Financial Solution For Scrap Dealers

The problems encountered by scrap dealers in accessing funding to expand their businesses would be a thing of the past with the launch of the Solid Waste Business project in Accra.




Solid Waste Business (SOWBIZ) project is being carried out by the African Aurora Business Network in collaboration with CHF International and the Ga Mashie Center For Educational and Environmental Development (GACEED).

The project aims to provide financial literacy training and assist over 200 scrap dealers to access credit from financial institutions.

SOWBIZ would also lead to the creation 425 intermediaries in the value chain who deal with ferrous metal or e-waste.

To kick-start the project, a team from Africa Aurora Business Network and the other partners last week organized a health and safety training programme for 400 young scrap dealers and 50 association leaders at Galaway, near the Agbogbloshie market in Accra.

Chief Awal Salifu, Chairman of the Ghana Scrap Dealers Youth Association, Accra branch, said they have a total membership of over 2000 who collect and buy pure iron, cast iron, steel and other metals from households and organisations.

“Our work involves a lot of hazards as we can easily sustain cuts from the metals and this will easily lead to tetanus.”

On daily basis, he said they supply about thousand tonnes of scrap to steel companies operating in various parts of the country for the production of iron rod.

However, he noted that the scrap dealers are faced with the challenge of accessing funds from the various commercial banks.

“Many of us try to go to the banks hoping to get business financing but because most of the banks do not understand the recycled scrap metal business well and do not have the right solutions for the industry.

Furthermore, getting bank financing in Ghana is difficult since most financial institutions demand collateral before accessing a loan.

Mr Awal explained that the scrap dealers require a substantial amount of money to buy the metal and other waste from the original owners and also spend money in conveying the scrap to their collection points.

They were later assured by the First Allied Savings and Loans Limited of the much needed financial assistance.




Maureen Odoi, Programmes Coordinator of Africa Aurora Business Network told CITY & BUSINESS GUIDE in an interview that the scrap dealers contributed to the economic development of the country.

“These unskilled people collect specific waste metal which they break, bulk and sell. It is one organized system and they are producing a useful resource which would have become waste without their efforts.”

“They are doing a good job, they are uninformed as they operate without much knowledge and they must be regulated and trained as well as encouraged to form associations, she said.

Biscuit Importers Cry Over High Taxes

Biscuit and toffee importers are complaining about high taxes imposed on the importation of the products by the country’s revenue collection agencies at the ports.

According to them, the trend would push them out of business if nothing is done about it.

The angry importers revealed that import duties have been increased by over 150 per cent since the beginning of this month, which is negatively affecting their businesses.

Import duty on a 40-footer container has increased two folds since December 1, 2011.

Addressing media practitioners in Accra, spokesperson for the irate traders, Charles Gyam, explained that previously they used to pay between GH¢7000 and GH¢8000 for a 40-footer container but since the beginning of this month, they have had to part with between GH¢2000 and GH¢23,000.

He said as a result of the increase in the import duties, many of them have not been able to clear their goods from the ports.

“We have imported more goods as a result of the impending Christmas but as it is now, many of us have our containers at the ports. We have been unable to clear it,” said Mr Gyam.

On behalf of the group, the spokesperson urged government, to as a matter of urgency, intervene in the matter and ensure that the taxes are reduced.

Giving government a one-week ultimatum to address the problems, he said: “As a matter of urgency, if by the end of next week we do not hear anything from government, we would advise our selves.”

Elizabeth Amoako-Atta, Chief Executive of Lady Ventures, told CITY & BUSINESS GUIDE that she has been importing biscuits for the past five years “but this is the most outrageous duty they have imposed.”

“When I started importing, we used to pay GH¢600. It then increased to GH¢700 and then GH¢8000, a 150 percent increase is too much,” said Mrs Amoako-Atta, who said she has been having sleepless nights since news broke about the increase in taxes.

Effei Adusei, an importer, said that biscuit importers were not consulted before the determination of the new taxes, adding that “at least a notice regarding an impending increase sould have been communicated to us to enable us plan ahead.

