Business

GRA begins Cargo Tracking Note implementation October 15 The Ghana Revenue Authority has served notice that the implementation of the Cargo Tracking Note (CTN) policy would begin on Monday, 15th October 2018. A statement signed by the Commissioner-General Mr Emmanuel Nti said the intervention was to provide greater scrutiny of major imports for both valuation and security management purposes. “From Monday, 15th October, 2018 importers whose imports, from records, exceed thirty-six (36) Twenty Foot Equivalent Units (TEUs) per year, will be required to obtain a CTN Number in the country of export,” the statement said. “This means, any importer who imports less than 36 TEUs per year is exempt from CTN compliance. Further, businesses that import more than 054391600 36 TEUs per year but can demonstrate that the nature of their imports and their turnovers make them small importers will also be exempt,” the statement added. The statement said the exemptions are to e...

TOR workers fear being sacked over refinery shut down Workers of the Tema Oil Refinery (TOR) fear they would be laid off as the plant has been idle for about seven months due to the unavailability of crude oil. They have indicated that even though the refinery had undergone routine maintenance, workers were still waiting for the government to provide it with crude oil to refine. Union leaders of the Refinery made this known during a general meeting of the Tema District Council of Labour. They indicated that according to their management, the about 800 workers of TOR were paid with an overdraft, a situation they feared would end-up in their layoff just as it happened in the banking sector. According to them, the Social Security and National Insurance (SSNIT) contributions of workers had not been paid for months. They questioned the assertion of successive governments that TOR was making losses, and therefore it must be shut down, noting that ironically, politicians da...

Mobile money agents demand insurance from telcos The Mobile Money Agents Association of Ghana (MMAAG) is asking their respective telecommunication companies on the mobile money platform to insure them. Speaking to the Ghana News Agency on Friday, the executive members of MMAAG, said the mobile money business was a risky one and therefore the need for the formulation and implementation of an insurance policy to cushion merchants. They noted that the upsurge of armed robbery attacks on merchants had put fear into majority of their 95,000 members across the country as there were no protection for their lives and operations.

Is Menzgold worth its weight in gold? A few months ago, after a particularly dreary day at the office, I met a friend I hadn’t seen in a while. Full of boyish zeal, he told me of an investment scheme he had signed up to . Curious , I asked him to tell me about it. After a few minutes and with an attention span I never knew I possessed, he outlined the whole package to me.  It was unbelievably good an investment and my mind went blank; high dividends and guaranteed safety of my money, all within a few months.  I saw  light  at the end of the tunnel, I had discovered my golden goose or so I thought. Humans have always had a fascination  for  windfall wealth.  Wealth  that can be obtained in one fell swoop without or almost without any toil.  In medieval times at the tip of the  renaissance , a new science called Alchemy became hugely popular.  Alchemists claimed they could turn lead and other common metals into gold thr...

Airports Company Profits Drop By 43% John Attafuah The Ghana Airports Company Ltd (GACL) recorded a 43% decline in its profit for the year 2017. Profit after tax of the Ghana Airports Company Limited as of 2017 stood at  GH¢ 87 million compared to  GH¢ 153 million in 2016. Speaking at the 6th Annual General Meeting (AGM) of the GACL, Managing Director John Attafuah said moving forward the company would take steps to prepare its accounts in dollars. Mr Attafuah said, “The company continues to operate profitably with a performance of about GH¢87 million profit before tax, which is lower by 43% compared to the previous year. Essentially, operational cost and currency exchange losses contributed to low profit.” “That is why moving forward we have written to the Ghana Revenue Authority to allow us to prepare our financials in dollars. This will help in reflecting the true value of our activities,” he explained. Air traffic movement Overall Air traff...

GH¢400m Recovered From UT, Capital Banks’ Assets Some GH¢400 million has been realised from the sale and recovery of assets of erstwhile UT and Capital banks, Joint Receivers of both banks, PricewaterhouseCoopers has disclosed. According to a statement issued by PricewaterhouseCoopers and signed by one Eric Nipah, a key component of the Receiverships is to secure all assets including the recovery of outstanding loans and advances not assumed by GCB for the benefit of creditors. “The greatest value of the banks’ assets is the loan stock. It constitutes approximately 70 per cent of the total assets of GH¢3.9 billion of the banks and this is at the heart of our recovery efforts. The total loan stock of the two banks amounted to GH¢2.7 billion as at the receivership date,” the statement by the Joint Receivers said. We have realised over GH¢400 million through our sale and recovery efforts,” PricewaterhouseCoopers noted. Both UT and Capital banks went into receiv...

BoG and SEC Could Have Saved Us Earlier – Menzgold Customers Customers of embattled gold dealership firm, Menzgold in the Ashanti Region are blaming the Security and Exchange Commission (SEC) and the Bank of Ghana for not being proactive in stopping the firm from operating. The aggrieved customers whose monies have been locked up with Menzgold say they’re frustration and disappointment is with SEC and BOG who failed to take decisive actions earlier than they have done. According to them, the two authorities had watched on for Menzgold to operate its investment portfolio for five years without taking measures to halt their operations, which was an indication of how legit the business was. “We are disappointed in SEC and BOG. If they were proactive, it would have saved thousands of people from investing with Menzgold. If they had done this two years ago, am sure thousands of people wouldn’t have entered. Because Menzgold has been in existence for five good years and people bel...

Another Troubled Bank To Be Taken Over By BoG. The Bank of Ghana has indicated that it would takeover another ‘troubled’ bank if the said institution fails to meet some conditions. JoyBusiness understands that the Bank in question (name withheld) has until the middle of this month to take crucial measures to improve its financial position or risk that regulatory action. Some of the measures that the bank in question needs to take includes; bringing in fresh capital to help clear some huge debts on its books, as well as credible plan to even meet the old capital requirement of GH₵120 million. Another document cited JoyBusiness indicates that if this bank in question, fails to take all these measures, then the regulator stands ready to appoint an advisor to take over. The bank is said to be insolvent and in serious financial distress. In a previous letter to the regulator, the said ‘troubled’ bank gave details on how it plans to meet the new capital requirement ...

INTER BANK RATES CURRENCY BUYING SELLING U.S Dollar 4.7934 4.7982 Euro 5.4998 5.5050 Pound Sterling 6.2583 6.2669 Swiss Franc 4.8259 4.8307 Canadian Dollar 3.6939 3.6980 S/African Rand 0.3221 0.3225 Australian Dollar 3.3851 3.3923