Millennium Insurance Company, a member of the Jospong Group of Companies, has sponsored a training programme for drivers of Zoomlion Ghana Limited in Accra. The training programme was aimed at educating the company’s drivers on defensive driving techniques to ensure that road accidents are reduced to the barest minimum within the company – especially in light of the numerous accidents in the country. About 50 drivers of Zoomlion participated in the one-day exercise which attracted top executives of the Jospong Group. Godfred Djani, Managing Director, Millennium Insurance Company, the main insurer of Zoomlion vehicles, explained to drivers the essence of risk management in insurance business.“Check your vehicles and respect other road users,” he advised the drivers. The participants were taken through defensive driving lessons and the causes of road accidents.Factors such as light-weather road conditions as well as traffic in addition to vehicle and driver conditions were pointed out. Other topics touched on included techniques for steering a vehicle to safety when it skids off the road or during a head on-collision. Resources persons for the programme included Seth Amankra and Joshua Amfo Adu, who are experts in driver training.

The World Conference on International Telecommunications (WCIT 12), running from December 3 to 14, 2012 in Dubai, United Arab Emirates (UAE) has the crucial task of reviewing the International Telecommunication Regulations (ITRs). These regulations were adopted at the World Administrative Telegraph and Telephone Conference in Melbourne, Australia, in 1988. They paved the way for the phenomenal growth we have witnessed across the information and communication technology (ICT) sector. Below includes a statement from Terry Kramer, U.S. Head of delegation attending the conference.The United States supports continued growth of the international telecom and internet sectors to the benefit of consumers, citizens and societies around the world.    The nations of the world have gathered in Dubai to discuss cooperative means of ensuring such growth, including guaranteeing the free flow of opinion and ideas in those sectors.   The WCIT is meeting for the first time since 1988 to consider the rapid and dramatic evolution in global communication in the intervening years.   Much has occurred since 1988.  Back then, there was no internet, and cellular communication was in its infancy.  Today, there are more than two billion internet users spanning the globe, and more than six billion mobile telephone subscriptions.  What’s more, the most rapid growth in both categories is occurring in the developing world.   The annual growth rate in the number of internet users in Africa in recent years, for example, has topped 33%, and mobile broadband services grew by 78% last year in developing countries, nearly twice the rate as in developed countries.  In Ghana and other parts of Sub-Saharan Africa, mobile broadband has exploded in recent years.  The GSMA Sub-Saharan Africa Mobile Observatory indicates that Sub-Saharan Africa is the fastest-growing mobile market in the world, with a phenomenal average annual growth rate of 44 per cent since 2000.    The organization recently indicated that because people need to communicate increasingly via internet, they expect mobile broadband to grow about 46% a year from 2012 to 2015.   Not surprisingly, mobile penetration has hit over 100 percent in Ghana, long before National Communications Authority prediction that this would not occur until the first quarter of 2013.   As demand for quality, affordable service continues to grow throughout Ghana, the existing telecommunications industry will have to positively respond or risk being outmaneuvered by new entrants. Why have these industries enjoyed such rapid growth and innovation, and brought with them remarkable social and economic benefits to consumers, citizens and societies?  Simple – they are consumer-driven, participatory, decentralized, and managed by multiple stakeholders.  This is a model of success, past and future, that will continue to yield dramatic growth of broadband infrastructure and access to the internet.  The nations of the world should endorse this model.     Endorsement of the multi-stakeholder model is the best path to satisfying the growing worldwide desire for more investment in broadband infrastructure, particularly in developing countries.  The United States also appreciates the concerns of some nations regarding the integrity of networks in an era of hackers, malware and malignant content.   With these concerns and others in mind, the United States is proposing adjustments to the existing International Telecommunications Regulations that would further promote the international telecommunications market as a liberalized, pro-consumer and competitive engine for growth – and not just in the U.S., but everywhere, including in Ghana.  In addition, the United States shares the belief of many governments around the world  that growth and investment in the international telecommunications market will be driven in the future by consumer demand, and that commercially-negotiated arrangements to exchange international telecommunications traffic are the best means of responding to such demand with innovative products and services.   We believe governments should create and sustain environments conducive to investment and growth of broadband infrastructure with liberalized access.  We believe that International Telecommunications Regulations are not an effective tool to address security issues, including those that relate to cybercrime, national security or national defence. And, we are firmly dedicated to a vision of international telecommunications and the internet that promotes and facilitates freedom of expression.  Proposals to control content transmitted over networks are not only outside the scope of the Telecommunications Regulations, but could suffocate what should be a vibrant and open telecommunications and internet society.                The United States will approach this Conference with the goal of advancing the shared global interest in extending the benefits of international telecommunications and the internet to the largest possible number of consumers, citizens and societies.   We believe we are on that very path, and with continued partnership with all the engaged stakeholders, that goal will grow nearer every day.  