“As at now, we have exhausted our overdrafts and bank loans and we are in a fix as to how to find money to pay for this high duty.”

Another importer, Mary Kwapong, hinted that high tariffs would compel traders to evade taxes.

“But we are law abiding citizens and we are willing to pay. Because we know that if people do not pay the right taxes, the state stands to lose the much-needed revenue it requires to undertake development projects.”

Hajia Fati Sule, another importer, stressed that “if government does not reduce the duties, most importers would lose their capital since the stock of goods in the containers cannot cover the new taxes, let alone that of the goods.”

She stated that biscuit importers would have no option than to pass the cost to consumers. Biscuits and toffees are sold on the open market for GH5p. “These are for children and we can not deny them their candies and sweets.”

SSNIT Restructure Investment

The Social Security and National Insurance Trust (SSNIT) has indicated that it will venture into performing investment portfolios to ensure sustainable flow of revenue for the management of the pension scheme.

Since the end of 2010, the Trust has been making high yielding investments and this has led to the sale of companies such as The Trust Bank (TTB) and the offloading of 74 per cent shares in one of its key assets, Wahome Steel to Fujian Chinese Overseas Industrial Group.

“Since 2011 we have programmed ourselves to go into prudent investments and this is what we will be doing in the years ahead,” said Dr. Frank Odoom, Director-General of SSNIT when he interacted with editors of the various media houses in Accra on last Thursday.

Dr. Odoom stated that it has become necessary for SSNIT to bring dynamism into its investment portfolio as the new national pension law poses serious challenges to the SSNIT’s operations.

“Some gab has been created. We need to do better investment to make the scheme as solid as possible,” he said, adding that “what we need is to ensure that the investment yield the right returns to support the scheme.”

The management of SSNIT intends to partner developers in the construction industry in the coming years to build ultra-modern shopping malls in some parts of the country.

“We can see the growing middle class who have an appetite to shop in better malls.”
On housing, Dr Odoom noted that SSNIT intends to change its approach in building, adding, “we will invest but in a different manner.”

He explained that the new housing project will take the form of joint venture “because in the past people think because it’s a SSNIT house then they must have it for free.”
The investment portfolio of SSNIT has always been in the form of a mix asset in four main areas namely, real estate, listed and unlisted equities, fixed income and some economically targeted investments.

Stephen Yeboah, Chief Actuary, speaking on the mechanics of Social Security and the New pension Act 766, said since January 2010 there has been a reduction in the contribution rate from 17.5 per cent to 11 per cent and “this has resulted in a loss of contribution income by 41 per cent.”

The shortfall in contribution, he noted, implies that the Trust would have less capital for investment.

The improvement in life expectancy, he said, means that after retirement “many more pensioners will receive pension for a longer period thereby increasing the huge funding gap.”

Are We Serious About Climate Change?

Barely a month ago, some parts of Accra and its surroundings were submerged by floods for almost two days.

Torrential rainfalls came at a time when Ghanaians were not expecting rains of that magnitude.

People living in flood prone areas are used to the perennial flooding, which occurs during the raining season that starts in April and reaches its peak in June-July every year.

Yet, this year, after the usual floods at the expected period, which resulted in the lost of property and goods worth millions of cedis, the rains hit again suddenly in October.

Official figures indicate that the rainfall that flooded parts of Accra and Tema lasted seven hours as it began on Tuesday night October 25, 2011 at about 20:00 hours and ended at 2:100 hours, and resumed at midnight until 06:00 on Wednesday.

Media reports indicated that 14 deaths were recorded, while, apart from the property lost, thousands of people were displaced and had to take refuge with friends in school blocks and places of worship.

“This is the worst floods we have seen,” said Mary Ago, a cloth seller who lost her shop and all its contents.

With tears in her eyes, Madam Ago narrated how her business capital, which included a loan from a bank, was washed away by the floods.

