News Guide Africa

Category: Economy and Finance

  • Liabilities of most SOEs more than doubled in 4yrs – Mould

    Liabilities of most SOEs more than doubled in 4yrs – Mould

    Adnan Adams Mohammed

    A former Chief Executive Officer of a State Owned Enterprise, Ghana National Petroleum Corporation, has painstakingly shown keen interest in the SIGA 2020 Report.

    The finance and energy expert, Alex Mould has, thus, summarised the liabilities of the major SOEs in the country to help in critical scrutiny of the performance of the SOEs. In the summary, it was clear that, most of the SOEs more than doubled their arrears payments or liabilities. The heavily indebted were GNPC, Ghana Cocoa Board (COCOBOD) and Electricity Company of Ghana (ECG). These companies have their liabilities exceeding GHC10.0 billion within a period of four years from 2016 to 2020.

    Some critics of the performance of GNPC are surprised why the corporation recorded a net loss of GHC1.6 billion in 2020 after recording a net profit of GHC204 million in 2019. Also, its direct cost, which was GHC2.4 billion in 2019 surged to GHC4.3 billion in 2020, a whopping 78% increase. The critics demand for convincing explanation from GNPC on its performance over the years.

    “GNPC must explain this financial performance at a time when it also spent ₵200M on ‘Corporate Social Responsibility’”, Bright Kwashie Dzokoto, a tax expert and a member of Tx Justice Coalition demanded. “This accountability-free regime must end.

    Below are the highlights of the liabilities:

    1. ECG

    Moved from GHC6.0 billion to GHC15.0 billion in 2016 to 2020. ECG’s liabilities are mainly trade creditors payable to Independent Power Producers (IPPs).

    2.  GACL

    Moved from GHC740 million to GHC2.0 billion in 2016 to2020. These arrears are mainly to banks. 

    3.  COCOBOD

    Here, the liabilities which are mainly bank loans, moved from GHC295 million to GHC10 billion within same period (2016-2020).

    4. GRIDCO

    Liabilities mainly owed to VRA/IPPs and PURC, moved from GHC485 million to GHC1.33 billion.

    5. Ghana Gas

    These liabilities mainly trade payables owed to GNPC, moved from GHC4.8 billion to GHC9.7 billion in 2016 to 2020.

    6.  GNPC

    Their liabilities were mainly in three folds; moved from GHC3.5 billion to GHC11.4 billion. The folds were: mainly trade creditors which moved from GHC237 million to GHC5.5 billion; loans of  GHC1.3 billion to GHC3.0 billion; and advance payment by GoG to Eni for unpaid gas amounting to GHC2.3 billion.

    7. Ghana Water

    The liabilities mainly made up of trade creditors and loans of GHC4.2 billion; jumped from GHC745 million to GHC6.2 billion.

    8.  TOR

    The arrears of TOR increased from GHC3.7 billion to GHC4.6 billion. These was made of mainly Trade Creditors of GHC3.0 billion and loans plus ESLA amounted to GHC1.6 billion.

    9. VRA

    The total liabilities moved from GHC7.5 billion to GHC9.7 billion. These were mainly trade payables which grew from GHC4.2 billion to GHC6.8 billion while its borrowings dropped from GHC3.1 billion to GHC1.0 billion.

  • High ‘cost of doing business’ a major burden to businesses

    High ‘cost of doing business’ a major burden to businesses

    Alex Mould writes

    So,it appears the main burdens for many-  industry and traders – are the following: Interest rates; depreciation of the Cedi; and inflation (which affect demand of most goods).

    The cost of doing business is high – and most of this is  deliberate and orchestrated by the organisations who sometimes deliberately make doing business cumbersome so that the people who work there – together with their middlemen interfacing with the clients – make money by “assisting” the self imposed cumbersome process. 

    Sometimes even the CEO/ head of institution will give you someone to assist you for which that person will charge the client for his/her services – Lands commission, Registrar General, DVLA, passport office, immigration, et al, to name a few.

    To register a company should not cost more than GHC100, but, sometimes costs as much as GHS1,500.

    Maybe this is where we need to focus becos all these really should be in the control of the economic management team, Ministry of Finance and Bank of Ghana.

    We need to identify all the drains on government apart from the bloated employees (currently 890,000 from 640,000 in 2017, most of whom are not engaged at work and most redundant.