A Japan trained horticulture expert of the Ministry of Food and Agriculture, Mrs. Rogatta Antwi-Baadu has organised a workshop on Soil Solarisation to control soil-borne diseases in vegetable nurseries at the Ministries’ office in Abokobi, Accra. Her presentation was on how to control soil-borne diseases in vegetable using solarisation. She touched on the use of plastic sheets for solarisation. “The sheets should have a transparent color for heating.” She then demonstrated the solarisation for nursery soil. Mr. Hayashi from JICA Ghana Office added: “I appreciate Mrs. Antwi-Baadu’s presentation. It  was good and educative. She went to Japan for training and she has shared what she learnt with vegetable farmers in this community. I hope all participants will spread this knowledge to other farmers.” Mrs. Antwi-Baadu had horticulture training in Japan and Kenya. The workshop was to share her knowledge to farmers and extension staff.  

Accra Brewery Limited (ABL) has donated 1,999 “Tutu” desks to World Vision Ghana under the “Tutu Desk Campaign”. The items, which were worth over GH¢23,000, were donated as part of ABL’s corporate social investment activities in the country. The donation was the outcome of a partnership between the company and World Vision Ghana with the aim of improving children’s access to quality education, Legal Affairs Director of ABL, Adjoba Kyiamah, said. “The donation is therefore a first step in a partnership to assist deprived children in Ghana access quality education to improve their learning outcomes.” She said the desks will be used by school children – who are currently using stones or the floor as surface for their books when they write – in the Sene, Savelugu Nanton and Bawku West districts in the Brong Ahafo, Northern and Upper East Regions of the country. She said ABL is further making available to World Vision an amount of GH¢6,860 to facilitate transportation and distribution of the “Tutu” desks to the beneficiary districts for onward delivery to children in the selected schools. “We at Accra Brewery Limited believe in supporting the communities in which we operate because our success depends on the success of these communities “Travelling across the length and breadth of the country, we have seen children in several communities attending school without essential amenities such as desks and chairs.  That is why when we heard about the work of the Archbishop Desmond Tutu Desk Campaign, we thought it was a brilliant idea and decided to implement it here in Ghana,” she added. Mr. Hubert Charles, who received the desks on behalf of World Vision, said they believe that a flat writing surface, such as the “Tutu desk” would greatly improve learning conditions for the children. “This means that some of the teaching problems such as writing a story or solving an arithmetic problem, which is usually done by balancing a book on the knee or the hand, or writing on the back of a classmate or the bare earth, will be addressed.” Tutu Desks are portable school desks (flat surface writing boards) provided by the Tutu Desk Campaign (whose patron is Archbishop Desmond Tutu) to children in sub-Saharan Africa who do not have the benefit of a classroom desk. So far, over one million desks have been distributed across sub-Saharan Africa. Adjoba Kyiamah, Corporate/Legal Affairs Director of ABL, presenting the Tutu Desks and a cheque to Hubert Charles, the National Director of World Vision Ghana

