X’mas Shoppers Overwhelm Traders

Traders in the Central Business District of Accra have been swamped by several thousands of shoppers who have invaded their shops, as the Christmas season draws closer. Shop owners, who spoke to CITY & BUSINESS GUIDE, said they underestimated trading activities this season, especially after the recent presidential and parliamentary elections. At the Okaishie market, George Yeboah, a textile shop owner, who made reference to jammed streets and car parks said, “I was not expecting many people to come out to shop this December considering the political atmosphere but more and more people keep coming as the days go by.”

He said “though my shop opens at 8am and closes at 5pm buyers have in the past three days come to queue over here.” At the pedestrian shopping Mall located at the Kwame Nkrumah Circle in Accra, the traders claimed trading activities were low. Mawusi Setorfe, jewelry seller said “the people who come around are only engaged in window shopping. They are not buying. They only come to see our displayed goods and then they leave.” Ms Setorfe intends to make profit during the final days of the year. “I have stocked my shop and I estimate that my overall sales by the end of the year will shoot up compared to last year’s sales.” By Emelia Ennin Abbey

Imported Rice Swamp Market

Rice importers have overstocked their shops with variety of rice in anticipation of increased patronage during the Christmas festivities. The importers have embarked on massive advertisement in the media to attract the attention of potential and existing consumers of rice which mainly come from the United States of America, Taiwan, Vietnam and Thailand. The development has negatively affected the sale of locally produced rice. Despite government’s announcement to cut overseas importation drastically, imports ordered by traders in the industry in the last quarter of this year have increased significantly. “Our warehouses are filled with rice and we will empty them before the end of the year,” said Rose Aboagye, a rice dealer at Okaishie in Greater Accra. The 56-year-old woman, who has been in the rice trade for 18 years said: “This year, business was low at the beginning but we hope it will pick up. We do not want to turn our customers away when they call on us. ”

She said her shop – a wholesale shop – had already received orders from clients who are mostly retailers. Commenting on the prices, Madam Aboagye noted that the price of a bag of rice had been increased in the last few months, adding “it’s not our fault. It’s not as if we want to take advantage of the Christmas festivities to increase our prices but the issue is that there are excessive imports globally and this has pushed up the price of rice in the world market.” At the beginning of this year, a 5-kilo bag of rice was sold for GH¢150 but in the last three months, it went for between GH¢18 and GH¢22 depending on the brand. A 50-kilo bag of Texas rice, which was sold for GH¢80 last year, is now selling at GH¢115. In 2010, it was sold for GH¢65. Madam Aboagye was optimistic sales would increase “especially as Ghana’s presidential and parliamentary elections are over and Ghanaians are ready to celebrate the Yuletide.” Kwesi Ahwoi, Minister of Food & Agriculture, in November this year, stated that government had reduced rice importation by 30 per cent and had increased local production of the cereal by 59 per cent. He said the government used policies and other interventions such as subsidization of fertilizer, distribution of improved seeds and the introduction of the Savanah Accelerated Development Authority project as well as the Northern Rural Growth Programme to reduce poverty and boost food security among rural households. According to Michael Champonu, a trader, “The quality of the local rice is poor.” The rice trading sector faces many challenges including the smuggling of the cereals into the country that deprives the state of the much-needed revenue. But Solomon Kwadwo Kusi, Coordinator of the Rice Headloads Association, noted that many people patronize other staples during periods of good harvest and food glut. On the other hand, the Customs Division of the Ghana Revenue Authority acknowledged that certain smuggling activities occur at Ghana’s borders. To curb the situation, customs officials patrol inland road check points, while mobile task forces are deployed to track down smugglers. Nabil Moukarzel, Executive Chairman of Finatrade, a leading company trading and promoting local rice, hinted that local initiatives must help to increase consumption of locally-produced rice. By Emelia Ennin Abbey

La Residents Task Aspiring MP over Better Water, Sanitation, Hygiene Services

Residents in the La Dadekotopon Constituency have tasked parliamentary candidates of the various political parties to outline plans to address water, sanitation and hygiene problems in the area. The New Patriotic Party’s (NPP) Oscare Nii Odio Glover, Nii Amasah Namoale, National Democratic Congress (NDC), Simon Sowah of the Progressive People’s Party (PPP), Torto Obodai Nala Adjah interacted with residents and students in the area during a programme organized by Coalition of NGOs in Water and Sanitation (CONIWAS) to discuss how to tackle issues of water, sanitation and hygiene. The programme, which falls under citizen’s engagement organized by CONIWAS in partnership with GLONEHDO and WaterAid, formed part of plans to encourage political parties to prioritize water, sanitation and hygiene in their developmental programmes. After the aspirants delivered their speeches, Peal Asantewa Ampomah, a JHS 2 pupil of Saint Paul school, said her school does not have a toilet facility which makes them use the drains and beaches.

