Category: General

The International Finance Corporation (IFC), a member of the World Bank Group, and three Tunisian partners signed on Wednesday in Tunis three assistance and cooperation agreements aimed at promoting the adoption of environmental, social and governance (ESG) best practices. The partnership agreements, signed with the Tunisian Stock Exchange (TSE), the Tunisian Institute of Directors (ITA), and the 'Université Centrale', a member of Honoris United Universities, aim to promote the adoption of ESG best practices in these institutions, currently focused on the banking sector, and to facilitate access to finance for the country's businesses. The aim of the three agreements signed today is to promote the adoption of ESG standards through an 18-month technical partnership that will provide Tunisian partners with experts who can then respond to the needs of their clients," Sarah Morsi, IFC Resident Representative in Tunisia said in a statement to TAP. Regulations in Europe and elsewhere now require the implementat ion of ESG standards, Morsi explained, pointing out that this requirement is becoming increasingly necessary, particularly as environmental risks are becoming more prevalent in Tunisia and Tunisian companies need to be equipped to deal with them. The IFC intends to strengthen its presence in Tunisia in the future through investment projects that will mobilise a budget of $100 million this year in companies operating in the agri-food sector. Moez Miaoui, Head, Environment, Social and Governance Advisory, North and West Africa, said the signing of these agreements is the first action in the integrated ESG programme for Tunisia that IFC will implement in February 2023 with the financial partnership of the Swiss State Secretariat for Economic Affairs (SECO). The four-year programme aims to promote the adoption of ESG practices in Tunisia's financial, manufacturing and agri-food sectors. "ESG practices enable Tunisian companies to ensure their sustainability and development, especially as environmental iss ues will be a barrier to development for two reasons," he said. These include the impact of climate change on certain sectors, particularly agri-food, and the need for Tunisian exporters to comply with norms and standards in order to export. Lilia Bouchnak, Executive Director of Université Centrale and a member of Honoris United Universities, the leading pan-African network of private higher education institutions, said this partnership would help strengthen the activities already launched by the Observatoire Tunisien des Femmes Administrateurs. "The IFC will help us to further develop training activities in governance and soft skills aimed at developing the skills of women aspiring to positions of high responsibility, as well as the publication of an annual report on statistics on the presence of women in decision-making positions. The IFC's support will also cover other activities such as creating a pool of competent women trained to take up senior positions, raising awareness of the presence of women on boards of directors, and lobbying for legislation requiring a quota of women in decision-making positions. Currently, less than 15% of company boards in Tunisia are made up of female directors. Moez Joudi, president of the Tunisian Institute of Directors (ITA), stressed the importance of ESG criteria, which companies and banks must meet. Joudi said this agreement will allow the ITA to benefit from the support of the IFC to help Tunisian companies and banks to comply with these ESG criteria, through the directors, who will become a vector for the transmission of these criteria in banks and companies, through their presence and power within the boards of directors. Bilel Sahnoun, Managing Director of the TSE, highlighted the support of the IFC, which has produced an ESG reporting guide with 32 assessment and evaluation criteria. The aim is to set up a support programme for 15 listed companies from different sectors in the first phase. The aim of this programme is to structure a disclosure policy for extra-f inancial information based on ESG criteria," he concluded. In Tunisia, the adoption of these practices by banks and companies is still limited. According to an IFC study, most banks in the country do not have the internal capacity to manage ESG risks. IFC is a global leader in the implementation of ESG and corporate governance criteria, particularly through the introduction of standards and performance norms, and the development of tools and guidance. Over the past five years, IFC has committed more than $140 million to support Tunisia's agribusiness, manufacturing, finance and renewable energy sectors. Source: Agence Tunis Afrique Presse

Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia, the Vice President, has charged the Ministry of Youth and Sports (MoYS) and other stakeholders to provide proper maintenance for the facilities available to host the 13th African Games. He said government was keen on providing the right infrastructure for the development of sports in the country. 'Maintaining these facilities is as important as building them, so I want to urge the Ministry of Youth and Sports and other stakeholders in charge of these facilities to prioritize maintenance.' He made the call during the launch of the 100-day countdown to the 13th African Games. Dr. Bawumia said the hosting of the continental competition would provide wider economic outcomes including building social capital, stimulating economic development, and other benefits. The Vice President said the construction of a modern sports facility for the continental competition was a deliberate effort towards providing additional infrastructure to propel sports development. 'Government has built 153 as tro-turfs across the country, an improvement of the three astro-turfs we met when we came into office, and we expect to construct another 100 astro-turfs before the end of next year' he said. He said preparations were still ongoing to give visiting countries the best of experience during the 13th African Games. Mr. Mustapha Ussif, Minister of Youth and Sports speaking at the launch said organizers had put in much effort in the lead-up to the 100-day countdown to the games. He said the event would not only serve as a platform for athletes to excel but would also serve as a catalyst for progress and growth. 'The development of Sports Infrastructure and Sports for development, in particular the attendance of competitions and tournaments play a crucial role in the socio-cultural transformation of our countries,' he said. The Member of Parliament for Yagaba-Kubori Constituency called on the hospitality industry to embrace the opportunities that the 13th African Games offers. Mr. Ussif expressed appreciation to President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo and all other stakeholders who had helped in organising the competition. The 13th African Games, scheduled for Friday, March 8 to Saturday March 24, 2024 is expected to host over 54 countries and 5000 athletes in Accra. Source: Ghana News Agency