Energy Bank says it plans to increase its branch network and Automatic Teller Machines (ATMs) to 60 countrywide by the end of 2012, in order to provide reliable products and services to its clients in all the 10 regions. “The bank seeks to provide convenient reliable products and services locally, regionally and internationally. The bank is in the process of developing its Visa platform to add to our suite of self-help services,” Ms. Ophelia Attobrah, Executive Director, said. She was speaking at the “End of Year Customer Forum and Cocktail’ organised by the bank to strengthen its relationship with its customers and to address their concerns. She debunked the notion that the bank is only focused on the energy sector. “The ‘energy’ in our name does not necessarily mean that we are solely going to focus on the energy sector.  The ‘energy’ represents vitality, strength, vigour and dynamism that we deploy in our dealings with customers. It is about doing things better, doing things never done before; it is about creative innovation,” she said. Mr. Sam Ayininuola, Managing Director of Energy Bank, said the bank “plans to grow along the West Coast and then move on to establish a branch in London. This is to make it easier for customers to transact business in Europe and America.” He indicated that the event will be an annual affair to address the grievances of its clients and strengthen the working relationship. In barely a year of operation, the bank has established eight branches—Spintex and Suame branches are set to be operational by the close of the year. It is also looking at increasing its capital base from the initial GH¢60million to about GH¢100million to place it in pole position to finance big-ticket transactions. The bank, which is a subsidiary of Global Fleet Group, this year introduced the Energy Temple Account, Energy Kid Account, and Energy School Fee Pay. The Energy Temple Account is an operational current account linked to an interest-bearing investment account with churches as its target clients, while the Energy Kid is aimed at encouraging parents to save for the children as well as to inculcate in children the habit of saving.

The Agricultural Development Bank (ADB) has opened a new branch at Apimenim in the Western Region. This forms the 77th Branch of the Bank and the 7th in the Western Region. Performing the opening ceremony, the Chairman of the Board of Directors of ADB, Alhaji Ibrahim Adam said ADB will continue to put more into agricultural production and combine this with the financing of agro-industry to generate value addition. He said the new Branch has been opened in the heart of the rubber industry in collaboration with Ghana Rubber Estate Limited (GREL) and that this is being replicated in other parts of the western and northern regions to deepen the services of ADB in many more agricultural areas in the country. “This form of collaboration is one of the solutions to agricultural financing and we shall pursue it vigorously,” he said. Alhaji Ibrahim Adam commented on accusations from certain quarters that the participation of ADB in other sectors of the national economy is to the detriment of agricultural financing. He said ADB has remained the most viable and successful bank in Africa devoted to agricultural financing due to its deliberate policy of participating in other sectors of the economy. “This has sustained the ability of ADB to execute its agricultural financing mandate’ he said.The Managing Director of ADB, Mr. Stephen Kpordzih disclosed that ADB has significantly increased its agricultural loan approvals in the last three years from GH¢39.2 million in 2009, to GH¢100.1 million in 2010, and GH¢141.7 million in 2011. “As at mid-October 2012, total loan approvals to agriculture had already reached GH¢146.0 million and indications are that we are well on course to exceed the budget of GH¢148.0 million targeted for the agricultural sector in 2012,” he said. Mr. Kpordzih said ADB has partnered GREL to implement three of the phases of the rubber outgrower project since its inception in 1993. In the first phase, 400 outgrower farmers cultivated 1,200 hectares which was increased to 2,800 hectares by 500 outgrower farmers in the next phase and 2,800 outgrower farmers cultivating 10,700 hectares of rubber in the fourth phase. Mr. Kpordzih said the first two phases of the rubber outgrower project involved the on-lending of loans procured by the Government from the Agence Francaise de Developpement (AFD). However, in the fourth phase, ADB itself procured the loan from the AFD as a non-sovereign loan directly to ADB without government’s guarantee. “Following this success, negotiations have commenced with AFD and GREL to implement the fifth phase of the Rubber Outgrower Project which is projected to cultivate 12,000 hectares of rubber by 4000 outgrower farmers. In addition, at the corporate level, ADB intends to support GREL with a term loan of Euros 25.0 million to establish new plantations at Awudua and Agona Abirem both in the Western Region,” Mr. Kpordzih indicated. Mr. Kpordzih disclosed that the new Apimenim Branch will ensure that the outgrower farmers will receive their funds within a maximum of two hours after supplying their rubber to the GREL factory, and also offer the entire community our full range of banking services. He assured the people that ADB will work with GREL to improve their living standards. The Managing Director of GREL, Mr. Lionel Barres said the GREL rubber outgrower project is one of the best and biggest in the world and that by the end of 2015, the project will have more than 12,000 outgrowers by the cultivating 40,000 hectares of rubber in the Western, Central and Ashanti Regions. He lauded the support of ADB to GREL in the implementation of the project.

