Tag: Business

President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo is upbeat about the prospects of Ghana's industrialisation drive following the Government's massive investment in energy infrastructure. Countries seeking to industrialise in the 21st Century must aspire for stable, efficient and affordable power supply, he said. President Nana Akufo-Addo, who was inaugurating the Accra Central Bulk Supply Point (BSP), at Adabraka, in the Greater Accra Region, explained that 'electricity is no longer a luxury, but a necessity in this age'. In view of this, the country was working assiduously to achieve universal access to electrification by 2025, he noted. The US$40 million BSP project is a Japan-funded facility through its external technical agency, the Japanese International Cooperation Agency (JICA). The project was conceived, following the decision to construct a BSP in proximity to the Accra Central Business District (CBD), and involves the construction of a 161/34.5 Kilovolt (kV) substation in a single bus configuration. President Nana Akufo-Addo explained that the initiative was informed by the fact that electricity load in the CBD was growing at a higher rate than the system average of 10 per cent per annum. The Accra CBD has in recent times seen an upsurge in commercial and industrial activities, scaling up the power demands. The President lauded the Japanese Government for assisting the country to build a vibrant energy sector, adding that that was what was needed for a rapid socio-economic growth. The facility is the fourth major bulk power supply point to be inaugurated in the last 18 months, reinforcing Ghana's determination to reduce to the barest minimum transmission and distribution losses. 'We are committed to keep the power on,' President Nana Akufo-Addo assured. He was optimistic that the erratic power supply that marred the country's socio-economic development some years ago would be a thing of the past given the Government's bid to invest in energy infrastructure. Dr. Mathew Opoku-Prempeh, Minister of Energy, said the country had worked hard to stabilise power supply, and commended the Nana Akufo-Addo-led Administration for its investment in the energy sector. Mr. Mochizuki Hisanobu, the Japanese Ambassador to Ghana, said his country cherished its long-standing partnership with the West African country and pledged Japan's continued support to Ghana.

Source: Ghana News Agency

Cabinet has approved the prohibition of exporting certain critical minerals unprocessed.

The decision was taken during the 8th Cabinet meeting held on 06 June 2023, stating that raw materials such as lithium, graphite, manganese and rare earth elements are not to be exported.

The Ministry of Mines and Energy has been receiving public criticism about the lack of value addition locally on the vast amounts of minerals leaving the country, which has the potential to spur Namibia’s economic growth and development.

Cabinet has, however, approved that only smaller quantities of such raw materials may be allowed for export at the direction of the ministry.

The mining industry accounts for approximately 11 per cent of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) providing more than 50 per cent of foreign earnings.

Namibia is a world-class producer of rough diamonds, uranium, gold, zinc, acid-grade fluorspar, copper, lead, limestone, cement, salt, and dimension stone and is prospective of lithium, graphite, cobalt and rare earths and other minerals that are now declared critical by many countries globally.

Source: The Namibia Press Agency

Minister of Agriculture, Water Resources and Fisheries Abdelmonem Belati said on Friday that recent rainfall had been beneficial for agricultural production.

Kicking off the harvest campaign in Bizerte, the Minister stressed the importance of diversifying crops in order to cope with climate change and improve productivity.

He also pointed out that efforts were being made to strengthen the field crops sector, by implementing measures such as putting scientific research in the service of this sector.

Visiting the cereal collection centre in Menzel Bourguiba, the Minister stressed the need to upgrade harvesting equipment so as to reduce post-harvest losses.

According to data from the regional agriculture authority, 99,000 hectares of land have been planted. This includes 81,000 hectares of durum wheat, 6,000 hectares of soft wheat, 10,000 hectares of barley and 2,000 hectares of triticale. Cereal production is expected to be around 1.5 million quintals.

Source: Agence Tunis Afrique Presse

Plastic Expo will be held June 13-16 at the Kram Exhibition Centre. It is a biennial event organised by the Société des Foires Internationales de Tunis, in collaboration with the National Federation of Chemistry and the National Trade Union Chamber of Plastic Processors, according to the exhibition website. The goal is to offer Arab manufacturers opportunities to export raw materials and semi-finished and finished products, and to encourage the forging of partnership contracts with the operators present at the show for the manufacture of components, accessories and finished products. For European operators, Plastic Expo is an ideal opportunity to build partnerships, prospect for new markets and showcase their materials and equipment in the plastics sector. The International Plastics Exhibition will feature a comprehensive range of industrial technologies and processes. It is also a showcase for raw materials, machinery, equipment, tools, processing, finishing, de sign offices and services. The international packaging and printing exhibition "Pack Print Tunisia" will be organised alongside Plastic Expo. This biennial exhibition is considered to be a benchmark event in Africa. Pack Print Tunisia provides an opportunity for operators to present the potential, production and current developments in the packaging, printing, stationery and graphic arts sectors in Tunisia. More than 5,000 trade visitors from Tunisia and abroad are expected in these two shows. Workshops on technological innovations in the technical plastics and packaging sectors will be organised in parallel with the two shows.

Source: EN - Agence Tunis Afrique Presse

The Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe (RBZ), the country's central bank, has raised its policy interest rate from 140 percent to 150 percent per annum in an effort to tame inflation, bank governor John Mangudya said Tuesday.

The bank also increased the medium-term bank accommodation interest rate from 70 percent to 75 percent per annum.

Mangudya said the RBZ shall sell foreign currency at the market-determined exchange rate through banks, in an effort to ensure the inter-bank foreign currency market is the primary source of foreign currency in the economy.

All these measures take effect on Wednesday.

"Thus in order to ensure that the interbank forex market is self-financing, the 90-day liquidation requirement on export proceeds will fall away," Mangudya said in a statement issued after a meeting of the RBZ Monetary Policy Committee.

He said the main foreign exchange auction system shall be merged with the one catering for small and medium enterprises under the 5 million U.S. dollars per week policy to meet smaller requirements for foreign payments and continuous price discovery.

The two auction systems were introduced by the RBZ in 2020 to help foster price and exchange rate stability.

Last week, Finance Minister Mthuli Ncube capped foreign currency allotments from the auction system to 5 million U.S. dollars per week from around 50 million dollars in 2021, among a host of measures to stabilize the local currency.

Mangudya said the latest measures are meant to complement recent fiscal measures taken by the finance minister to address the current volatility in the exchange rate and prices of goods and services.

"The bank remains committed to continuing with the current tight monetary policy to restore and sustain the exchange rate and inflation stability," Mangudya said.

Zimbabwe is faced with the threat of resurging inflation amid exchange rate instability, with month-on-month inflation soaring to 15.7 percent in May, gaining 13.3 percentage points on the April rate of 2.4 percent.

Source: Xinhua Finance Agency