MOHAMMED AWAL: Preference For Exotic Products Killing Local Indus...

MOHAMMED AWAL: Preference For Exotic Products Killing Local Indus...: Preference For Exotic Products Killing Local Industries Date published: September 24, 2014 By Mohammed Awal awalm19@gmail.com The C...

Preference For Exotic Products Killing Local Industries

Date published: September 24, 2014

By Mohammed Awal

awalm19@gmail.com

The Continuous preference of exotic products by Ghanaians to locally manufactured ones is seriously crippling the local manufacturing industries, the Administrative Manager of KPOGAS Standard Furniture, Christian Agyare, has said.

Corroborating these claims, Victor Cordell, a retired Professor of Fisher Graduate School, noted in his work titled: “The effects of consumer preferences for foreign sourced products,” said that in economically underdeveloped countries, preferences for domestic products always tends to be weaker, and Ghana is no exception.

As a result, there have been incessant pleas on Ghanaians to patronize goods and services made locally, so as to help local industries stay in operation, thus contributing to national economic development.

These calls have come as a result of the low interest Ghanaians have shown in patronizing local goods and services and the related challenge it poses to the country’s industrial development and ultimately economic development.

One such industry that has suffered most from this unquenchable taste for foreign goods and services is the furniture industry.

To understand the extent to which the Ghanaian furniture industry has been suffocated as a result of these unabated preference of exotic furniture to local ones, The Chronicle explores the views of some industry players.

The Administrative Manager of KPOGAS Standard Furniture, Christian Agyare, in an interview with The Chronicle yesterday, blamed the industry’s current slump on the attitude of the Ghanaian towards domestic products.

Asked whether he knows why Ghanaians prefer foreign furniture to what is being manufactured locally, he said: “Well there could be different reasons.” He, however, argues that most of them had to do with the finishing.

The finishing, he noted, gives the product its aesthetic qualities and Ghanaians tend to appreciate those aspects of a product, as against the locally manufactured ones, even though those may not be durable.

Apart from that, he observed that several years of colonialism is also a factor. “Colonialism has made it such a way that Ghanaians feel that once the thing is from outside it is better. That is really a mystery that I do not know,” bemoaned Mr. Agyare.

“Even if the thing is coming from Togo, the Ghanaian perception is that it is better, which unfortunately is not true,” he pointed out.

Reality

He said the general notion among some Ghanaians that the locally produced goods are inferior to the imported ones in terms of performance and quality, to the extent that local manufacturers have had to sometimes resort to claiming foreign origins for their products, so as to attract the public to purchase them, “is not just a notion but reality.”

Government’s directive

 On the government’s call that Ghanaians should cultivate the culture of patronizing products manufactured domestically, Mr. Agyare said the directive is a laudable one, only if it would be adhered to diligently.

“That is a very good directive and I believe that it will boost the local industries…we will be proud using our own locally manufactured products, thus deepening our identity us Ghanaians”, he said.

According to him, diligent adherence to the directive would bring about an improvement in the country’s economic development, helping stabilize the cedi against the dollar.

“This is good, instead of always importing – importing, importing. So it’s a good directive provided it would be adhered to.”

The president, during the last sectional address gave a directive that all Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) should patronize locally manufactured furniture.

 

Also, the Minister of Local Government, Julius Debrah said that strenuous adherence to the President’s directive would help stabilize the local currency which had witnessed momentous dip in value against the dollar and other major trading currencies.

“When you import any piece of furniture from outside, the first thing we suffer is that we need to exchange our currency for foreign ones [dollar] to be able to access it,” Mr. Debrah told myjoyonline.com

 “We are trying to appeal to the conscience of our people that if we can patronize our own [furniture], we would then be in the process of creating jobs for our citizenry and also saving hard earned foreign exchange,” he added.

Short URL: http://thechronicle.com.gh/?p=80779

MOHAMMED AWAL: CHRAJ Boss Must Resign Now -PNF

MOHAMMED AWAL: CHRAJ Boss Must Resign Now -PNF: CHRAJ Boss Must Resign Now -PNF Date published: September 18, 2014 By Mohammed Awal awalm19@gmail.com Ms. Lauretta Vivian Lamptey, ...

CHRAJ Boss Must Resign Now -PNF

Date published: September 18, 2014

By Mohammed Awal

awalm19@gmail.com

Ms. Lauretta Vivian Lamptey, Boss, CHRAJ

The woes of Ms. Lauretta Vivian Lamptey, Chairperson of the Commission on Human Rights and Administrative Justice (CHRAJ), who reportedly spent over GH¢203,000 on rent for a period of three years, are far from over.