“Because of the coming Christmas, I ordered for extra goods worth GH¢8,000 and I took delivery of it on Monday, the day before the rains,” she relates. “I packed them in my shop and even made some sales on Tuesday, after which I left in the evening for home as usual.”

Though it rained heavily in the night, little did the single mother of two know that her business would be affected, even though she heard on the radio that some places in Accra had been flooded.

The road from her house in Ablekuma to her shop had been rendered impassible as a result of the heavy rains; the residents in that area had virtually been cut off from the city so she had no option than to stay at home.

However, in the early hours of the next day, as she prepared to use an alternative route, which she had been told was a bit better but longer, she was called by some friends and told her shop, a wooden structure at Awoshie, a suburb of Accra, has been washed away by the floods.

“I cried and rushed to the place a quick as I could,” said Madam Ago, adding that her shop was in the vicinity for the past seven years. “I have never seen anything like this before. The rainfall on Tuesday was too much. I have never seen anything like that before.”

The world is experiencing extreme weather conditions and many natural disasters ranging from floods, storms, tsunamis. Meanwhile, there is a scarcity of water as rivers dry up, rainfall patterns change, and deserts spread.

In Ghana most communities near the coast are experiencing rising sea levels and this is resulting in the loss of land.

People in the forest and savannah zone of the country have not been spared. They have been hit by desertification, draughts, influx of pests and disease among others as a result of rising temperature.

Experts have attributed the trend to climate change, which is caused by human activity that directly or indirectly alters the composition of the global atmosphere.

Activities such as bad farming practices, industrialization, land, air and water pollution, burning of fossil fuel, indiscriminate falling of trees in the forest which serve as a carbon sink as well as other practices have the tendency to gradually heat up the world.

Yaw Oppong-Baodi, chief programme officer of the Energy Resources and Climate Change Unit of the Environmental Protection Agency, stated that climate change issues are real and taking alarming tolls on both human beings and other forms of life.

Climate change, he said, has a great significance for the sustainable development plans of Ghana as it affects the livelihood of the people.

“It should be seen as a developmental issue for the country,” he said.

Since the trend is caused by the release of greenhouse emissions into the atmosphere the world’s leaders have agreed to reduce the emissions. The goal is to get the world keep the global temperature below a 2°C rise.

In line with this, global leaders came up with the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change with the objective of stabilizing of greenhouse gas in the atmosphere. Ghana signed the Convention in 1992 and ratified it in 1995.

“At least two degrees centigrade rise in global temperature would potentially decrease water availability, crop yield in Africa by 20-30 per cent and 5-10 per cent respectively and between 20 and 30 million people would be exposed to malaria,” said Joseph Essando Yedu, a scientist at the Energy Commission.

Though developed countries have been identified as the worst polluters, developing countries have been the hardest hit.

Developing countries are battling with too much or too little rains, which raise concern over food security, water shortage, rising temperatures, rising sea levels and land loss, desertification, and diseases, just to mention a few.

“This is putting the survival of the poor at risk, each passing day,” said Sherry Ayitey, Minister of Environment, Science and Technology.

She believes there is the need for the developed countries who have admitted that they should be blamed for climate change to support the vulnerable in developing countries who are suffering as a result of their actions to help minimize the effects.

To reduce vulnerability and impact of climate change people in the developing world have to adapt to new developments and consider alternative livelihoods while they protect the environment. But because they do not have the technology and the financial strength they have to depend on developed countries, which have pledged financial commitments but have not made good their words.

Every year, there is a conference on climate change attended by world leaders, activists; academia and ministers of Environment and the seventeenth session, this year’s would be in Durban, South Africa from November 27 to December 9.

It is expected that this year’s Conference of Parties (COP 17) would come out with concrete commitments and actions to mitigate the effect of climate change.

Ghana would join other African countries to go to the conference with one voice.

Professor Chris Gordon, Director of the Institute of Environment of the University of Ghana, said: “Ghana is good at signing protocols, conventions and rectifying models and so on, but that is not enough.”