While the candidates of the NPP, NDC and PPP said they would provide toilet facilities, the CPP candidate hinted that he would form sanitary brigades in addition to the provision of toilets. Socu Bright, a JHS 1 pupil, said students waste lesson hours to collect and dump refuse due to the absence of a dumping place in the community. The CPP, NDC and NPP parliamentary candidates said they would first fence the school and provide waste bins. The PPP candidate said he would provide additional security. Sarah Sena Asibi, a JHS 2 pupil, said the lack of water in her school is a major problem, but the PPP candidate assured her that boreholes would be dug in the schools. Later in an interview, Ben Authur, Executive Secretary of CONIWAS, in an interview, said the aim of the engagement was to get candidates to commit to improving WASH service delivery at La. He explained that “we will monitor to ensure they keep their promises and we will do that by coming back in the course of the four years.” By Emelia Ennin Abbey From right Oscare Glover, Nii Amasah Namoale, Simon Sowah and Torto Obodai Nala Adjah at the residents engagement

Affluent Pay Less For Water Service

Poor people in urban centres pay more for water compared to the affluent in society, according to a consultant helping the Ministries of Water Resources, Works and Housing and Local Government and Rural Development to develop a national strategy for the water sector. Patrick Apoya said the problem had persisted because poor people depend on secondary providers rather than the Ghana Water Company for water. At the launch of the strategy co-sponsored by the USAID and CHF International, which was aimed at getting underprivileged communities involved in urban services, Mr. Apoya said third party suppliers and vendors, who are the main source of water for poor households, charge as high as 10 to 20 times than the approved tariffs. He said services rendered to households are poor and unreliable. He attributed the situation to weaknesses in governance structure and said urban water and sanitation hygiene services needs to be strengthened without delay. Senyo Amengor, Acting Managing Director of Ghana Urban Water Limited, told CITY & BUSINESS after the launch of the project that the households pay 83 pessewas per one meter cubic, representing 1000 litres of water. “When you are connected for domestic use we charge 83 pessewas per 1 meter cube those who are poor in terms of access to water have to pay more because they do not have direct access to our pipelines.” He said the growing urban population was making water supply services cumbersome, explaining that “the planning of the water supply system was done when the demand was not much higher and we doing our best to match our systems with the growth of the population.” Dr. Sumani Alhassan, Director of Water Directorate of the Minister of Water Resources, Works and Housing, in a speech read on his behalf, noted that Ghana was experiencing rapid urbanization, adding that government was struggling to cope with the increasing demand for water and sanitation and hygiene services. He explained that though 51 per cent of the population live in urban areas only 64 percent of them have access to improved water supply. Before launching the strategy, Deputy Minister for the Ministry of Water Resources, Works and Housing, Nii Nortey Dua stated that the current Ghana Water Company Limited delivery approach does not clearly define the role of communities and non-state actors in water provision. “There is the need to create the environment for innovative community management that will synergize with operations of Ghana Water Company Limited,” he said. He expressed the hope that the national strategy would address the problem. The Country Director of CHF said the objective of his organization which has been in Ghana for the past three years is to increase access of households to affordable, improved and sustainable drinking water and strengthen local governance for water supply and sanitation services delivery.