The Progressive Nationalist Forum (PNF) is threatening to haul her before her own outfit if she fails to resign from her current job as Commissioner.

The PNF, in a statement signed by Richard Nyamah and Fred Amankawh-Sarfo, questioned the competence, as well as the commitment of Ms. Lauretta to fight corruption, as she is being cited for one.

Over the past three years, the PNF stated, Ms. Lauretta has been a “drain on the public purse,” as she watched aloof for issues of “high levels of corruption, hitherto unknown to Ghana,” to elude her sight.

According to the PNF, not a single high profile case of public interest has been heard by Lauretta’s administration, compared to Emile Short’s reign, saying this is “mind boggling.”

The PNF further noted that the purported scandal that has rocked her administration is the latest institutional head to be enmeshed in such allegations of reckless misapplication of the tax payers’ money.

The Commissioner, according to media reports, currently stays at Best Western Premier Hotel, where the tax payer is being billed $450 daily on accommodation.

“The PNF is humbly requesting Ms. Lamptey to resign her post as Commissioner of CHRAJ, or the President should dismiss her with immediate effect.

“Failure on her part to resign, and should the President fail to fire her, the PNF will bring a case of conflict of interest against Ms. Lamptey before the Commission in the next seven days, and see if she will seek to be a judge in her own court,” the PNF threatened.

Sinking CHRAJ

Meanwhile, her predecessor, Justice Emile Short, has lamented over how fast the Commission’s reputation is sinking under the auspices of his successor, Ms. Lamptey, who is being embroiled in profligacy.

Speaking on Citi Eye Witness News on Tuesday, Justice Short said he had received negative reports from within and without CHRAJ about the soaring state of affairs in the Commission. However, he was reluctant to say a word, as he feared to be misconstrued.

“I have had negative reports from within and outside CHRAJ about the state of affairs in CHRAJ. I have been very reluctant to speak publicly about these reports, because any comment I make might be misconstrued, especially, since I was there before,” he stated.

Such disconcerting reports depict CHRAJ as “rather sinking in nature,” hence, the call for a drastic measures to be adopted by the Commission to redeem its image that has come under public ridicule.

Short URL: http://thechronicle.com.gh/?p=80713

LG Unveils G3 Smartphone

Date published: September 17, 2014

By Mohammed Awal

awalm19@gmail.com

LG electronics, a global leader in mobile communications has unveiled its new smartphone device G3, in Accra. Developed under the ‘Simple is the New smart’ concept, G3 is a culmination of culmination consumer research based on LG’s product development philosophy, Learning from You.

The Branch Manager of LG Electronics West Africa Operations, Cheolhong Park said at the launch that the G3 “is the best innovation in a fast evolving smartphone market.”

The G3, Mr. Park noted, creates harmony between advanced technology and a simplified user experience. The G3 comes with a breathtaking 5.5 inch Quad HD display with four times the resolution  of HD and almost two times higher resolution that a Full HD display for sharper, crisper, clearer and more realistic colour reproduction stated Mr. Park.

It also boasts of 13MP Optical Image Stabilizer Plus (OIS+) camera with faster Laser Auto Focus in a smartphone to capture quality images and videos with minimal blur, even in near complete darkness.

In addition, the G3 possess simple and intuitive UX features including smart keyboard which reduces input errors  by up to 75 percent by tracking and analyzing user’s typing habits; smart notice, a personal assistant application that provides real time information and notifications even before being asked said YC Choi, Product Manager, Ivory Coast branch.

On his part, the Deputy Minister of Communication, Atto Sarpong congratulated LG for their dynamism in providing mobile phone users in Ghana with a sumptuous technology.

Short URL: http://thechronicle.com.gh/?p=80633

Attack On Journalists Is Attack On Democracy

Attack On Journalists Is Attack On Democracy … Media Unions Warn

Date published: September 16, 2014
By Mohammed Awal
Email: awalm19@gmail.com

Dr. Affail Monney

“If we allow the torch bearers of public openness to be cowed by physical attacks, there would be nobody to speak in defense of society when the entire community comes under attack,” the National Media Commission (NMC), Ghana Journalists Association (GJA), Private News Publishers Association  (PRINPAG) and Ghana Independent Broadcasters Association (GIBA) said in a joint statement, issued yesterday.

According to the three groups, the attacks on journalists must be seen as an attack on the poor and vulnerable in the society, whose cause the media champion. They promised to ensure that those who perpetrate such barbaric activities are punished by law.