    Some of these drains include:

    1.  Procurement abuse and state capture is a big one in Govt and in the parastatals especially

    2.  There are alot of hidden charges we charge the consumer for which I can not understand/fathom:

    PURC, a regulator, has a levy for itself in the electricity price; 

    BOST, a commercial entity, has a levy/margin in the petrol price build up; and

    We have indefinite debt recovery levies, of ring fenced debt, debt which keeps renewing itself. Etc

    A look at the balance sheet if all the SoEs show that collectively they have more than doubled their liabilities (mainly institutional debt) where as some have like CocoBod and GNPC have entered an abyss of perhaps no return which will lead to, perhaps, a GOG bailout, who itself needs a bailout come August when the half year numbers come out

  • BOST challenges GHC400mn lose in SIGA report

    BOST challenges GHC400mn lose in SIGA report

    The management of the Bulk Oil Storage and Transportation Company Limited has taken notice of a series of publications making the rounds on several online portals suggesting that contrary to an announcement by the MD, Edwin Provencal, that BOST has made an operating profit before tax of GHC30million, a report from SIGA indicates BOST has incurred losses to the tune of GHC400 Million.

    Below is the full press release:

  • Ghana loses over GH¢50m in quarry royalties – MIIF

    Ghana loses over GH¢50m in quarry royalties – MIIF

    The Minerals Income Investment Fund (MIIF) says Ghana loses over GH¢50 million annually in royalties from quarry due to the country’s over-concentration on gold resources.

    The Chief Executive Officer of MIIF, Edward Nana Yaw Koranteng who said this at the opening of the 2022 Ghana Mining Week and Gold Expo in Takoradi said quarry should be giving Ghana around GH¢100 million royalties annually, but Ghana only realised just GH¢ 3.8milllion in 2020.

    “92% of our royalties are coming from gold, so there is a leaning towards gold because that is where we have our most royalties. So, that is the problem. If you look at the quarry sector, it is in line with our economic and infrastructure development. So as far as you have infrastructure and economic development growing, there should be a corresponding increase in its royalties. We are supposed to have about, GH¢100million in royalties annually. In a worst-case scenario, we should have at least GH¢35 million to GH¢ 56 million but in 2020 we had only GH¢3.6 million which means there is a big problem with the quarries“, he said.

    Explaining the cause of the problem to Citi News on the sidelines of the Ghana Mining Week, Edward Nana Yaw Koranteng also highlighted plans to cure the problem.

    “We have identified four main problems with the quarries including invasion by foreigners, underpricing, lack of capital and encroachment by settlers within the catchment of quarries. If we have to expand the royalties net and add value to the quarries sector, then we need to properly strategize. So for me to get GH¢100 million royalties annually from the quarries, there are a few things we are doing now. Thus, we are trying to support the quarry sector by introducing what we call de-risking mechanisms, which is essential to provide guarantees to banks that desire to support the quarry sector“, he added.

    Expanding the scope of mineral resources that can bring more royalties to the state, the CEO of MIIF said if Ghana doesn’t take care, it will even start importing stones anytime soon.

    “Our research shows that there is a huge potential in the other mineral sector. Quarry is one and salt is another. There are only two countries, Ghana and Senegal that have the potential to provide industrial salt, but Nigeria keeps bypassing us to Brazil to bring salt to support their petroleum industry. The potential of salt considering the fact that gold is more finite makes salt much bigger in terms of long-term sustainable value than gold,“ he noted.

    Touching on the relevance of the Ghana Mining Week towards achieving Mining for Sustainable Development, Edward Nana Yaw Koranteng said the Ghana Mining Week is as good as the South African Mining fair which is good in addressing most of the challenges in the Ghanaian mining sector and commended the Western Regional Minister and his team for growing the Ghana Mining Week and Gold Expo.

    The Western Regional Minister, Kwabena Okyere Darko Mensah opening this year’s Ghana Gold Expo and Mining Week which also showcased key mining trends and technology as well as site tours, said the Gold Expo and mining week is gradually positioning the Western Region as the headquarters of responsible mining which is good for Ghana. Kwabena Okyere Darko Mensah who has been the face of the Ghana Mining Week, however, highlighted some achievements of the mining week.

    “If there is any other impact that the Ghana Gold Expo has been able to make apart from its basic objective of ensuring a safer mining environment through responsible mining, it is the project’s ability to draw in those in academia to proffer practical solutions to long-aged challenges bedevilling the mining sector through capacity building and technology… I am happy to report that, as an outcome of the Ghana Mining Week and Gold Expo, Gold Fields Ghana Limited is currently advancing discussions with the University of Mines and Technology, UMaT, for both entities to train community mining companies in the Western Region,” he said.