He called for concerted action by all the various agencies and government institutions, as well as civil society groups to coordinate programmes and projects relating to climate change mitigation.

“Government needs to be serious about capacity building for climate change. Access to finance go hand-in-hand with capacity building. We can not access the various financing opportunities available for vulnerable countries if we do not have the capacity.”

Yet Daniel Tutu Benefo, senior program officer at the Environmental Protection Agency, thinks: “We must think of homegrown solutions.”

Climate Change Affects Us All

Floods and droughts are making millions of people in the developing world homeless and exposing them to starvation and disease.

A lot more lives and property are being lost around the world as a result of the impact of extreme whether conditions, which are fostering disasters.

Experts have attributed the trend to climate change, which is caused by human activity that directly or indirectly alters the composition of the global atmosphere.

Activities such as industrialization, land, air and water pollution, burning of fossil fuel, indiscriminate felling of trees in the forest which serves as a carbon sink, as well as other practices, have the tendency to gradually heat up the world.

Sally Biney, Principal Programme Officer at Ghana’s Environmental Protection Agency says, “Climate change is a serious issue” but it is the vulnerable people in the developing world who do the least to cause the climate crisis who are suffering.

“There is clear evidence that climate change is a happening factor that we expected.”

Even though all accusing fingers point to the developed world whose lifestyles and advance industrialization have bee identified as the major contribution to the warming of the earth, developing countries are paying the price through deaths, destruction and economic losses.

As the world prepares to converge on Durban, South Africa, for the seventeenth session of the climate change conference, some experts have expressed pessimism of its outcome, saying it may not be different for previous talks.

There are talks of looming obstacles in Durban, which will threaten implementation of the Cancun Agreements, a second commitment period for the Kyoto protocol, and agreement on a mandate for a comprehensive and legally binding agreement after 2012 when the Kyoto protocol expires.

“There is clear uncertainty as to weather the delegates can reach concerted agreements in Durban,” says Dr Seth Osafo, leader of the African group of negotiators in Accra, ahead of the international climate conference.

Every year, there is a conference on climate change attended by world leaders, activists; academia and ministers of environment, and the seventeenth session is slated for Durban, South Africa from November 27 to December 9.

It is expected that this year’s Conference of Parties (COP 17) will come out with concrete commitments and actions to mitigate the effect of climate change.

Global leaders came up with the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, with the objective of stabilizing of greenhouse gas in the atmosphere. Ghana signed the Convention in 1992 and ratified it in 1995.

The target is to limit global warming to 2 degrees Celsius and since Cop I5 and 16 did not yield the needed results the world wanted, it is expected that Durban will result in modest steps toward a deal to lower emissions

Anything above two degrees Celsius rise in global temperature will potentially decrease water availability, crop yield in Africa by 20 to 30 percent and 5 to 10 percent respectively, and between 20 and 30 million people will be exposed to malaria.

Dr Osafo, a legal advisor who joined negotiators from nearly 200 countries in Durban, South Africa, for the two-week talks, has minimal expectations of major progress toward an agreement that will eventually bind all major economies to emissions caps.

“Will we be able to reach an agreement? Even if we are able, would it be able to enter into force before December 2012, this is not likely and we have to look for other options,” he queried.

Even though he expects a better outcome from Durban, he says, “I am not optimistic about our chances there.”

Negotiators, Dr. Osafo says, may come up with a set of decisions to further the implementation of the convention “but the outcome might be similar with what we got in Cancun”.

For a positive outcome, he thinks it will only be possible “if there is goodwill on the part of all parties, but as it is now, that is not there”.

The European Environment Agency (EEA), which analysed the cost of harm to health and the environment, caused by air pollution in a recent report, notes that air pollution from the 10,000 largest polluting facilities in Europe cost citizens between € 102 and 169 billion in 2009.

Half of the total damage cost, between € 51 and 85 billion, was caused by just 191 facilities.

Industrial facilities covered by the analysis include large power plants, refineries, manufacturing combustion and industrial processes, waste and certain agricultural activities.

