Category: General

Ghana gets its first Credit Rating Agency to provide credit rating and related services for the financial markets to operate efficiently. Beacon Credit Rating Agency (Beacon Ratings) was granted regulatory approval by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) granted regulatory in accordance with Section 209 of the Securities Industry Act 2016 (Act 929) as revised by the Securities Industry Act 2021. A rating agency is an organisation that rates the financial health of businesses and governmental bodies, particularly their capacity to make principal and interest payments on loans. The rating assigned to a given debt shows an agency's level of confidence that the borrower will honour its debt obligations as agreed. Ghanaian financial institutions, investors, and fund managers have been relying on the ratings of international agencies to influence their investment decisions. Mr Paul Ababio, the Deputy Director-General for the SEC, speaking at the launch, said rating agencies played an important role in the financial market development of Ghana. He said emerging capital markets, including Ghana, were often characterised by increased volatility, a dynamic economic landscape, and rapid growth. He said the role of a rating agency was critical as it played a lead role in guiding both investors and entities to accurately price financial instruments and provide leadership on price determination. Mr Ababio said the financial markets provided a platform for corporate entities to raise capital directly from investors. He said there was a challenge in ensuring that investors had critical information about detailed assessments and analyses of an entity's ability to repay loans. 'The critical role played by credit ratings in an efficient financial market is conventional wisdom and by providing information on default risk and, therefore, on the likely future performance of an issuer, ratings contribute to the efficiency of the markets,' he added. He said ratings could help establish a more balanced information syst em in a market and with ratings, investors have an additional source of information that they could use to establish benchmarks for comparing risks and returns. Dr Justice Ofori, the Chief Executive Officer for the National Insurance Commission, in a speech read on his behalf, said the impact of risky rapid rating downgrades as a direct result of entities not being able to meet the expected level of financial stability could affect market perception. He said that this could lead to a loss of business as doubts may be entertained concerning the entity's ability to meet the financial commitments of investors. Mr Noble Yao Akaba, the Founder of Beacon Ratings Agency, said the rating agency would be impactful to the financial markets by bridging the gap between entities and investors. He said the rating agency would monitor the entity's performance, with upgrades and downgrades serving as signals to investors. He said the agency would be supporting portfolio managers in investment decisions and lenders in cr edit decisions. He said Beacon Ratings aimed to be a leading business analytic and rating agency in Africa and this vision would be achieved by enhancing the efficiency of the money and capital markets, by assessing corporate entities/ issuers and financial instruments. 'We reaffirm our commitment to delivering reliable and high-quality ratings with integrity, independence, and transparency,' he added. Source: Ghana News Agency

The Health Ministry on Tuesday took delivery of a batch of new medical equipment for dialysis patients at the Menzel Bourguiba local hospital in the Bizerte governorate. This batch is part of a cooperation project between Tunisia and the World Bank (WB). Speaking at the ceremony to hand over the equipment in the presence of WB Resident Representative in Tunisia Alexandre Arrobbio, Health Minister Ali Mrabet underlined that the fight against chronic diseases is a priority for his department, emphasising the need to ensure as far as possible that quality therapeutic services are provided and that patients suffering from chronic renal failure are offered the necessary support. He further underscored the importance of the cooperation programme with the World Bank, which, he said, has helped speed up the acquisition of modern medical equipment and appliances that will certainly boost the capacity of public dialysis centres and units. The WB representative reaffirmed his institution's commitment to further expa nd its cooperation and partnership with the Health Ministry, while working to diversify its intervention fields. Source: Agence Tunis Afrique Presse

Mr John Abdulai Jinapor, the Ranking Member of the Energy Committee of Parliament, says the Electricity Company of Ghana (ECG) is allegedly misinforming the public about the swell in the ongoing power outages also known as 'dumsor' in the country. He said: 'The widespread load shedding is a result of financial issues, not technical glitches as claimed by the ECG.' '…The ECG is misinforming us of the real issues of the recent power outages. Instead, they are attributing these outages to overloaded and faulty transformers, which is not the case,' he said. Mr Jinapor said on Tuesday when he addressed a section of the media in Parliament House, Accra. 'We have been monitoring the situation and just yesterday, we laid hands on the PURC's cash waterfall mechanism Validation Report for January 2024. 'I can confidently but sadly confirm to you that the current load shedding is not technical, it is financial. It is due to mismanagement,' he told the media. Mr Jinapor, also a National Democratic Congress Member o f Parliament for Yapei Kusawgu noted that there was an alleged gross abuse of the cash waterfall mechanism and mismanagement of funds, challenging the narrative by the company. 'It is gross abuse of the cash waterfall mechanism and mismanagement of the funds,' he alleged. Source: Ghana News Agency