    The Western Regional Minister also described the coming on board of the Minerals Income Investment Fund’s Small-Scale Mining Incubation Programme, as a complementary step to what stakeholders have been advocating for over the period.

    Meanwhile, Forbes Monaco, an official partner of Ghana Gold Expo and Arum Global partners on Conservation Mine and Reclamation 2022 Awards at the event adjudged the Minerals Income Investment Fund, MIIF, as the BEST FINANCIAL INSTITUTION.

    The citation presented read in part:  “Your ability to support and provide alternative financial mechanisms into the small-scale mining sector will ensure responsible gold supply chain and efficient funding platform for small-scale and community miners“.

  • LEAP beneficiaries to receive arrears as WB supports Ghana with GH¢42mn

    LEAP beneficiaries to receive arrears as WB supports Ghana with GH¢42mn

    The World Bank has released GH¢42 million through the Ghana Productive Safety Net Project 2 (GPSNP 2), to support the Government of Ghana (GoG) to pay two cycles of arrears—75th and 76th cycles—of the Livelihood Empowerment Against Poverty (LEAP) for 344,000 beneficiary households.

    The ongoing global economic challenges, which have been worsened by the COVID-19 pandemic, have increased the economic strain domestically, leading to progressive delays in LEAP payments. This has in turn impacted LEAP beneficiaries, notably the poor and vulnerable, who naturally suffer the most in Ghana.

    “We are happy to support in the interest of beneficiaries to assist the government [of Ghana] with the LEAP payments to avoid eroding gains made over the years and safeguard beneficiary households’ wellbeing and their resilience to shocks. These payments will be completed in April 2022 and will help cushion GoG in the interim as efforts are made to identify and provide sustainable, and reliable funding for the LEAP program and social protection interventions, in general,” sPierre Laporte, World Bank Country Director for Ghana, Liberia and Sierra Leone said, last week.

    The LEAP program is one of the Government of Ghana’s flagship social protection programs, initiated in 2008.

    The program seeks to smoothen consumption of targeted extreme poor households, specifically focusing on the poor within the following categories: orphans and vulnerable children, the elderly (65 years and above) severely disabled, and pregnant women or mothers with children under one year.

    The program also aims to increase access to basic social services like healthcare through the enrolment on the National Health Insurance Scheme, as well as boost human capital by encouraging beneficiary households to enroll their school-going aged children in school.

    Per the GPSNP 2 program design, beneficiary households receive cash grants through electronic payments every two months. The cash benefit sizes differ, depending on how many persons in the household are considered eligible to receive the grant.

    The benefit ranges from GH¢32 to GH¢53 per eligible beneficiary, per month. Over the years, the Government of Ghana has progressively increased the program’s beneficiary reach from 1,645 beneficiary households in a few districts at initiation in 2008, to a current reach of 344,023 beneficiary households in all districts across the country.

    Additionally, Government has demonstrated its commitment to the program’s implementation by progressively increasing its contribution to the program. It is currently funding approximately 80 percent of the total funding of the program, with development partners’ support comprising the remaining 20 percent.

    Particularly within global economic downturns, such as the current one on the back of the COVID-19 pandemic, it will be important for the Government to identify ring-fenced funding to ensure regular payments of social welfare programs. The World Bank remains committed to working with the Government of Ghana, through both technical and financial support, in its agenda to support the poor and vulnerable populations, through needed social assistance programming.

  • Bring back national shipping line to save the cedi – Freight Forwarders

    Bring back national shipping line to save the cedi – Freight Forwarders

    The Ghana Institute of Freight Forwarders is making a case for the reintroduction of a national shipping line, the Black Star Line.

    According to the institute, this will help bring competition amongst the various shipping lines while helping to address the issue of the depreciating cedi due to significant funds that are repatriated out of the country by these international liners.

    Speaking to Citi Business News, a member of the Ghana Institute of Freight Forwarders Communication Team, Jacob Agyeman said the government ought to prioritise bringing back the national shipping line in the interest of the local currency.

