Take advantage of opportunities offered by societal challenges

The Lead Coordinator of the GIMPA Centre for Impact Investing (GCII), Mr. Godfred Amewu, is urging those in the private sector to take hold of the enormous benefits and funding opportunities offered by impact investing while creating positive social impact beyond the financial returns.

He said entrepreneurs, businesses and companies stand the chance to source attractive funding in addition to getting global recognition for their contributions, investment breaks, and government support in the form of tax reliefs among others.

He said the time has come for private investors, entrepreneurs to consider adopting innovative and strategic businesses through which they could positively influence society by way of providing effective and lasting solutions to some of the social and environmental challenges of their operational communities.

Mr. Amewu said these in an interview with the Business and Financial Times at a day’s stakeholder engagement workshop, in Kumasi, organized by GCII to discuss impact investing and how to get it well promoted in the country.

The GCII, a non-profit organization, was launched on August 28, 2013, as a joint collaboration between GIMPA and the Venture Capital Trust Fund, and is mandated to operate credibly and independently to promote the development of impact investing in Ghana.

It seeks to achieve this objective through public education and continuous research into major social and environmental challenges, policy advocacy and impact measurement of various initiatives to address social and environmental challenges.

Impact investing is generally defined as investments intended to create positive social impact beyond financial return. Unlike the traditional forms of investments, impact investments accommodates a strategy for solving social and environmental challenges as an integral part of any business model, placing it on par with the desire to achieve a financial return.

The concept of impact investing challenges private investors and entrepreneurs to develop innovative businesses to deliver effective and lasting solutions to the social and environmental challenges while making profit at the same time.

In recent times, impact investing has received significant attention as a promising asset class for investors looking to deliver double-bottom line outcomes from their investment activities. “Impact investment market offers the potential over the next 10 years for investments of $400 billion to $1 trillion and profit of $183 billion to $667 billion,” according to a research conducted by The Rockefeller Foundation and JP Morgan.

This potential is a key driving force behind the GCII’s decision, with support from its funders, to promote impact investing in Ghana as a means to complement government efforts to address major social challenges. 

GCII is managed by highly proficient and skilled personnel committed to developing impact investment within the country. As a completely new concept in the Ghanaian business and financial landscape, impact investing is to be championed by GCII in the country and its immediate environs.

In December 2013, GCII received a grant of $100,000. 00 from the Africa Impact Economy Innovations Fund (IEIF) which was launched in April 2013 at the Africa Impact Investing Forum supported by the Rockefeller Foundation, and the Tony Elumelu Foundation.

The Centre also receives financial support from the mother institution, GIMPA and the Venture Capital Trust Fund.

GCII is also conducting baseline research on impact investing in Ghana which is expected to provide an insight into the impact investing terrain, identify challenges and opportunities in all sectors of the economy. 

Promoting the cocoa sustainability initiative - the Cocoa Merchant (Gh.) Ltd. story

The world cocoa trade is gradually moving towards sustainability. At the moment, the demand for sustainable cocoa globally is acknowledged to be rising steadily. This is evident in the fact that consumers are becoming ever more concerned about the social, environmental and economic issues in the cocoa supply chain. Processors likewise want to avoid the risk of quality loss, supply shortfalls and sullied reputations.

Although Africa’s cocoa production is estimated to be about 68% of the global cocoa production, worryingly however, cocoa production in the West Africa sub region has in recent years been observed to be declining annually. This is attributed to a number of factors among which is the increasing pressure the sector faces to supply the world market, as well as other socioeconomic compounding issues threatening the economic stability of cocoa producing countries within the West African sub region.

It is in line with this that Cocoa Merchants Ghana Limited, a licensed cocoa buying company in Ghana, has joined in the mass global effort to promote sustainable cocoa production practices, by initiating the ‘MERCHANTS ABASOBODIE,’ sustainable cocoa program.

The program, overall targets contribute to improve the income levels and livelihoods of cocoa farmers and farm workers by implementing UTZ and Rainforest Alliance certification standards and new initiatives for the value added market.

It also seeks to; enhance the knowledge base and farmers’ awareness on sustainable production practices of cocoa; form and consolidate farmer learning groups implementing good practices; and encourage the involvement and participation of women in sustainable cocoa production.

The ‘MERCHANTS ABASOBODIE’ sustainable cocoa program is envisioned to help improve the lives of cocoa farmers and the quality of their products while also assuring a sustainable cocoa supply for years to come.

ABASOBODIE, which literally means “to reward” in the Akan language of Ghana, will reward all farmers in the project communities implementing good practices. The whole idea is to create a world where sustainable farming is the norm.

Since its establishment in 1998, Cocoa Merchants Ghana Limited has progressively improved upon its performance and has a current market share of about 4.8 percent. The company believes that ensuring a sustainable cocoa economy is crucial in advancing the development of the country. It has therefore positioned itself better to intensify its support package to farmers to enable them boost production in a more sustainable manner.

The admission of Cocoa Merchants Ghana Limited to the World Cocoa Foundation (WCF) and with its Managing Director, Nana Amo Adade Boamah serving as a board member of the foundation has given it international recognition.

The beginning of the MERCHANTS ABASOBODIE sustainable cocoa program brought about the creation of the sustainability unit of Cocoa Merchants Ghana Limited and the provision of adequate logistics to take up the task ahead.

The team, led by the sustainability coordinator, also includes an ICS Manager, ten district field supervisors and three documentation officers. The team works in close collaboration with the regional and district managers as well as purchasing clerks of the company, farmers and opinion leaders in the project communities and all subsidiaries of Ghana Cocoa Board (COCOBOD) and these include Cocoa Swollen Shoot Virus Disease Control Unit (CSSVD-CU), Quality Control Company (QCC), Cocoa Research Institute of Ghana (CRIG), Cocoa Marketing Company (CMC) and Seed Production Unit (SPU).

