The launch of the national African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) Policy Framework and Action Plan by President Akufo-Addo with a charge on the Ministry of Trade and Industry to expedite and effectively implement programmes aimed at boosting Ghana’s export to other African countries is one of the leading stories in the Ghanaian press on Wednesday.
The Ghanaian Times reports that President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo yesterday launched the national African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) Policy Framework and Action Plan with a charge on the Ministry of Trade and Industry to expedite and effectively implement programmes aimed at boosting Ghana’s export to other African countries.
According to him, successful implementation of the programmes under the framework would empower local businesses to engage in exports which would ultimately boost local economic activity, growth, jobs and earnings.
In a speech read on his behalf at the launch in Accra yesterday, he said the National AfCFTA Policy Framework and Action Plan was geared towards the harmonisation of relevant policies, programmes, laws, and regulations to boost the productive capacities of the private sector, particularly the small and medium scale enterprises to harness the full benefits of AfCFTA.
“A successful implementation of the Action Plan will boost the capacities of the Ghanaian private sector to take advantage of market access opportunities in Africa to promote ‘Made in Ghana’ goods and services,” he stated.
He argued that, owing to the current economic challenges occasioned by COVID-19 and the Russia-Ukraine war, there was the need for Ghana and other African countries to develop measures to improve the productive capacities of the private sector and increase intra-African trade.
“The effective operationalisation of the AfCFTA Agreement in Ghana would significantly boost Ghana’s balance of trade, stimulate investment and innovation, diversify exports, improve food security, foster structural transformation, enhance economic growth, and above all, provide jobs for the youth,” the President stated.
The newspaper says that Ghana and Ivory Coast, the world’s two largest producers of cocoa have reversed the earlier decision to sell cocoa beans at origin differentials below zero.
The origin differentials was previously set at minus 125 pounds per ton of cocoa beans for Ivory Coast and minus 50 pounds per tonne of cocoa beans for Ghana on the ICE cocoa futures market.
The origin differential is an additional country quality premium that has
traditionally been determined by the market.
It is a key factor in determining cocoa prices and together with the Living Income Differential (LID), as well as the Intercontinental Exchange Europe Price (the London Futures market for cocoa), guarantees a higher price for farmers in the world’s top cocoa producers.
Making the disclosure during the joint Côte d’Ivoire-Ghana Cocoa Initiative (CIGCI) meeting in Accra, CIGCI Executive Secretary Alex Assanvo, averred the new levels of origin differentials are a minimum of zero pounds per tonne for Côte d’Ivoire and 20 pounds per tonne for Ghana.
“The issue came up during a recent meeting with industry, where our member countries expressed the fact that the quality of their cocoa hadn’t diminished and that they therefore shouldn’t have to settle for discounts on this matter. We will therefore no longer accept cocoa sold below this level as we head into positive territory,” he said.
The Graphic reports that the Minerals Income Investment Fund (MIIF) has classified salt as a high priority mineral.
Other minerals classified as high priority are lithium, limestone, granite and diamond.
The fund, which has the mandate to maximise the value of dividend and royalties from the country’s mineral resources, is completing a strategy on the high priority minerals to attract investments into the sector to boost value and job creation.
“Classifying salt as a high priority mineral means we will invest in the mineral value chain development; we will de-risk its funding methods and help with the acquisition of relevant technology that revitalises the industry,” the Chief Executive Officer of MIIF, Edward Nana Yaw Koranteng, said.
After a one-day working visit to the Electrochem Salt Production site at Ada Songhor, he said the fund was also positioning itself to invest in the industrial salt sector, in line with its mineral investment diversification strategy.
Mr Koranteng expressed optimism that the planned focus on the mineral would generate a new economic vibrancy for the areas known for salt production, such as Ada, Sege, Keta, Ningo and Winneba.
He said the plan of MIIF to strategically focus on salt would make the sector become one of the country’s major foreign exchange earners by 2026 and a top industrial earner by 2030, especially if the resuscitation plan of the Ada Songhor Salt project followed through as planned.
“The plan to boost salt production and the development of its allied value chain should yield about $2 billion to the Ghanaian economy, beginning 2027, with the potential to create more than 10,000 direct and indirect jobs in the next five years from just the Songhor Salt pan alone,” he said.
He indicated that Ghana and Senegal were the only countries in West Africa with the potential for large-scale industrial salt production.
He decried the fact that Nigeria, with a salt demand in excess of 1.5 million tonnes per annum, imported eight per cent of its industrial salt needs from Brazil, while the Songhor salt pans alone had the capacity to produce over a million tonnes at just 60 per cent capacity.
The newspaper says that the Government has successfully renegotiated Power Purchase Agreements (PPAs) with six Independent Power Producers (IPPs) in the country, the Minister of Finance, Ken Ofori-Atta, has announced.
The IPPs are Karpower, Cenpower, Early Power, Twin City Energy (formerly Amandi), AKSA Energy and Cenit.
In what has been described by analysts as a positive step towards saving the country some funds for other developments, he said the action was expected to save the country about $13.2 billion over the life span of the PPAs.
Presenting the 2022 Mid-year Budget Review to Parliament, Mr Ofori-Atta said “for balanced, sustainable energy partnerships that provide affordable power for industrial, commercial and residential use we have kept our promise and successfully negotiated PPAs with six IPPs.”
“These renegotiated agreements are expected to have savings estimated at $13.2 billion over the life of the PPAs through a combination of reduced capacity and energy charges,” he stated.
The Finance Minister also noted that the raft of sanctions imposed on Russia were tightening supply conditions for energy products.
GIK/APA