    “Now we have AfCFTA, we can even take advantage of that. The government sets up Black Star line, then at least the transhipment cargoes will be transported by Black Star Line. The advantage here is you create employment for your people. You can even help stabilize this cedi that we are complaining about because most of these multinationals cause capital flight as at the end of the day they send their monies out of the country. If the Black Star line is here, the money stays here because if it makes $1,000,000 or $2,000,000, a chunk of it stays here.  It stabilizes the Cedi against the dollar.”

    He added that the commencement of the operations of Black Star Liine will also create jobs while regulating the sector.

    “I’m sure they may have policies in place, but the implementation is the issue. We must begin to see practicals, they must set it up, and it must work. And I believe this is the best moment for us to revive Black Star lines, create employment for your people, stabilize your cedi, and then create competition so that your people will get quality service. There’s no competition.”

    Ghana has not had a shipping line since the early 90’s when its Black Star Line folded up after some challenges with operating the entity.

    There have been many calls from various stakeholders for a national shipping line across successive governments, but not much has been done yet.

  • Privatise all SOEs to attain profitability as desirable – Economist advises gov’t

    Privatise all SOEs to attain profitability as desirable – Economist advises gov’t

    Adnan Adams Mohammed

    With the current undesirable results posted by the State Owned Enterprises (SOEs), a ‘pillar’ in Ghana’s economist, Kwame Pianim, has called for the outright sale of some State Owned Enterprises (SOEs) to the private sector as part of the measures to mobilise revenue for the government.

    The revered economist believes many of the SOEs, which have become losses making enterprises, needs to be sold to maximize profit in the wake of the economic difficulties faced by the country.

    According to the 2020 State Ownership Report, the SOEs recorded a GH¢2.61 billion loss in 2020, although that was about 50 percent better over the 2019 aggregate loss of ¢5.16 billion. This has pushed the Finance Minister, Ken Ofori-Atta, to call on the managements of the SOEs for more urgent and collective work to address these losses. But, the economist stressed on his advises that, some SOEs over the years have been saddled with debt over issues of mismanagement among others.

    “Many of these SOEs are continually adding to the liabilities stock of the government, Kwame Mpianim indicated. “Others are just liabilities to the state.”

    According to the report, SOEs’ combined revenue increased by 19.30%, from ¢37.912 billion in 2019 to ¢45.23 billion in 2020.

    With the exception of communications and transportation, all other sectors recorded improved revenue in 2020 relative to 2019.

    On the other hand, direct costs incurred by SOEs collectively in 2020 was however ¢32.9 billion, representing a 12.65% increase from ¢29.213 billion in 2019.

    The energy and agricultural sectors were the main contributors, accounting for over 80% of aggregate direct costs of SOEs in FY2020.

    Total assets of the SOEs portfolio however stood at ¢171.632 billion, whilst aggregate liabilities recorded was ¢119.5 billion in 2020.

    In comparison to 2019, the asset base grew by 15.12% with liabilities rising at a higher pace of 22.47%. Non-current assets accounted for approximately 65.81% of total assets.

    For total liabilities, 57.37% was accounted for by short-term liabilities. Aggregate equity of the SOE portfolio went up marginally by 1.18% from ¢51.47 billion in 2019 to ¢52.085 billion in 2020

    JVCs records ¢11.81m profit

    Also, Joint Venture Companies (JVCs) portfolio moved from a loss position of ¢1.05 billion in 2019 to a profit of approximately ¢11.81 million in 2020.

    Total revenue decreased by 5.82%, from ¢13.80 billion in 2019 to ¢13.005 billion in 2020.

    Three out of the 17 JVCs, namely Ghana Rubber Estates Limited, Agricultural Development Bank and GCB, reported consistent increases in total revenue over the 5-year period under review. The energy sector, represented by GOIL, generated the highest total revenue (¢5.578 billion) for JVCs in 2020.

    Contrary to the increasing trend between 2016 to 2019, direct costs of JVCs as a whole fell by 13.86% to ¢8.681 billion in 2020.

    From 2016, it is observed that direct costs rose steadily from ¢7.274 billion to ¢10.079 billion in 2019.

    Other State Entities

    In 2020, Other State Enterprises (OSEs) recorded aggregate revenue of ¢19.361 billion, which is a 29.15% increase from the previous year.

    In general, revenues have risen cumulatively by 27% from 2016 (¢9.153 billion) to 2020.

    The increase in total revenue for 2020 was on account of improved performance from regulatory bodies, from GH¢9.198 billion in 2019 to ¢9.526 billion in 2020.

