Sunday, November 22, 2009

COASTAL GOVERNANCE PROGRAMME LAUNCHED (PAGE 38, NOV 23)

AN Integrated Coastal and Fisheries Governance (ICFG) programme has been launched in the Western Region.
It is to support the government in achieving its fisheries development objectives of poverty reduction, food security, sustainable management and conservation of the coastal and marine ecological system.
It also seeks to provide alternative means of livelihood for communities in the six coastal districts of the Western Region.
They are the Ahanta West, Ellembele, Jomoro and Shama districts, as well as the Nzema East and Sekondi/Takoradi metropolises.
It will also ensure that the country’s coastal and marine ecological systems are sustainably managed to provide goods and services that will generate long-term socio-economic benefits for the communities, while sustaining biodiversity.
The ICFG programme is a four-year initiative supported by the American people through the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) and the agency is to spend US$10 million on it in the next four years.
It is being implemented through a co-operative agreement with the Coastal Resources Centre of the University of Rhode Island, with the WorldFish Centre, Sustainametrix and Friends of the Nation.
Other implementors are the Department of Fisheries, the coastal districts in the Western Region and other key government, private sector and non-governmental organisation stakeholders in the fisheries sector as key partners.
The programme seeks to address the over exploitation of fisheries resources and the decline of fish stocks, conflicts between artisanal, as well as industrial/semi industrial fleet and oil/gas companies, and the weak capacity for governance of coastal and fisheries resources.
It will also address the high population growth rates, high poverty and poorly planned coastal communities, increased human activities and pressures in the coastal zone, as well as threats to biodiversity assets such as wetlands, mangroves, lagoons, turtle nesting areas and the impact of climate change along the coast.
In an address read on his behalf by his deputy, Ms Betty Bosumtwi-Sam, to launch the programme in Takoradi, the Western Regional Minister, Mr Paul Evans Aidoo, said the advent of the programme was timely, since it was being launched at a time when fish stock in the water bodies was being depleted as a result of bad fishing methods.
“I am hopeful that this initiative will help in replenishing the fish stock to provide all-year round fishing activities for fishermen and empower them financially,” he said.
He expressed regret that though the fishing industry was one of the oldest, it had not been given the needed attention and, as a result, it had not been able to satisfy domestic demand.
The USAID Country Director, Ms Cheryl Anderson, noted that the country’s coastline had seen many changes and that the project would help the government and the communities to manage the coastline.
She said the project would be built and expanded based on past experiences.
Ms Anderson noted that fish catch today was not the same as it was about 10 years ago, explaining that there were about 12,000 fishing canoes in the country today as against 1,000 in the 1990s.
The Paramount Chief of the Western Nzema Traditional Area, Awulae Annor Adjaye III, said the project was a challenge to the people of the region.
He urged the management of the project to ensure transparency and accountability and also co-operate with the chiefs and people in the beneficiary communities towards its successful implementation.

Friday, November 13, 2009

GREL SUPPORTS 14 SHS STUDENTS (PAGE 11, NOV 13)

THE Ghana Rubber Estates Limited (GREL) has offered scholarships to 14 students selected from the seven traditional areas in the Western Region to pursue further education in their various senior high schools.
Two students each, a male and a female, were selected from the Wassa Fiase, Ahanta, Lower Dixcove, Upper Dixcove, Gwira, Lower Axim and the Nsein Traditional Areas of the Western Region where the company operates.
GREL established the scholarship scheme in collaboration with the Association of Chiefs on Whose Lands GREL Operates (ACLANGO) in 2005, and since then, 49 students have benefited from the scheme.
Each year, the company spends over GH¢40,000 on the beneficiary students for payment of their fees, boarding and lodging.
The beneficiaries of the 2009/2010 academic year are Augustine Adjei, Ruth Nyame, Ebenezer Kwakyi Eshun, Dorothy Dechie, Fred Asante, Christina Archer, Sebastian Josiah Ghartey and Beatrice Harp Amihere.
The rest are Isaac Kwasi, Eva Kwofie, David Yankey, Grace Kwaw, Kingslove Quarm and Ruth Tanne.
Speaking at a short ceremony in Takoradi to present the awards to the beneficiary students, the Ahanta West District Chief Executive, Mr Jones Amoah, commended management of GREL for setting up the scholarship scheme, which would help the students to further their education.
He urged the company to monitor the academic progress of the students to know whether the scheme was achieving the purpose for which it was established.
Mr Amoah also urged parents to encourage their wards to study hard.
“We want you to become assets to your communities, the company, the district, the region and the country,” he said, adding, “We do not want you to become liabilities, so cease this opportunity to better your lot”.
The Managing Director of GREL, Mr Marc Genot, said the company had been able to assist in the development efforts of its host communities as a result of the mutual understanding and co-operation existing between the company and the chiefs of the 84 communities in the area.
He advised the students to set their priorities right, since time was not on their side, adding, “There is no time for fun, but time for hard work”.
Mr Genot urged them to have interest in agriculture, since there was a bright future for educated people in agriculture.
The Chairman of ACLANGO, Awulae Agyefi Kwame II, said some companies established scholarship schemes to assist students in the region, but it did not last.
He expressed appreciation to GREL for its support on behalf of the chiefs of the communities within which GREL was operating.
Awulae Kwame also commended the Government for extending electricity to most parts of the Western Region and the country as a whole.
However, he regretted that most of the schoolchildren were not making good use of it by not studying in the nights, while the parents looked on unconcerned.
The Ahanta West District Director of Education, Mr Jerry Hanson, said GREL’s contribution to education in the district had helped to improve the academic performance of schoolchildren in the district.
He advised the students to remain focused in their academic studies to enable them to achieve their set objectives in life.
The Human Resource and Administrative Manager of GREL, Mr J. C. Garbrah, said the students were extremely fortunate to be offered the scholarships, since 32 students applied for it, but only 14 were selected after a competitive interview.
He asked them to take full advantage of the opportunity and make good use of it.
On behalf of his colleagues, Master Augustine Adjei thanked the chiefs and the company for the opportunity given them to pursue further education, and promised that they were going to learn hard to achieve the purpose for which the scholarship scheme was set up.