Professor Jacqueline McGlade, EEA Executive Director, is quoted as saying, “Our analysis reveals the high cost caused by pollution from power stations and other large industrial plants”.

She made the statement at the launch of the report which revealed the cost of air pollution from industrial facilities in Europe and provided a list of the individual facilities that contribute the most harm.

Leaders at a previous meeting in Copenhagen agreed to set up the green fund, which the developed countries pledged to raise 100 billion by 2010, to support developing countries to undertake adaptation programmes. But the least said about the fund, the better.

Robert Bamfo, head of Climate Change Unit at Ghana’s Forestry Commission, has hopes that the talks in Durban will advance the ongoing negotiation towards a fair, ambitious and legally binding instrument that will help mitigate the impact of climate change.

Ghana has embraced the REDD+ mechanism to reduce emissions by fighting deforestation and conserving carbon stock as well as provide sustainable resources for especially communities near forests.

“The increasing rise in temperature,” Sherry Aryittey, Minister of Environment, Science and Technology, says, “is a sign that we have to come together to save mother earth.”

She says Ghana will join other African countries to go to the conference with one voice.

She says the target will be to forge ahead for commitments to emit reduction targets to tackle climate change.

“Most countries in Africa are climatically and socially vulnerable. Their capacities to adopt and mitigate the negative impacts of climate change are weak,” says the Minister of Environment.

By Emelia Ennin Abbey

Green Wheels: Bicycles Made of Bamboo

Bicycles have been made from metal over the years but you should not be surprised if you see one made of bamboo in your vicinity in the near future.

Since last year, two bamboo factories in Kumasi and Accra have been producing bicycles from wild bamboo on a pilot basis to boost transport in the rural areas.

No one has built bicycles in Africa using local materials but through ingenuity and innovation this has been made possible and soon Ghanaian cyclists would ride locally-manufactured bamboo bicycles.

There have been reports of school children walking long distances to schools in rural areas while some professionals have refused postings to some villages because of lack of vehicles.

Since the commencement of the bomboo bicycle project, some farmers, teachers, midwives and other health care workers in remote areas have been given bikes freely to discharge their duties effectively.

Now the factories intend to improve production by 250 percent by the end of the year.

With 20 employees each, the factories plan to produce up to 20,000 affordable bikes a year.

David Ho, a student of the Columbia University in the USA and his associates John Mutter, Vijay Modi and Craig Calfee are the brains behind the production of bamboo bicycles in Ghana.

This was after they introduced a prototype bamboo cargo bike to young entrepreneurs in the country and one of them has since helped to manufacture frames which have been fitted with metal parts latter.

Using locally sourced material, Craig Calfee, who used to focus on building ultra-light custom bicycle frames out of carbon fiber, now teaches young entrepreneurs to build their own bikes.

“I want to give them a chance at economic independence.”

Currently, the bamboo bikes are not being provided freely and the young men at the two manufacturing sites now build several types of bamboo bike frames, which they ship to Calfee’s shop.

First, the bamboo is smoked and treated with heat over four months to prevent splitting and then the pieces are joined together using a natural fiber, called hemp fiber.

Bike mechanics set up treated bamboo pieces on what looks like a low-technology, a jig made from plumber’s pipes.

With wood glue holding the frame in place, they bind the joints using tough cord made from plant fibre soaked in epoxy.

Making the frame by hand takes at least a week and after the final sanding and coating, the bamboosero bikes are shipped to the USA, tested fitted with wheels, pedals, handlebars and brakes and put on sale.

Access to power or power tools is not a requirement for making the frames and hence the rural areas where the bamboo grow is most suitable after which each frame is worth about $150 to the builders.

“The combination of strength and flexibility inherent in bamboo makes it an excellent choice for frames and because it doesn’t need heavy tooling, it’s a great option for places without access to high-tech manufacturing tools,” said Calfee.

Bamboosero currently offers frames for road bikes, mountain bikes and cargo bikes.

