Ghana has over 4,000 megawatts (MW) of installed electricity generation capacity including renewable sources, though actual availability barely exceeds 2,400 MW due to changing hydrological conditions, inadequate fuel supplies, and poor energy infrastructure.

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