Tuesday, November 10, 2009

MINING COMPANY ESTABLISHES AGRIBUSINESS PROJECT (PAGE 21, NOV 10)

GOLD Fields Ghana (Tarkwa Mine) Limited has established an agribusiness project at Abekoase in the Tarkwa-Nsuaem Municipality in the Western Region to help create employment for the community members and also serve as a legacy for the area after the closure of the mine.
The Abekoase Agribusiness Project, which is on a pilot basis, will be replicated in other mining communities in the catchment areas of the company.
It consists of 20-acre oil palm plantation inter-cropped with maize, plantain and pineapples.
The project has a one acre vegetable farm, six big fish ponds each stocked with 5,000 fingerings of tilapia and one pond stocked with 5,000 mudfish.
The mining company will also construct additional four fish ponds to bring the number to 10, and expand the 20-acre oil palm plantation to 100, establish a piggery and start the rearing of sheep.
The company has constructed a project office and a storeroom at the project site and has employed 35 permanent staff, most of whom are from Abekoase and Samahu, both mining communities within the catchment area of the company.
Speaking at the inauguration of the project, the General Manager of the company, Mr Peet van Schalkwyk, said the company sought to play a role in the sustainable development of its host communities and remained conscious that mining operations would eventually come to an end.
“Our new community development strategy is therefore to set up sustainable, profit making businesses in our catchment area,” he explained.
Mr Schalkwyk said the pilot project which had been undertaken at Abekoase, had yielded positive results, adding that it would be replicated in other communities.
“For us, we are not interested in the millions of Ghana cedis that we spend in the communities, but rather the impact that this has on the community members,” Mr Schalkwyk emphasised.
He said the company, occasionally undertook studies to assess the impact of the projects on the beneficiaries.

RURAL BANKS MUST ENCOURAGE SAVINGS (NOV 10, PAGE 20)

