APA – Accra (Ghana)
The report that the Minority Caucus in Parliament declined to present their petition to the Director of Security at the Bank of Ghana (BoG) during the #OccupyBoGprotest is one of the leading stories in the Ghanaian press on Wednesday.
The Grphic reports that the Minority Caucus in Parliament declined to present their petition to the Director of Security at the Bank of Ghana (BoG) during the #OccupyBoGprotest today. The leaders of the demonstration refused to do so, citing the absence of the Governor, Dr. Ernest Addison, or any of his deputies.
The Head of Security at the central bank, Wing Commander Kwame Asare Boateng attempted to accept the Minority’s petition on behalf of Dr. Addison. However, Minority Leader, Dr Cassiel Ato Forson objected and characterized the bank’s decision as “disrespectful”.
Upon the protest leaders’ arrival, they were met by Wing Commander Kwame Asare Boateng and several members of the bank’s leadership. They were informed that Governor Addison was engaged in a meeting with a delegation from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and, as a result, was unavailable to receive the petition.
In response, the Minority Leader expressed his dissatisfaction with this development, labelling it as disrespectful. He pledged to return at a later time when the governor could personally receive the petition.
“It is very disrespectful not to receive the petition himself. Not even the deputy is here, and we never said we were going to present our petition to security, and we would not give you the petition,” Mr. Forson said
“Now that he has decided to disrespect us, we will not present our petition, and so we will go and come back again. Until we see him, this is just the beginning,” he added.
The Minority has called for the resignation of the Governor of the Bank of Ghana, Dr Ernest Addison and his deputies, over alleged mismanagement of the nation’s central bank.
The newspaper says that Ghana and Guyana have expressed their willingness to broaden economic partnerships to boost bilateral trade to help improve the lives of their citizens.
Both countries have also agreed to leverage their resources and expertise to achieve mutual prosperity and sustainable development.
This came to light when a delegation from Guyana paid a courtesy call on the Minister of Information, Kojo Oppong Nkrumah, at his office in Accra yesterday.
Members of the Guyana delegation were the Minister of Housing and Water, Collin Croal, and the Minister of Information, Kwame McCoy.
They discussed the governance structure of both countries, how their information ministries operated and how the two nations were able to mitigate the impact of COVID-19 and the Ukraine invasion by Russia.
“The figures show our two countries are doing well, particularly in the area of trade, however, there is the need to do more to further bolster our relationship,” Mr Oppong Nkrumah said.
On management of the global rise in fuel prices, the minister said the government had adopted a different approach of procuring fuel through an initiative known as gold for oil policy.
He said the policy had helped the country to circumvent the risk associated with purchasing oil with foreign currency.
The Ghanaian Times reports that about nine million people working in the country without any form of pension risk slumping into retirement without income security, the Head of the Corporate Affairs of the National Pensions Regulatory Authority (NPRA), Nana Sifa Twum, has stated.
He said that between the next five and 10 years, the working individuals without any form of pension would retire poor and become a liability on their families and society if the situation was not addressed.
Nana Twum who stated this in an interview after the launch of Pension Sunday at the Ebenezer Presbyterian Church at Osu in Accra at the weekend, said the low pension penetration in the informal sector was due to the notion that pension was created for only formal sector workers.
The NPRA in collaboration with the Presbyterian Church of Ghana has instituted and launched the Pension Sunday, to among other things, educate and sensitise church members to improve pension literacy and enhance pension coverage in the country.
First Sunday of every October will be observed in all the 5000 Presbyterian congregations across the country as Pensions Sunday to create awareness among members and non-members alike to understand, appreciate and participate in contributing to pension schemes.
Mr Twum said it was estimated that about 85 per cent of the working population in the country was found in the informal sector and that painted a very gloomy picture of the Ghanaian working force.
He said the NPRA was working to bring more informal sector workers on pension, stating that “Less than one per cent informal sector workers were on pension, but the NPRA has worked hard to bring about seven per cent of them onto pension schemes.”
“Many pragmatic programmes have been put in place by the au¬thority to raise the figure to about 25 per cent in the next five years,” Mr Twum stated.
He announced that the authority was working towards replicating Pensions Sunday in all churches.
The newspaper says that Fitchratings has affirmed United Bank for Africa, Ghana, Ltd strong rating of Long-Term Issuer Default Rating (IDR) at “B-” with a stable outlook and Viability Rating (VR) also affirmed at “CCC”.
This was after the agency carried out thorough examination of the bank in September this year.
The affirmation of UBA Ghana’s rating is based on a strong capital buffer and healthy liquidity.
Fitch, in its report, said despite the negative impact of the first phase of Domestic Debt Restructure (DDE) and the potential risk of growth in non-performing loans, UBA Ghana remained adequately capitalised to withstand any turmoil within the banking terrain.
Fitch’s analysis of UBA Ghana further indicated that despite the bank’s exposure to the ongoing debt restructuring of Cocoa bills and the Government of Ghana Eurobonds, the bank’s capital and liquidity would be able to withstand the impacts of these government debt restructures.
Fitch affirmed UBA Ghana’s Shareholders Support Rating at “B”, revealing that although the sovereign default remains high, the bank re¬mains attractive and its contribution to the Ghanaian market aligns with UBA’s Pan-African agenda.
UBA Ghana Ltd posted strong financials in H1 2023 with an improved liquidity ratio of 85.65 per cent and a Capital Adequacy ratio of 19.46 per cent.
The bank’s deposit, as at H1 2023, grew by 20.85 per cent to close at G¢5.17bn against the prior year of GH¢4.28bn.
This growth funded Total Asset growth of 21.41 per cent which was from GH¢5.63bn in H1 2022 to GH¢6.84bn in H1 2023.
The bank posted 156% Year-on-Year growth in profit before tax from GH¢116m in H1 2022 to GH¢296m in H1 2023. This improvement is a result of efficiency and enhanced customer service.
GIK/APA
Ghanaian press focuses on Occupy BoG protest, others
