Browsing: Agric and Environment

U.S. Ambassador Stephanie S. Sullivan last week announced new co-investments by the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) totaling $4.2 million with five companies operating in Ghana.

Besides mobile money, several factors have contributed to the emergence of e-commerce in Ghana chief among which is the level of internet penetration. According to Kepois, a social media research organization, internet penetration in Ghana is among the highest in the West African sub-region.

According to GRA, any goods above 300 kilograms would attract a disinfection fee of US$450 from the previous US$20 which commenced on 16th March, 2022. This is in attempt to meet its revenue target for the year.

But, the aggrieved exporters that Economy Times spoke to have described the new directive as very unfortunate and would discourage exports in the country.

Fitch Ratings in a podcast said Ghana’s international reserves position has become very reliant on Eurobond issuance. Indicating that, Ghana is not in a situation where the government needs to constantly roll over hard currency debt or whose debt market is wholly reliant on non-resident investors. In supporting the Fitch’s position, the University of Ghana economist noted that, a careful look at the template that Ghana sent to the IMF in 1965 under the watch of Dr Kwame Nkrumah, which is a reflection of what has been happening over the years, there’s only one thing left which is keeping us from going to the IMF right now and that has to do with the depreciation of the cedi.

The c protested the reduction in benchmark value from 50 percent to 30 percent by the government saying it will result in high production cost and affect cement prices.

The Russia-Ukraine invasion induced unprecedented spike in crude oil and gas prices is troubling many economies. This, coupled with the escalating U.S dollar exchange rate to the local currency (Cedi) threatens petroleum products supply in the country.

the Ghana Union of Traders (GUTA) has called on regulators of the forex market to fast-track the proposal of making the Chinese Yuan as the only trading currency when doing business with China. They believe such a move will reduce pressure on the Cedi because imports will not be done with US dollars as most Ghana’s import currently come from China because of their cheaper products and cost. 

Civil Society Organisations and some journalists have been trained on how to deepen efforts on educating the public and unearthing ‘dubious-minded’ business owners on Beneficial Ownership Transparency (BOT). 

The Government of Ghana and World Bank Group’s (WBG) Board of Executive Directors concluded a discussion on a new five-year Country Partnership Framework (CPF) for Ghana for 2022 to 2026.

The immediate past Board Chair of Ghana Revenue Authority has objected to an official comment from the Finance Minister purporting that the country has no financial resources to pursue its budgetary allocations and developmental agenda.