Day: December 9, 2023

The Institute of Statistics, Social, and Economic Research has indicated that the new restriction on mobile money (MOMO) transactions could derail the digitization of micro, small, and medium-sized enterprises and progress in the cash-lite economy.

In a press statement copied to the Ghana News Agency, the Institute acknowledged that the proposed rate would have a minimal impact on small-value transactions.

However, ISSER noted that the move would adversely impact micro, small, and medium enterprises that rely on MoMo for their financial transactions.

‘Worthy of attention is the potential impact on micro and small enterprises, especially traders and farmers within the agricultural value chains concentrated in rural areas. For these segments, especially traders and transporters of foodstuffs who rely on MoMo to address security concerns with carrying cash across the country, an increase in cost is likely to be transferred to consumers,’ the statement said.

This move, the institute said, could be a trigger
for both food and non-food inflation.

The institute raised concern that beyond the move to restrict MoMo transactions, the developing social media-driven e-commerce ecosystem, which relies on MoMo for payment, would also see the transfer of the revised charges to consumers.

‘As service providers on the various e-commerce platforms will pass on the charges to consumers in the form of increased prices of goods and services,’ the statement said.

In a joint statement copied to the media, MOMO agents around Ghana said they would implement a temporary measure that limits cash withdrawals to GHS 1,000 per transaction from December 1.

ISSER said that the potential impact of the restrictions might be significant, particularly for neglected and last-mile populations.

‘On average, 76 percent of mobile money agents are within 30 minutes of consumers in rural areas. On the other hand, it takes 2 hours for over 50 percent of rural dwellers to reach an ATM, with only about 40 percent being able to reach a bank or micro
finance in two hours,’ the statement said.

This situation ISSER said that many MoMo users in rural areas, where ATMs, banks, and microfinance institutions were not an option, would be confronted with the option of either enduring the high transaction costs or resorting to cash.

Source: Ghana News Agency

The National Democratic Congress (NDC) Parliamentary Minority has noted with relief the Government’s announcement to suspend the laying of the proposed regulations on Restriction of Imports of Selected Strategic Products, 2023.

A statement signed by Dr Cassiel Ato Baah Forson, the Minority Leader, copied to the Ghana News Agency, said the Minority had always maintained that those regulations would breed corruption.

That was because not only were they arbitrary and opaque but they were designed to encourage exercise of discretionary power in the hands of one person, particularly the Minister of Trade and Industry.

‘We have argued that by vesting too much unfettered and unchecked power in the Minister to determine who qualifies or not to be granted a permit to import as many as 24 commodities, the regulations lend themselves to abuse of power, state capture and rent-seeking conduct reminiscent of the days of ‘essential commodities’ and ‘price control’,’ the statement said.

‘Indeed, various stakeholders inc
luding the Ghana Union of Traders Association (GUTA), the Food and Beverages Association, Importers and Exporters Association of Ghana, the Ghana Institute of Freight Forwarders, Chamber of Automobile Dealership, and the National Chamber of Commerce and Industry, have all joined us in kicking against these proposed import restrictions.’

It said the Minority, in principle, was not against any legal regime or policy that sought to protect indigenous businesses by regulating imports.

‘What we are vehemently against is a law that confers unfettered discretionary power on a single individual, in this case a Minister of Trade, to issue import license and to restrict the quantity of certain imports into the country, without any checks and balances.’

That defied sound logic for the Government to seek to restrict imports, contrary to what it had signed regarding Ghana’s current International Monetary Fund (IMF) programme, the statement said.

It said one of the quantitative performance criteria in Ghana’s current I
MF bailout was a requirement to avoid the imposition or intensification of restrictions on imports for balance of payment reasons.

At a time Ghanaians were reeling under countless taxes, including those contained in the 2024 Budget, it would not be right that government introduced import restrictions that would fuel inflation and hoarding, the statement said.

‘We are happy that the Government has jettisoned these regulations after stiff resistance and opposition in Parliament by the Minority Caucus.’

‘We wish to assure the Ghanaian people and the business community that the Minority will always be on their side and put their interest first. Ghana First!’

Source: Ghana News Agency

The Ghana National Petroleum Commission (GNPC) Foundation for Livelihood Empowerment Programme has trained and graduated 389 artisans in the Ashanti Region at a colourful event at the Kumasi Cultural Centre on Saturday.

The programme, under the Skilled Artisan Project (SAP), initiated by the Government, seeks to support and build the capacities of Ghana’s youth to ensure that many of them became employable and economically independent to support their families and communities.

The various training modules were put together by GNPC with support from ASEDA Foundation, which facilitates the training and liaises with the National Vocational Training Institute (NVTI) to examine the trainees and issue them with certificates.

The graduands went through three years of apprenticeship in varied vocational skills such as fashion designing, carpentry, tiling, plumbing, makeup, auto-mechanics and general electrical.

Others were hairdressing, interior and exterior designing, event decoration, aluminium fabrication, mo
tor vehicle mechanic, engineering, steel bending, shoe making, catering, and baking.

They were also provided with soft skills training as well as standards of business and entrepreneurship practices such as bookkeeping, marketing or sales, branding, customer relations, attitude to work and safety at work.

The graduands received sets of start-up kits relevant to their specialisation to prepare them for their entrepreneurial journeys.

The start-up kits included industrial sewing machines, dryers, local ovens, tile cutting machines, aluminium sawing machines, diagnostic machines, Polishing machine, cylinder, and gas stoves.

Dr Dominic Eduah, the Executive Director of GNPC Foundation, said the training would enhance the employability of the artisans and empower them to pursue their entrepreneurial dreams.

He said the Foundation had, since 2018, granted scholarships to more than 7,500 people, including the 1,700 who were graduating in 2023.

He noted that more than 350 students had also been given scholarship
s for studies in some specialised academic areas.

Among them are about 200 medical students in their final year in Cuba, who would soon return to work in some deprived districts in Ghana.

Dr Eduah said the Foundation had commissioned several schools to help in the delivery of technical and vocational education and to ensure that Ghanaians, no matter their geographical location, benefited from the oil money.

Education, he noted, remained an important platform towards national development, hence the Foundation’s investment in the sector to make it accessible to every Ghanaian child.

In the Ashanti Region alone, the Foundation had built over 150 boreholes, which were greater achievements in the developmental agenda.

The GNPC was also responsible for ensuring that Ghanaians obtained the greatest possible benefits from the development of the country’s petroleum resources, he said.

Nana Okyere Kusi Ntrama, the Paramount Chief of Essumeja Traditional Area, who chaired the programme, advised the beneficiaries t
o put their skills to good use to benefit themselves and society.

Some of the beneficiaries told the GNA that they were happy with the intervention and hoped that the GNPC would extend the programme to other areas, especially the villages.

Source: Ghana News Agency