This first phase of the program covered ten out of the sixty cocoa districts that the company operates. These districts include KONONGO, ANTOAKROM and ASANTE BEKWAI districts in the Ashanti region. The remaining districts are made up of NYINAHIN, SANKORE and TEPA districts in the Ashanti/BA regions, AGONA DUAKWA in the Eastern region and NSOKOTE, ASSIN FOSU and ASSIN BEREKU districts in Ashanti/ Central region.

The program sensitized, registered and trained 6,665 farmers who passed their first year UTZ and Rainforest Alliance audit and are now growing over 8,000 MT of UTZ and Rainforest Alliance certified cocoa. The farmers were among others educated on appropriate farming and labor practices. Internal inspection of members farms were also carried out and some underwent corrective actions that brought their farms up to Rainforest Alliance and UTZ standards, including adequate record-keeping and proper use and disposal of only approved crop protection products.

The program has proven that productivity could be substantially improved, family incomes and labor practices while also increasing cocoa quality. Training programs, including business knowledge and good agricultural practices which are part of the program package has meaningfully changed the lives of cocoa farmers, their families and their communities.

Cocoa Merchants Ghana limited also announced that it is expanding its MERCHANTS ABASOBODIE sustainable Cocoa program by launching phase II, which will increase the number of participating farmers from its current 6,665 to more than 10,000 in the same ten districts in the Ashanti, Central, Eastern and Brong Ahafo regions of Ghana.

Phase II will also seek to maintain a high participation rate for women farmers with a goal of 33 percent women registered farmers, a level of gender balance which was achieved in phase I and confirmed in the program's year end 2013 progress report.

Another goal of the 2^nd phase would be to educate farmers to recognize farming as business through the “Agriculture as a Business module” (also known as AAB) and to manage their farms as a business, rather than simply as a cash crop.

AAB also aims at promoting group cohesion and undertaking group activities that brings additional funds into group accounts.

It is hoped that the MERCHANTS ABASOBODIE sustainable Cocoa program will serve as a vehicle to bring best practices to cocoa farmers, provide sufficient assurance to the buyers of our cocoa beans and create value for all parties in the supply chain.

Check back soon for more update on the MERCHANTS ABASOBODIE Sustainable Cocoa Program but until then, live a sustainable life.

Reposition the country to keep it foremost mining status

The acting Chief Executive Officer of the Ghana Chamber of Mines, Mr. Sulemanu Koney, is advising the country to consider its ‘taxing’ laws and regulations on mining as per ongoing revision of mining laws in other African countries. This would reposition Ghana to maintain its pre-eminent mining status within the West African Sub-region.

This followed the revelation that a number of essential mining reforms have been carried out by gold producing countries within the sub region. This includes Senegal, neighboring countries like Cote d'Ivoire and Burkina Faso that are likely to affect Ghana’s enviable standing as an attractive and leading mining destination within West Africa.

He revealed that reforms in the minerals code of Burkina Faso has placed the country as a significant site for exploration in Africa.

He said similarly to that Cote d'Ivoire, who recently amended it mining code, considered by many as a game changer, has overtaken Ghana in terms of Greenfield projects; attracting investment into exploration.

‘Exploration is essentially the lifeblood of mining industry. It assures that mining projects come on stream on regular basis,’ without which it could spell the fall of mining industry of the country, he explained.

Against this understanding, he stressed that ‘everything has to be done to promote exploration’ in the country. 

He opined that in spite of this competition, Ghana could also develop itself to take advantage of the opportunities that this development present, given the huge competence acquired by the country after long years of mining, in the country.

Mr. Koney made these pronouncements at the annual Ghana Chamber of Mines and media engagement, in Kumasi, which aimed to educate the media on the development and challenges of the country’s mining sector.

Notwithstanding the dwindling fortunes of the mining industry, as a result of the fall in the global gold prices, the sector still remains the leading tax payer, and highest contributor to GRAs domestic tax collections in the past five years. It contributed about GH₵1.1 billion to GRA, representing 18.7% of GRAs total direct taxes in 2013.

The minerals sector also contributed GH₵ 518 million in corporate tax to the GRA, representing 19.5% of the total company tax collected in 2013, and noted as the highest payer of corporate tax payments in 2013.

Despite this appreciable contributions made by the mining sector to the Ghanaian economy, the sector continues to be confronted with a number of challenges, some of which are needed to be tackled with all the seriousness it deserves to ensure the sustainability and growth of the sector.

Among the innumerable challenges facing the sector, it was mentioned that government is yet to refund an estimated amount of GH₵ 250 million, as at June 2014, owed to some mining companies as Surplus VAT, which the Chamber says places these mining companies at a fiscal disadvantage among others.

However assurances by government to increase the amount voted to carter for refunds, and also in due course allow companies to set off against liabilities is yet to occur.

It was also noted that the excruciating cost of utilities, and the cause to have mining companies to pay considerably higher chargers for use of water and electricity as compared to firms with energy demands similar to mining companies, is a major concern to the industry.

The Chamber therefore made a number of recommendations to government to ensure the growth and sustainability of the country’s mining industry.

The Chamber advocated for the introduction of a Mineral Revenue Management Law, akin to the Petroleum Revenue Management Act, Act 815, to ensure transparency and accountability in the utilization of revenues received from mining activities in the country

It also asked for concerted effort to correct what he termed as inverted power pricing structure, and adoption of a Life Cycle and Integrated Approach to mining taxation among others.