Feeling The Heat

Rising temperature has caused behavioural changes in residents of Akosombo in the Eastern region of Ghana. “These days you need an umbrella to protect you from the excessive heat from the sun when you move around in the afternoon,” said 28 year-old Harriet Awiakye, a resident of Asukwuo, a suburb of Akosombo. “The rooms are very hot at night. We sweat a lot and heat rashes are very common here now. This was not the case when we were growing up,” Ms Awiakye added. Like most residents of Akosombo, Sampson Asare, a Senior High School graduate, is unable to link the rising temperature to the increasingly threatening phenomenon- global warming and rather attributes it to the presence of the Akosombo hydroelectric dam. “I think the dam produces so much heat in the process of generating electricity,” said Sampson Asare, who moved to Akosombo from Kumasi seven months ago, in his quest to explain the development. But not every body is ignorant of climate change. Stephen Dei, a waiter at the Volta Hotel in Akosombo, who has been residing in the community for more than two decades, observed that the heat is not limited to the environs of the dam. “It is part of the general changes in climate all over the world,” he noted. Mr. Dei said the rainfall pattern in Akosombo has also changed. “For about six years now, we have been having less rainfall at the beginning of the season. Unlike previous times when we would have had several days of rain, this year we have had only two rains since February.” “Now, most farmers of maize and cassava have migrated further inland to areas where the rainfall is more frequent and more reliable,” Mr Dei added. Climate change, a global problem, is caused by the concentration of greenhouse gases produced through human activities such as burning fossil fuels. It is mainly caused by industry and transport; deforestation, agricultural activities and a growing population. This has caused environmental degradation and natural disasters which contribute to poverty in affected regions. Dr. Delali Dovie of the Regional Institute of Population Studies, University of Ghana, told this reporter that historical data for Ghana from 1961 to 2000 clearly showed a progressive rise in temperature and decrease in the average annual rainfall. “The average annual temperature is estimated to have increased by one degree Celsius over the period and is expected to rise further over the future,” said Dr Dovie. He noted that in addition to rising temperatures and declining rainfall totals, climate change has led to rising sea levels, disasters such as flooding. Dr Dovie noted that climate change, which is caused by the contamination of the blanket of air above the earth’s surface with toxic substances such as smog, fumes, is a development challenge. The researcher called for financial assessment of the impact of climate change in the country to identify how much the nation is losing to the phenomenon. He said Ghana has failed to undertake a financial appraisal of the toll of climate change. The country has only been featured partially on a pilot basis in a global study by the World Bank. Dr Dovie revealed that it is important to assess the financial implications of climate change, as it is impacting all sectors of the economy. “For example, in a sector like energy if we do not have water in the Akosombo Dam to generate power it would mean we have to shut down and that would affect industry as well as households. “If we are not careful we may have people losing their jobs and that would mean production going down and revenue generated will definitely reduce.” “All these combined is a developmental threat as far as climate change is concerned,” he added, emphasizing that the nation has to know what it is losing as a result of climate change. Ghana is experiencing some leakages but we have not put financial value to it. He said the agricultural sector is a major source of income for more than a half of the nation’s working population. But farmers are compelled to depend on the unpredictable rainfall as agriculture in Ghana is still rain fed. The changes in the rainfall pattern have resulted in declining production. “For a fact we know we have a lot of subsistence farmers who depend solely on farming and yet we have agric been rain fed, which means we should be concerned when we do not have the rains falling on time, which could lead to poor yields and diminishing income.” Agriculture production, he explained, has been severely compromised due to loss of land, shorter growing seasons and more uncertainty about what and when to plant. “This is worsening food insecurity and increase in the number of people at risk from hunger,” he observed. Yield from rain fed crops could be halved by 2020 in some countries “if nothing is done.” He recommended climate change mitigation actions to decrease the intensity of emissions in order to reduce the potential effects of global warming.

Indian Investors Focus On Ghana

Ghana’s economy continues to attract more investors as Indian business delegations tour the country to explore business opportunities lately.

Rajinder Bhagat, the new Indian High Commissioner to Ghana made this known during a courtesy call on Mike Hammah, Minister for Lands and Natural Resources at his office to introduce himself and discuss possible areas of co-operation between India and Ghana.

He observed that the country is gradually being transformed into a hub of business and commerce in the West African sub-region.

High Commissioner Bhagat announced that the Indian government would increase its technical training programme to cover 150 Ghanaians instead of the previous 125 Ghanaians.

He explained that his government projects to use the technical training programme to help develop the capacity of personnel of the Land administration project under the Minister for Lands and Natural Resources.



Welcoming the High Commissioner, Ghana’s Minster of Lands and Natural Resources called for the strengthening of the long-standing relations for the mutual benefit of the two countries and expressed the hope that Ghana would tap into the experiences and lessons of the India.

The Minister, who briefed the High Commissioner on processes in acquiring land in Ghana for industrial purposes, assured the Indian envoy that the Ministry will provide the requisite assistance to Indian investors interested in acquiring land for businesses in Ghana.

Recounting the history of land administration in Ghana, Mr Hammah explained that the Land Administration Project has strengthened institutional capacity of the Lands Commission to curb the numerous conflicts between various traditional areas through the demarcation of customary boundaries.