Sheikh Sulemana Gomna, a 68-year-old Educationist, has been outdoored as the new Kadjebi District Chief Imam in the Oti Region. The retired Educationist succeeded Alhaji Mohammed Muniru Salifu-Gundogu, the late District Chief Imam, who died in October 2023. The new District Chief Imam had his basic school education at Kadjebi and proceeded to Qatar for his Secondary education in Qatar and tertiary at the Qatar Islamic University in Doha. Before the coronation held at the forecourt of Kadjebi Central Mosque, Alhaji Haruna Danjumah, the Zongo Chief, said the installation event came at the appropriate time as Monday, March 11 marks the beginning of their Ramadan Fasting. He asked the new Chief Imam to impart the in-depth knowledge he had acquired to the younger generation. Alhaji Danjumah also advised him to let unity be his hallmark and rally all Islamic clerics in the Zongo communities to work with him. Alhaji Alsumah Ural-Jamah, the Oti Deputy Regional Chief Imam, said the ceremony should remind them of what happened during the installation of the first successor of their beloved Prophet Mohammed (S.A.W). Okyeame Baa Danso, the Okyeame (linguist) to Kadjebi Adontenhene, called for peace in the Muslim communities as they could not develop in a state of anarchy. Sheikh Sulemana Gomna, the new Chief Imam, in an acceptance speech, thanked everyone for his coronation and appealed for their support to rule well. He said he was not affiliated with any political party and that his sole aim was to support the development of the Kadjebi District. Sheikh Gomna, a retired Headmaster of the Kpando Arabic and English Basic School, praised the late Chief Imam Muniru, saying he once secretly told him that his time would come, and truly it had come. The Kadjebi District Police led by Supt. Gyan-Mante Frempong, the District Commander, provided security during the coronation to ensure peace and order. Source: Ghana News Agency

Ghana and Trinidad and Tobago are exploring trade opportunities in the manufacturing and export sectors for mutual benefit. A high-powered delegation led by Madam Paula Gopee-Scoon, Trinidad and Tobago's Minister of Trade and Industry, paid a working visit to Mr Kobina Tahir Hammond, Ghana's Minister of Trade and Industry at his office in Accra on Tuesday. During the visit, the Association of Ghana Industries (AGI) and Trinidad and Tobago Manufacturers Association signed a Memorandum of Understanding to formalise trade collaboration in the manufacturing sector. Under the agreement, the two institutions would collaborate in the areas of export trade and technology, and skills training in the oil and gas industry. Madam Gopee-Scoon said Tobago was expanding its economy beyond oil and gas and broaden its manufacturing sector, hence the partnership with the AGI. She said the country was interested in exporting its products, including food and beverages, and chemicals to Ghana and import Ghanaian products int o Trinidad and Tobago. Madam Gopee-Scoon said investors in Trinidad and Tobago were also interested in exploring investment opportunities in Ghana and welcomed Ghanaian investors to invest in Trinidad and Tobago. She said the current trade volume between Ghana and Trinidad and Tobago was not substantial and called for further collaboration to move the relationship between the two countries beyond cultural and social connections. 'Our mandate is to increase and diversify the non-energy sector and manufacturing sector and put measures in place to ensure that this thrives. The manufacturing sector is doing well, contributing 20 per cent to our GDP; so we want to see this grow,' she said. She added: 'We have Ghanaian cocoa butter and fabrics, but we want to do more than that.' Mr Hammond expressed excitement about the opportunity for Ghanaian manufacturers to export their products to Trinidad and Tobago and indicated that the Government's One District One Factory initiative would help to facilitate the trade relations. He said the cocoa, textile and the garment industries were among the areas of interest and encouraged the AGI to foster fruitful collaboration with their counterparts from Trinidad and Tobago. 'It is good news and we pray that it comes to good fruition…we are expanding the frontiers of our industrialisation and manufacturing activities. We have a whole gamut of areas they can show interest,' the Minister said. Source: Ghana News Agency