By Ekow Essabra-Mensah Acting U.S. Secretary of Commerce, Dr. Rebecca Blank has pledged her government’s strong support for the continuation of the Africa Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA) to promote trade from Africa. “I was very pleased that President Obama signed a continuation of the AGOA agreements just this last summer.  â€œI have every faith that the sorts of investment and business opportunities are going to continue to unfold and that we will be in a position to strongly support a renewal of AGOA come 2015,” said Dr. Blank in a telephone-briefing with African Journalists. “We have a whole set of institutions and individuals in Africa working within Africa to promote trade from Africa back, who have been working closely with AGOA over the last 10 to 15 years to make sure that companies are able to take advantage of the opportunities that legislation provides.” The U.S administration, according Dr. Blank has stated its strong support for ongoing access to AGOA, to resign the agreement in 2015.   “Textiles and fabrics are an important piece of that as well. So there are a whole host of activities that we are undertaking that are designed to increase knowledge and interest in the United States in investments in Africa,” she said.   Currently, there are thousands of products that are available under the AGOA list to enter the United States duty-free. For more than a dozen years, AGOA has been the U.S. government’s signature trade initiative with sub-Saharan Africa; helping diversify exports, create jobs, reduce barriers to trade, and expand economic opportunities for the region’s population.   With more than 6,000 products receiving duty-free treatment when exported to the United States, AGOA has helped generate jobs through trade and investment opportunities during its short lifespan.  AGOA provides a framework for improved access to U.S. credit and technical expertise, and establishes a high-level dialogue on trade and investment in the form of an annual US-sub-Saharan Africa Trade and Economic Forum.   It is an integral component of the United States’ overall trade with sub-Saharan Africa, increasing two-way trade between the two regions to over US$95billion in 2011. It also generated a US$13billion increase in two-way trade between 2010 and 2011, and a total of US$716.1billion since 2001.

L’AINE Services has organized a dinner dance for  its clients and other stakeholders in Accra for their immense support and partnership through the years. The high-profile dinner dance, dubbed “Our Partnership, Our Success,” was held at the Cleaver House, Adabraka. The event was organized to crown an amazing year for the company, which saw them receive nine local and international awards, including CIMG Marketing Woman of the Year and Print Advert of the Year, the 50th Most Prestigious Company in the Ghana Club 100 and the BID International Gold Star for Quality Award. Speaking at the ceremony, Mrs. Ellen Hagan, chief executive of L’aine services, emphasized on the values of the  company,  integrity, customer satisfaction, teamwork, dedication and responsiveness, adding that the upholding of  these values have brought the company  this far. She praised the staff of L’AINE for their hard work and their relentless effort to make sure the company always stands out tall amongst the rest. She revealed that although it has not been an easy road, God has been faithful and she thanked Him for His continuous guidance and blessings. Mrs. Hagan enumerated some challenges faced by the company, especially in the areas of outsourcing and recruitment, but was however quick to add that the L’AINE team is working to meet and possibly exceed the expectations of clients as their number one HR solutions provider. Some long standing clients of L’AINE, Ghacem, GGBL and Tema Lube Oil, were honoured with awards for their support and also some deserving employees, who had distinguished themselves in the course of the year. Some of the dignitaries who attended the event include the Executive Director of ELAC - Mr. C. C Bruce, the Executive Director of EximGuaranty - Mr. Zac Bentum, the Managing Director of Tema Lube Oil - Mr. Samuel Anguah, the Managing Director of Starlife Assurance Co. Ltd. - Mr. George Addison, the Managing Director of Lordship Insurance Brokers - Mr. Richard Dadson, the Executive Director of CIMG - Mr. Kwabena Agyekum, the General Manager (Consumer Banking), Merchant Bank – Mr. Henry Baye, the Works Manager of GHACEM - Mr. Kwesi Dickson, the HR Manager of PZ Cussons - Mr. Sigismund Dzeble, the HR Manager of MODEC - Mr. Samuel Addoteye and Justice Cecelia Sowah and Justice Gertrude Torkornoo, Supreme Court Judges.