Prior to his posting to Ghana in December 2011, High Commissioner Bhagat served in the Indian Missions in Damascus, Jeddah/Riyadh, Mexico City, Sana’a, The Hague, Port of Spain, Doha.

He also served at the Ministry of External Affairs in New Delhi in various capacities and was posted to Mozambique and Swaziland as High Commissioner of India.

He held the post of Head of the West Africa Division in the Ministry.

Dealing With Bad Work Habits

When it comes to work, you have no excuse to allow any other thing to distract you.

Many people engage in various activities which do not help them to achieve their objectives. Constantly checking email,Facebook or Twitter

Social networking sites have become the biggest challenge of most employees these days.

Are you one of those who can not stay away from your personal email account and social networking sites?

Most workers usually surf social networking sites such as facebook, Youtube, My Space, Twitter immediately they sit behind their desks.

Some workers have become addicted to some of these social networking sites and spend so many working hours browsing, updating, commenting or either posting comments or pictures.

An expert, David Rock Drof, author of “Your Brain at Work” says social interaction is addictive because it activates the rewards center of our brains and that connecting to people is similar to eating chocolate.

“The more you do it, the more you want it,” he explained. “That’s when it becomes distracting.”

No employer would be happy to see staff using working hours to surf their personal facebook pages or twitter.

As a result most employees send e-mails under the pretext of surfing the internet.

Mr. Drof advised that “work for say an hour, and then allow yourself to check in quickly as a treat.

However experts have advised users of social networking sites to be careful about what they put there.

A word of warning: Think twice before you post about work matters on social networking sites. These sites frequently change their privacy settings, so users must be careful as their page may be publicly broadcasted without their knowledge.

You write-and send-work emails too hastily

Does you work require you to write and send e-mails? Then please take your time to read through what you write before you hit on the send bottom.

Sometimes you may be caught doing two things at the same time. Well some people may be ambidextrous and would be good at handling several tasks.

The main challenge is that you may be in a haste to finish with what you are doing in order to leave the office on time or have some spare time to yourself for other activities.

Most people fail to read through their e-mails which are often written in haste. If you misspell or make grammatical errors in your e-mail you make it difficult for the receiver to understand the message.

Such a message may be confusing and offensive to the person at the receiving end.

You must cross check spellings, grammar, punctuations and remember that you are communicating and it can only be effective if the receiver is able to encode the message.

“If you feel uncertain about your message, save it as a draft and come back to it later,” suggests Dr. Rock.

Not only will this give you time to work off anger, but it may also allow you to add helpful information to the email, which can make you come across as capable and thoughtful.

But keep Dr. Rock’s rule in mind: “Anything that is likely to generate strong emotion should be a phone or face-to-face conversation.”

3. Are You too involved in office politics?

At the workplace, people form informal groups to achieve various objectives.

People associate with others such as their supervisors, heads of department or employers to obtain special favours.

In such social groupings, gossiping become inevitable spending too much time dissecting workplace dynamics can harm your reputation.

Instead of worrying about who said what to whom, devote that energy to work. Note that the more you concentrate on work, the less time you will have for petty gossip.

If you spend most of your day handling minor assignments, you won’t have energy to attend to equally important duties.

4. Running late Always

“People are most often behind schedule because they’re not thinking about how long it takes to get from point A to point B, or because they leave things until the last minute,” says Dr. Rock.

You will become less reliable if you repeatedly miss deadlines.

Dr. Rock recommends scheduling them for 50 minutes instead of 60.

And if you are chronically late to meet deadlines or other appointments, Goodman advises setting alerts on either your phone or watch.

You can also set your clocks forward a few minutes to help you be on time.

5. Dealing with difficult coworkers

A negative attitude can affect your performance at work as it can negatively the implementation of your ideas.

Others who have a negative attitude can mar all your efforts at meeting targets.

In other words, a doom-and-gloom attitude will affect your creativity.

The good news is that even though you can not change every one, there are a few things you can change.

The first step is to focus on what you can improve and try to see everything in a positive light.

That will require avoiding co-workers who provoke you.

Start the day on a happy note and try and look cheerful.

The more cheerful your attitude, the less you will complain about.

The more you grumble, the more likely it is that people, like your superiors and your loudmouth colleagues at the workplace, will frustrate you.



5. No break For Lunch
Sometimes it’s good to take a break.

You should be worried about the health risks posed by sitting in the same position and in the same environment for a very long time.

It is good to step out and take some fresh air.