THE hitherto lack of culture of savings among the rural communities prompted the development of rural banks in the country to solve this problem and bring the rural people on board the banking system.
This was a problem to the overnment since people living in the rural communities who are mostly farmers, kept their monies in their rooms and as such, the monies were either stolen or destroyed, whenever there was fire outbreak in their houses.
The establishment of rural banking system in the country started in 1976 through the initiative of the Bank of Ghana (BoG), with the Nyakrom Rural Bank in the Central Region as its first. Over a period of time, a number of rural banks were established all of which came together to form the Association of Rural Banks in 1981.
The withdrawal of the BoG’s technical banking services from the Rural and Community Banks (RCBs) in 1994, necessitated the commissioning of SGV Consultants to study the situation and make recommendations.
Upon subsequent feasibility studies and recommendations by Messrs J.S. Addo Consultants, the ARB Apex Bank Limited was established and commenced operations on July 2, 2002.
The bank provides the Rural and Community Banks with technical, managerial and financial support services.
Today, the RCBs constitute the largest banking network with about 127 banks and over 560 banking offices throughout the country.
Many rural banks were established in the initial stages, but some of them could not survive as a result of liquidation problem, making them to be declared distressed.
The banks are to mobilise funds from the rural communities and also cultivate the culture of savings among the rural people.
It is further envisaged that the rural banks would plough back part of their profits accrued from their banking activities to assist the towns and villages in their operational areas.
Since their inception, the rural banks have contributed meaningfully towards the development of the communities in their catchment areas, particularly in education.
The banks have granted loans and advances to their respective shareholders, as well as their customers to start or expand their business activities such as farming, trading, cottage industry and transport.
This has gone a long way to improve the living conditions of most of the people in the rural communities in the country.
Through the adoption of prudent and efficient policies, the banks have been able to stay in business to contribute effectively to the socio-economic development of the rural communities in particular, and the country as a whole.
The Fiaseman Rural Bank Limited at Bogoso in the Prestea-Huni Valley District in the Western Region, is one of such banks to have braced all odds over 21 years of its existence to survive and contribute to the socio-economic transformation of its immediate communities and the country at large.
Last year, the bank granted loans and advances totalling GH¢1,726,574 to its customers, as against GH¢1,378,873 granted in 2007, representing an increase of 25.2 per cent.
Out of the amount, GH¢178,774 went into agriculture, while GH¢15,542 went into cottage industry, with GH¢347,031 going into trading.
A total of GH¢2,587 went into the transport sector, while GH¢1,182,640 went into other commercial activities.
The bank proposed an amount of GH¢44,275.44 to be paid as dividend for 2008 even though the bank posted a pre-tax profit of GH¢187,009 in 2008, as against the 2007 profit of GH¢202,359.18.
The proposed dividend formed 27 per cent of the after tax profit for 2008.
Total loans granted under the microfinance scheme by the bank in 2008, amounted to GH¢555,752, as against the 2007 figure of GH¢369,842, representing 50 per cent increase.
Beneficiaries of the loan facility were often traders, street vendors, service providers and artisans who operated micro enterprises in the bank’s catchment area.
The Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Fiaseman Rural Bank Limited, Osagyefo Amanfo Edu, announced these at the 21st annual general meeting of shareholders of the bank at Bogoso.
He said the total deposit grew from GH¢2,701, 239.37 in 2007, to GH¢3458,434.80 in 2008, representing a percentage growth of 28 per cent.
Osagyefo Edu attributed the bank’s achievements to aggressive deposit mobilisation drive.He said the shareholders’ funds grew from GH¢653,717 in 2007, to GH¢780,024 in 2008, showing a growth of 16.2 per cent.
Osagyefo Edu said the Apex Link Domestic Money Transfer product was highly patronised during the year under review, adding that a total of GH¢749,606 was transferred through that transfer medium of the bank to the various beneficiaries.
He said the Western Union Money Transfer was introduced to the bank in May, 2008 and as of December 31, 2008, GH¢51,993.78 had been paid to various clients by the bank.
Osagyefo Edu stated that the bank spent GH¢3,900 on its corporate social responsibilities, saying, “In the ensuing year, we programme to use a percentage of post tax profit on social responsibility with much emphasis on education”.
In an address read on behalf of the Managing Director of the ARB Apex Bank Limited, Mr Eric Osei-Bonsu, he stated that diversification of products and creation of niche markets were important to reduce risk and to take new opportunities.
He said by niche markets, he meant the creation of products that would enter the minds and capture the attention of people whose loyalty towards the product could be assured.
He said rural and community banks within a particular catchment area, could team-up to develop that kind of product to strengthen the niche market so that the benefits could be shared.
Mr Osei-Bonsu advised the rural banks to develop a marketing strategy that would reach where the clients were stationed and speak their language.
He said the banks should be able to research into what financial services were being offered by competitors in and around their geographical area of operation.
That, Mr Osei-Bonsu said, would help them adopt their own competitive strategies for differentiation and positioning of their services.
“Research has shown that micro finance institutions, including rural banks, pay little attention to promotion of products and services because they are deemed expensive,” he said.
He added, “But you must now consider creating or strengthening your marketing departments to ensure revenue growth, customer satisfaction and financial sustainability”.
That, the managing director explained, was because marketing was the core of the forces that drove businesses and profits.