Reading the statement on behalf of the other three organizations at a press conference in Accra yesterday, the president of the GJA, Dr. Affail Monney, said these attacks were coming from a wide range of sources, indicating that the “propensity for using violence in processing claims on society is widening.”

He observed that the consistency, rapidity and sheer audacity of some of those attacks suggest that respect for law and order and due process could suffer a massive decline if nothing was done to check the system.

Continuing, Dr. Monney bemoaned how those attacks on free expression metamorphosed suddenly from traditional source – government to a generalized arena of “ordinary folks and petty officialdom. It is a spreading canker that must be halted,” he noted.

When the 1992 Constitution guaranteed freedom and independence for the media, it did so to safeguard public safety, respect for human rights and the rule of law, the group said with the hope that it would create atmosphere for journalists who would hav

e the courage to speak the truth and reflect the nation back to its realities.

“As a result, any attacks on the media constitute an attack on our democracy itself,” they noted, assuring that they will stand united to use all appropriate measures within the law to fight impunity”.

The four institutions encouraged the police and other security agencies to exercise the greatest restraint in dealing with journalists and also entreating the latter to be extremely circumspect in the way they go about their work, “knowing that we all serve one nation” and that it was our collective effort which would develop Ghana.

Background

 In recent times, there had been many physical attacks on journalists in the course of doing their work. Some of these attacks had come from people who felt aggrieved by the content reported by the former.

Some were simply by people who did not want their concealed actions and inactions to be brought into the daylight of “public scrutiny,” and from people who are irritated by freedom of expression and democracy, the group’s statement said.

The NMC’s investigations catalogued series of attacks on journalists since January when police arrested three persons in the studios of Sungmale FM at Wa.

Also in February, irate youth vandalized the premises of Gift FM in Dormaa Ahenkro in the Brong Ahafo region.

March also saw the arrest of TV Africa crew at Adjei Kojo by the Tema Metropolitan Assembly. In that same month, a Ghanaian Times photographer was assaulted by a soldier in Tamale for attempting to take pictures of a confrontation between soldiers and some group of young men.

Other incidents the NMC recorded were the assaults on Nana Konadu Agyemang of the Daily Graphic for attempting to take a picture of Eric Amoateng, a former MP for Nkoranza, Daniel Kenu by Gyan brothers, and arrest of staff of Multi TV by AMA etc.

Short URL: http://thechronicle.com.gh/?p=80598

Gov’t Deepens Fight Against Money Laundering

Date published: September 11, 2014

By Mohammed Awal

(awalm19@gmail.com)

Some participants at the workshop

Government’s fight against money laundering and financing of terrorism has received a major boost, following the commencement of a National Risk Assessment (NRA) workshop to set up a robust and resilient Anti-Money Laundering and Countering the Financing of Terrorism (AML/CFT) regime in Ghana.

The workshop, which commenced on the 9^th September and ends today aims to identify, assess and understand money laundering and terrorism financing risk in the country, as part of the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) recommendations of 2012.

Also, it’s in fulfillment of Economic Committee of West African States (ECOWAS) ministerial committee of the Inter-Governmental Action Group against Money Laundering in West Africa’s (GIABA) directive that all member states should conduct risk assessment of themselves before 2016.

In a speech read for the Attorney General and Minister for Justice, Mrs. Marietta Brew Appiah-Oppong she described the NRA workshop as very timely, “not only because of the spate of the high incidence of insecurity in West Africa” when it comes to transnational organized crime, including money laundering and terrorism financing, but the outcome would enable the country to deploy its “scarce resources judiciously to address critical segments” that are vulnerable to these risks.

“The final product (blue-print) of the NRA exercise, which foundation is being laid today, will place Ghana in a better stead for the next round of mutual evaluation that would be conducted in 2016, on the basis of assessing the effectiveness or measurable achievements made as a result of the AML/CFT measures of the country,” she indicated.

Mrs. Appiah-Oppong urged the working group to ensure that the NRA was built on sound foundations observing that efforts must be made to ensure that the risks are well identified, assessed and understood before anything is done.

She said “as such the NRA should be based on an assessment of the threats, vulnerabilities, consequences and the likelihood of crime to be committed.

She also tasked the group to make sure the description of fundamental background information to assist designated competent authorities like the Financial Intelligence Center (FIC), Financial Institutions and Designated Non-Financial Bodies and Professions (DNFBPs) to ensure that decisions about allocating responsibilities and resources at the national level were based on a “practical, comprehensive and up-to-date understanding of the risks in the various sectors of the economy.”