    Revenue of statutory agencies increased from ¢3.586 billion in 2019 to ¢5.912 billion in 2020, while that of subvented agencies went up from ¢2.033 billion in 2019 to ¢3.805 billion in 2020.

    Only the Public Education/ Research Institutions sub-group recorded a reduction in total revenue from ¢172.79 million in 2019 to ¢117.52 million in 2020.

    Minority Interests

    The Minority Interests portfolio recorded an aggregate net profit of GH¢11.25 billion in 2020 against a net loss of ¢62.17 million in the previous year.

    For revenue, aggregate revenue for Minority Interests entities amounted to ¢53.356 billion in 2020, which is an increase of 29.40%, from 2019 (¢41.234 billion).Over 80% of revenues were from the mining sector.

    Direct Costs however saw a slight increase of 2.58%, from ¢28.781 billion in 2019 to ¢29.525 billion in 2020.

    The 2020 State Ownership Report covered 132 Specified Entities which include SOEs, 17 JVCs, 54 OSEs and 14 minority interests.

    This represents, approximately, a 24% increase in coverage of the report from the 2019 edition which covered 106 entities.

    In terms of the size of the portfolio, this edition of the State Ownership Report has a wider coverage of 74.58% compared to 60.57% in the 2019 edition.

  • Gov’t told to stop the ‘COVID blame game’ to restore economy credibility

    Gov’t told to stop the ‘COVID blame game’ to restore economy credibility

    Adnan Adams Mohammed

    A former staff of the International Monetary Fund and a former finance minister has implored that Ghana’s credibility on the international market is waning due to the continuous attribution of the country’s issues to the COVID-19 pandemic and the Russian–Ukraine War.

    He chided President Nana Akufo-Addo’s comments he made during the recent interview with the BBC, where the President sought to defend the state of the Ghanaian economy as a result of the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic and the Russian – Ukraine War.

    According to the President, the effects of the 2 global developments are being experienced across the globe.

    “I think the world is becoming sceptical about the extent to which Ghana uses COVID [to justify its challenges]. Because we were told recently by the World Bank that Ghana for example had arrears in excess of 5% of GDP, which is significant, if you take our GDP to be GH¢ 350 billion at the time, 5% will be about GH¢ 17 billion, but the budget is showing a deficit of GH¢ 3 billion” Seth Terkper claimed in an interview last week. “So to continue to blame everything on COVID and also to say that everything was solid against the advice of others, opens the credibility gap even more.”

    Meanwhile, Mr. Terkper, has called for a solid domestic program to get the country out of its current situation.

    “You can’t say that the Ukraine war has not affected Ghana, we are not an island. But remember we had about $6 billion to deal with COVID in a year, that’s about GH¢ 36 billion, which is about half of what GRA brought in. So why do we continue to blame COVID for everything? We talk about the cost of COVID and what government has spent money on, what about the revenue that came in? Didn’t the revenue offset the expenditure? Why are we always beating the drum on only expenditures and ignoring the revenue bit.”

    “So the question is; what is fundamentally wrong such that despite all the revenues from stabilization fund, to $6 billion for COVID, we are still in this situation, with our indices being worse than other African countries. We are saying that our story is becoming unbelievable and what we need is a solid program to get us out of this problem we find ourselves in,” he added.

  • Gov’t strives to tame Cedi fall as it tops Africa worst currency table

    Gov’t strives to tame Cedi fall as it tops Africa worst currency table

    Adnan Adams Mohammed

    In spite of government’s recourse to address the loose-break of the local currency exchange rate with the international trading currencies, especially the U.S Dollar, the Cedi ranks the worst currency in Africa.

    According to a Bloomberg report, the Ghana Cedi depreciated by 18.21 percent against the U.S dollar in the first quarter of 2022.  This places the Cedi as the worst-performing currency in Africa while the Angolan Kwanza is the best-performing currency in Africa as it currency appreciated by 24 percent against the dollar.

     According to the Foreign Exchange Forward Auction, a total of US$350 million would be auctioned to authorised dealers by the central bank in the second quarter. Per the auction calendar, the bank will sell $100 million in April, $150 million in May and another $100 million in June.

    “In accordance with the Foreign Exchange Forward Auction Guidelines, bids are invited as per the prescribed format to purchase United States dollars against Ghana cedis, separately on each auction date”, Bank of Ghana has said in a statement that announced the information of all Authorised Foreign Exchange Dealing Banks and the Auction Calendar for Foreign Exchange Auctions for the second quarter of 2022.