Some African countries including Zambia and Uganda while others such as New Zealand, and the Philippineshave also started putting bamboo to good use, making bicycles for its citizenry.

Apart from assisting young people to work to support their families, the project also helps attract foreign investment into economies.

The Bamboo Bike Project has received several donations from the Charities Advisory Trust, the Ripple Foundation, an enterprising donor who organized a benefit concert, and numerous others.

Calfee Design, who started making bikes with carbon fiber, says bamboo will be the next hot material.

Maame Adjwoa Pomaah, a student at the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology, who spotted one of the bamboo bicycles, couldn’t hide her joy.

“For me, it looks solid and I think it’s a great invention.”

If more young people get to learn this technology then they can produce the bamboo bicycles for the masses and make them affordable for everyone.



Why bikes?

v Bicycles are in great demand as a major labor saving device, and transporting water, people, food and other items is six times more efficient on bikes.

v Bikes are reliable and efficient capable of improving the lives of people.

v Bikes can make workplaces, markets, and schools more accessible.

v Bikes are easy to maintain than cars, so the positive improvements they create in people’s lives can be counted on a daily basis. Bicycles enable villages to build their own economies and have access to resources beyond their own immediate area.

Why bamboo bicycles?

v Bamboo bikes cost less than inferior imported steel bikes.

v Bamboo is plentiful and does not need to be imported as a raw material. Bamboo is easy to grow and can be cultivated in dry areas with minimal irrigation.

v Bamboo bikes require a significant amount of labor to produce, providing skilled employment and an apprenticeship model that helps youth find opportunity.

v Making Bamboo bikes does not require electricity or a huge investment in equipment.

EPA To Sanction Companies

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has announced that it will soon issue a new regulation that will compel companies that fail to comply with environment laws of the country to pay financial penalties as part of plans to safeguard the environment.

EPA revealed this at a programme to disclose the environmental performance of operators in the mining and manufacturing sector.

Speaking in Accra at the function, Daniel S. Amlalo, Acting Director of the EPA stated that apart from the financial penalty, the Agency is also considering initiating other legal measures.

Known as AKOBEN, the environmental performance rating uses five colours, red, orange, blue, green and gold to indicate a company’s compliance to the environmental requirements of the law.

AKOBEN rating is evaluated by analyzing more than one hundred performance indicators that include qualitative data as well as qualitative and visual information.

The red colour means a company has not fulfilled some legislative instrument requirement, which could create hazardous waste and discharges.

An orange colour stands for a satisfactory rating, which means a company was not able to meet the regulatory standards for conventional pollutants, non-toxics and noise pollution while a blue colour gives a good rating showing adequate compliance with environmental standards.

The maiden edition generated uproar as most of the mining companies that were involved were not happy with their rating.

A total of 50 manufacturing companies and 11 mining companies failed to secure excellent rating.

Only one company, Diamond Cement Limited at Aflao had a green rating while three others, Abosso Goldfields Limited, Damang Mine, Newmont Ghana Gold Limited –Kenyasi and ferro fabric Limited in Tema were graded orange.

However, Ghana Bauxite was the only company that declined to submit its monthly monitoring data to the EPA, which has been described as a serious violation of the national environmental law.

“We have seen significant improvement this year,” said Mr Amlalo, who was optimistic that with AKOBEN rating, the Agency stands a better chance to reduce pollution, increase compliance, reduce environmental risks, improve community relations and enhance public awareness.

In the coming years, he noted, the AKOBEN programme would be expanded to include more companies as well as operators in the hospitality industry and oil distribution companies.

Sherry Ayittey, Minister of Environment, Science and Technology, stated that the AKOBEN programme is a vital tool for good environmental governance and sustenance.

“Indeed AKOBEN programme has now emerged as one of the first environmental rating and disclosure initiative in the world that combines environmental performance and corporate social responsibility in one unified rating system.”

The AKOBEN programme, she said, has emerged as an alternative or complementary approach to conventional regulation of pollution in most countries.