The Director of Research and Planning, GIABA, delivering the remarks of Adama Coulibaly’s, the Director General of GIABA, revealed that NRA exercise would help the country to “clearly indentify and set priorities for intervention in order to systematically build its AML/CFT regime.”

A well executed NRA with comprehensive action plan he reiterated would bring improvement in the country’s compliance ratings, a successful RBA program for financial institutions and DNFBPs, an effective AML/CFT, “robust enough to detect almost all financial crimes.”

But he warned that all these expected results would not be achieved without collaboration, cooperation and effective coordination.

In order for all these to be optimum, “we need an effective coordination mechanism, wherein those stakeholders responsible for coordinating, understand what it takes and also making sure it is implemented effectively.”

Short URL: http://thechronicle.com.gh/?p=80405

Mahama Launches Mara Mentor Network …To Support Young Entrepreneurs

Date published: September 8, 2014

By Mohammed Awal

awalm19@gmail.com

President John Dramani Mahama has launched the Mara Mentor network, an online mentoring network aimed at providing mentorship for young entrepreneurs in Ghana, indicating that the youth terribly need mentorship.

President Mahama in warm embrace with Ashish J Thakkar

He said at the Launching of the network at the Flagstaff House last week Friday, that the youth were “in dire need of mentorship and inspiration” to propel them to fully harness the opportunities that abound in the country, thus the introduction of the network in Ghana.

“An idea is only as good as its execution, which is why it is important for our youth to tap into the experience and expertise that Mara Mentor’s seasoned business leaders have to offer and use that to their advantage. Only then will they start seeing ideas become reality,” he accentuated.

Urging the youth to sign onto the network, he expressed optimism that it would help boost the confidence of the teeming unemployed youth to venture into entrepreneurship.

He said: “Facilitaing the growth of entrepreneurship in Ghana has long been a core focus for this government,” and they were pleased to build on the launch of the recent Youth Entrepreneurship Support Fund, with the introduction of this fantastic mentoring platform.

Mara Mentor is an online community that connects ambitious entrepreneurs with successful and experienced business leaders, and it is an initiative of Mara Foundation, a social enterprise established in 2009.

Its focus is on fostering entrepreneurialism in Africa through a myriad of programmes designed to address the complete life-cycle of an entrepreneur’s business idea.

Ashish J. Thakkar, the founder of Mara Group and Foundation said the network was carved in such a way that it would “encourage idea and knowledge sharing among Africa’s most promising young entrepreneurs, inspiring a collaborative approach to business start-up and growth.”

Continuing, he observed that technology was the key to unlocking the potential of entrepreneurs in Africa, thus the creation of the network to “empower Africa’s youth in their business endeavours, ”in recognition that they are the driving force behind the continent’s growth and future prosperity.”
 Short URL: http://thechronicle.com.gh/?p=80242

Garden And Flower Show Underway In Accra

Date published: September 1, 2014

By Mohammed Awal (awalm19@gmail.com)

The second Ghana Garden and Flower Show (GGFS) that aims at creating awareness about the commercial and psychological benefits of urban beautification and gardening is underway at the Efua Sutherland Park in Accra.

The event, which started on August 29, 2014, will end on September 8, 2014. It is on the theme: “Gardening for Value: Health, Beauty, Jobs and Income.”

At the official opening of the show, the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Strategic Communications Africa Ltd (Stratcomm Africa), Miss Esther Cobbah, said the initiative was designed to help create employment and income earning opportunities for the massive unemployed youth, as well as promoting tourism, healthier and modern lifestyles and also support Ghana’s growth and development.

The second successive organization of the GGFS was a testimony that “the gardening movement is here to stay with a culture of sustainable gardening gaining ground in Ghana,” she stated.

The Deputy Minister of Trade and Industry, Ibrahim Murtala Mohammed noted that agricultural and horticultural products are among the export diversification opportunities the government considers as “important for the economic future of Ghana in deliberations at the Senchi Forum”.

It is unfortunate that instead of effectively developing our own agriculture and horticulture to meet our needs, we rather depend on importation of flowers from other countries, Mr. Murtala lamented.

Calling for a reverse of the current situation, he indicated that “this dependence on imports is what has been putting pressure on our limited foreign exchange.”

He urged garden and flower enthusiast to be part of the solution to Ghana’s economic challenges saying: “I throw a challenge to the garden and flower enthusiasts who are involved in this garden and flower show to ensure that they are part of the solution to our countries’ economic challenges by making the horticulture industry a key contributor to foreign exchange for Ghana. Importing of flowers must be a thing of the past,” he reiterated.

The show brings together florists, horticulturists, garden lovers, investors and policy makers among others to admire the beauty associated with flowering.