Wednesday, November 4, 2009

FIASEMAN RURAL BANK HOLDS GENERAL MEETING (PAGE 20, NOV 3)

THE Fiaseman Rural Bank Limited at Bogoso in the Prestea-Huni Valley District in the Western Region granted GH¢1,726,574 as loans and advances to its customers last year, as against GH¢1,378,873 granted in 2007.
Out of the amount, GH¢178,774 went into agriculture, while GH¢15,542 went into cottage industry with GH¢ 347, 031 going into trading.
A total amount of GH¢2,587 went into the transport sector, while GH¢1,182,640 went into other commercial activities.
The bank proposed an amount of GH¢44,275.44 to be paid as dividend for 2008, even though the bank posted a pre-tax profit of GH¢187,009 for the year, as against the profit of GH¢202, 359.18.
The proposed dividend forms 27 per cent of the after tax profit for 2008.
Total loans granted under the microfinance scheme by the bank in 2008 amounted to GH¢555,752, as against the 2007 figure of GH¢369,842, representing a 50 per cent increase.
Beneficiaries of the loan facility were often traders, street vendors, service providers and artisans who operated micro enterprises in the bank’s catchment area.
The Chairman of the Board of Directors of the bank, Osagyefo Amanfo Edu, announced these at the 21st annual general meeting of shareholders of the bank at Bogoso.
He said the bank's total deposit grew from GH¢2,701,239.37 in 2007 to GH¢3,458,434.80 in 2008, representing a percentage growth of 28 per cent.
He attributed the achievements to aggressive deposit mobilisation drive.
He said shareholders’ funds grew from GH¢653, 717 in 2007 to GH¢780,024 in 2008, indicating a growth of 16.2 per cent.
Osagyefo Edu said the Apex Link Domestic Money Transfer Product was highly patronised during the year under review, adding that a total amount of GH¢749,606 was transferred through that medium to various beneficiaries.
He said the Western Union Money Transfer was introduced to the bank in May, 2008 and as of December 31, the same year, it had paid GH¢51, 993.78 to various clients.
Osagyefo Edu said the bank spent GH¢3,900 on its corporate social responsibilities, saying, “In the ensuing year, we programme to use a percentage of post tax profit on social responsibility with much emphasise on education”.
In a speech read on behalf of the Managing Director of ARB Apex Bank Limited, Mr Eric Osei-Bonsu, he stated that diversification of products and creation of niche markets were important to reduce risk and to take new opportunities.
He said by niche markets, he meant creation of products that would enter the minds and capture the attention of people whose loyalty towards the product could be assured.
Mr Osei-Bonsu said rural and community banks within a particular catchment area could team up to develop that kind of product to strengthen this niche market so that the benefits could be shared.
He advised the rural banks to develop a marketing strategy that would go where the clients were stationed and speak their language.
Mr Osei-Bonsu stated that banks should be able to research into what financial services were being offered by competitors in and around their geographical areas of operation.
That, he said, would help them adopt their own competitive strategies for differentiation and positioning of their services.
“Research has shown that microfinance institutions, including rural banks, pay little attention to promotion of products and services because they are deemed expensive,” he said, adding, “But you must now consider creating or strengthening your marketing departments to ensure revenue growth, customer satisfaction and financial sustainability”.

Sunday, November 1, 2009

GOVT TO BUILD RESIDENTIAL FACILITY FOR GHANA NAVY (BACK PAGE., OCT 31)

THE government has acquired a 300-acre land at Aboadze in the Shama District of the Western Region for the construction of a residential facility for the Ghana Navy.
This gesture is to ensure better living conditions for the officers and men to enable them to discharge their assigned roles effectively and efficiently.
The government will, within the constraints of the economy and other competing national development needs, ensure that the Navy is equipped within the requisite resources to effectively and efficiently perform its assigned roles.
The Vice-President, Mr John Dramani Mahama, announced this at a ceremonial parade to mark the 50th anniversary of the Ghana Navy at the Western Naval Command yesterday.
He also used the occasion to unveil a bust in memory of the Unknown Soldier.
He noted that the Navy had been performing essential roles with the limited resources at its disposal in terms of logistics and equipment.
“Over the years, the fleet of the Ghana Navy has been grappling with many problems as a result of lack of funds, manpower and inadequate logistical support,” he said..
He said there was the need for a credible military force capable of insulating the nation against external aggression by land, sea and air, while assisting in diverse ways to enhance security.
The provision of modern equipment and maintenance of ships, he said, was another area receiving attention from the government.
“Many of us do not often see the Navy at work and, therefore, we tend not to value the usefulness and positive contributions it makes towards national aspirations and development,” he said.
That, he explained, was due to the fact that the Navy performed its duties and operations on sea, out of sight of the general public.
Mr Mahama said the government was doing everything possible to ensure that the requisite platforms were acquired for the Navy from Korea and China.
The ceremony was attended by service commanders from the Ghana Air Force, the Ghana Police, the Ghana Army, as well as members of the general public.
Eight officers of the Ghana Navy, both serving and retired, were given various awards for the dedicated roles they played in the Navy.