The Inter-Governmental Action Group against Money Laundering in West Africa (GIABA) is set to partner with the Ghana News Agency (GNA) to combat money laundering (ML) and terrorism financing (TF). The partnership aims to create public awareness about the negative consequences of ML and TF in the West African Subregion. Mr. Tim Melaye, who represented the Director General of GIABA, said through the partnership, GIABA will set up a desk office in GNA and four other media outlets to publicise GIABA's activities in the fight against TF and ML and routinely train journalists for the task. This was disclosed when the representatives of GIABA and the Financial Intelligence Centre (FIC) paid a visit to the headquarters of the Ghana News Agency in Accra. The visit culminates GIABA's two-day media advocacy and outreach programmes in Ghana. Mr. Melaye was accompanied by Miss Rhoda Arthur, Deputy Manager FIC, Maxwell Boakye-Agyeman Compliance Officer, and Mr. Osman Nuri Aras. The GNA team was made up of Mrs. Beatr ice Asamani Savage, the Director of Editorial of GNA; Mr. Samuel Osei-Frempong, the News Editor, Mr. Joseph Baffoe, Director of Administration; and Mr. George-Ramsey Benamba, Head of the Home Desk. 'The media remains a veritable channel of increasing awareness among the populace,' he said. He informed that GIABA had been working and building partnerships with media groups and individual journalists to bring public awareness to the negative effects of money laundering and terrorism financing over the years. 'To achieve this, we have decided to build partnerships with media practitioners by having desk reporters in selected media organisations, 'he added. Mrs Asamani Savage expressed gratitude to GAIBA for selecting GNA as one of the media organisations to partner the Lagos, Nigeria based organization. She said the menace is a real threat to society, and the agency had been working closely with the Bank of Ghana to create the needed awareness on the issues for public understanding. 'We are dedicated to th e cause, and we pledge to work closely with GIABA to disseminate information to the public,' she said. She expressed the hope that the two institutions would collaborate effectively to educate the public on the African continent about the harmful effects of ML and TF. Mr. Osei-Frempong said asset declaration was crucial in curtailing ML and TF among public officials. He said the scrutiny to detect ML and TF must transcend public officials and businessmen and women to include members of the security forces. Source: Ghana News Agency

The Ghana International Trade and Finance Conference - (GITFiC), with support from the World Bank, Accra and the European Union, will Wednesday present two research papers, they have conducted. The research papers are on 'Unraveling the Global Central Banks' Losses (Focus on Africa and Europe) and Global Debt to GDP Post COVID-19 (Focus on Sub Saharan Africa' A statement signed by Mr Selasi Kofi Ackom, Chief Executive officer of GITFiC and copied to the Ghana News Agency on Tuesday in Accra said the European Union had committed to invite all EU missions in Accra, the US and United Kingdom embassies. 'Other participants include; African Diplomatic Corps in Accra, five selected industry giants and five students, central bank, heads of commercial banks et al'. The statement said the two papers would give some revealing findings and brief historic emphasis on the issues, its effects, impacts and recommendations. 'The two papers are for the purposes of accurate information dissemination, education and sensit ization on the above subject matters. Source: Ghana News Agency

Mr Courage Cornelius Sonu, the Principal Executive Officer of the Western Regional Rent Control Department, says the department has recorded and handled 610 rent cases between January and November this year. According to him, 43 of the cases were referred to the court for settlement while 567 were being handled by the department. Speaking to the Ghana News Agency (GNA) in an interview, in Takoradi, he explained that some of the cases that came to the department were on claims, rent arrears, unlawful rent increment, recovery of possession, nuisance and rent assessment. Mr Sonu said: 'The department is to address cases amicably between parties, and that cases are only referred to the court when both parties involved feel dissatisfied with the department's judgement.' Touching on the Rent Control Act, the Principal Executive Officer said the Act only made provision for house owners to charge an advance payment for a maximum of six months, 'but the landlords and tenants turn out to flout the law and make the ir own agreement which violates the law'. According to him, the department had proposed a law to increase the advance payment duration from six to 12 months, however, authorities were yet to accept it. 'What we are saying is that landlords after building their houses, ought to come to the rent control department and register vacant premises as well as register tenants who wish to occupy their premises to avoid future disagreements', Mr Sonu stated. He encouraged house owners and tenants to always comply with the Rent Control Act to help preserve peace in their various houses. Source: Ghana News Agency