    Also, the Central bank has cautioned the business community and persons pricing goods and services in foreign currencies to desist from such practices or have themselves to blame as it breaches the Foreign Exchange Act, 2006 (Act 723), which prohibits companies and institutions from pricing, advertising, receipting, or making payments in foreign currencies in Ghana.

    The central bank in a statement also said the law prohibits individuals or institutions from engaging in foreign exchange business without a licence issued by the Bank of Ghana.

    “Such violations are punishable on summary conviction by a fine of up to seven hundred (700) penalty units or a term of imprisonment of not more than eighteen months(18) or both,” the Bank of Ghana cautioned.

    The bank also cautioned the public to desist from “black market” transactions.

    The central bank further reiterated in the statement signed by its Secretary, Sandra Thompson, that the only legal tender for transactions in the country is the Ghana Cedi.

    “The Public is hereby notified that the sole legal tender in Ghana is the Ghana Cedi. The Bank of Ghana, in collaboration with the National Security and Law Enforcement Agencies, will clamp down on illegal foreign exchange operations. All offenders shall be dealt with in accordance with the law.’

    Below is the currency performance table:

    CURRENCIES WITH “WORST SPOT RETURNS” AT THE END OF QUARTER 1, 2022

    RANKING   CURRENCY YEAR-TO-DATE

    16th  New Sudanese pound   -2.08%

    17th  Ethiopian Birr      -3.89%

    18th  Liberian dollar     -4.94%

    19th  Sierra Leone leone      -5.10%

    20th  Mauritian rupee   -7.05%

    21st  Zambian kwacha -8.02%

    22nd Egypt pound       -14.27%

    23rd  Ghana cedi -18.21%

    CURRENCIES WITH “BEST SPOT RETURNS” AT THE END OF QUARTER 1, 2022

    RANKING   CURRENCY YEAR-TO-DATE

    1st    Angolan kwanza  24.2%

    2nd   South African rand       9.38%

     3rd   Guinean franc     4.40%

    4th    Botswana pula      2.59%     

    5th    Nigerian naira     1.74%

    6th    Kenya shilling      1.59%

    7th    Rwanda franc     0.66%

    8th Mozambique new metica l0.19%

  • E-Levy implementation: Telcos doubt meeting deadline to reconfigure their system before May

    E-Levy implementation: Telcos doubt meeting deadline to reconfigure their system before May

    Adnan Adams Mohammed

    Telecommunication operators in the country are in doubt over meeting the deadline to configure their systems to allow the smooth implementation of the Electronic Transactions Levy (E-Levy).

    The controversial E-Levy passed by parliament and assented into law by President, Nana Akufo Addo, late last month, is scheduled to take effect next month, May 2022. So the telecomm companies have within a period of one month to reconfigure their system to support the deduction of the tax on the transfers of funds in between mobile money wallets.  

    Although the telcos have assured to do their best to ensure the required systems are put in place to collect the E-levy, they say, the right infrastructure must be put in place, and tested to ensure that they are fit for purpose before going live.

    “I can’t say whether one month will be enough time for all of those systems [necessary] because if there are major variations that have been made, we’ll need to see whether all the things we were looking at, at the beginning could be done within months”, the Chief Executive of the Chamber of Telecommunications, Ing. Dr. Kenneth Ashigbey, said in an interview.

    “From our side, we will do whatever is possible. This is about money, and we don’t want a system where there will be a backlash on it. We need to make sure that we can do the integration with the GRA’s systems and do the user acceptance test and validation to make sure everything is well before we go live. We also know that Parliament has passed the law, and we need to work at that, but those considerations of the practicality of all of that have to be done.”

    After President Akufo-Addo assented into the E-levy bill last week, the various stakeholders are under pressure to put in place all the necessary infrastructure to ensure full implementation of the law.

    Dr. Ashigbey in an earlier interview said the full details of the bill are yet to be presented to the Chamber for studies, and it will only be after that, that they will decide and make public how they will implement the tax.

    “It was only preparatory engagements that were being done and not as if anybody is implementing anything. What Parliament passed is what becomes law. In terms of the engagements we had with GRA, that was the spirit of the fact that the Bill was before Parliament. Since we had those initial conversations, there hasn’t been any implementation.”

    “I have not seen the bill that has been passed, so we have not seen the date in there, so it will depend on what the GRA directs for our members to follow and configure their systems. So, there is still a lot to be done, and we are still waiting”, he said.