Agricare eyes West African market

The rejuvenated Agricare Limited, producer of animal feed and concentrate for the local poultry industry, is ready to take on and serve the West African market, Managing Director of Agricare, Mr. William Awuku Ahiadomey, has said.

The company now has a capacity to produce over 250 metric tons of feed per day. This means with its estimated production capacity daily, feed produced could be used to serve about 2.2 million mature birds, within the sub-region.

At the moment, Agricare is set to take delivery of 10,000 metric tons of fishmeal recently imported into the country. This will soon be followed with another 10,000 metric tons of soy bean meal according to Mr. Ahiadomey.

He said plans are far advanced to maintain an out-grower maize production scheme with local farmers to sustainably produce maize locally to feed the plant.

“These activities are expected to also generate the much needed jobs for our teaming youth,” he noted.

The Managing Director of Agricare Limited who was speaking at their ‘47^th Anniversary and Farmers Open Day,’ at the company’s premises at Tanoso, in the Asahnti region, also said the Company has a team of nutritionists and technical staff who work to produce world class feed that can be used anywhere around the world, which comes at moderate prices.

Agricare Limited, which faced some ‘economic turbulence’ sometime past, recently signed a partnership agreement deal with Injaro Agriculture Venture Capital Limited that brought in some substantial amount of money for investment in its operations.

Already Agricare sells to farmers in Togo and Benin, and with its new investment and ‘reinforcement’ considering expanding its market to cover Burkina Faso and Cote d’Ivoire and consequently the other potential markets in the Sub-region. 

The Chief Executive of Injaro Agriculture Venture Capital, Mr. Jerry Parkes, addressing the gathering at the ceremony said his outfit is committed to provide all the necessary financial support to Agricare to succeed in its quest to bring renewed hope to farmers.

The occasion was also used to re-launch three of its products including 5% gold concentrate, 20% layer concentrate and layer mash. These products were said to be unique and specially formulated with the local environment and the welfare of farmers and animals in mind.

Source: B&FT

Tariff increase can't solve power crisis

The President of  the Association of Ghana Industries (AGI), Mr. James Asare-Adjei, has said the solution to the power crisis does not rest in continuous upward review of tariff but having effective and efficient operations of utility companies.

He further noted that stakeholders particularly government must ensure that utility providers offer value for money.

He said it was not in the interest of industry to continuously see tariff hikes since it affects their competitiveness and gave the strongest indication that the AGI opposes the proposed tariff increases.

He called for restructuring of the tariff system and effective collection of revenue by the Electricity Company of Ghana (ECG) to and to the perennial.

The AGI President said these at the 17^th AGM of AGI Ashanti and B/A, which was held under the theme “Enhancing SME opportunities in today’s financial market place,” also coincided with the elections for the leadership of the Association in the two regions and the opening of AGI’s new office.

The chairmanship position was keenly contested and was between Afua Gyamfua Owusu-Akyaw, Chief Executive of Gyamfua Ababio Investment Limited and the royal Larmeta Hotel and the Managing Director of Agricare Limited Mr. William Awuku Ahiadormey.

The Chief Executive of Gyamfua Ababio Investment Limited and the royal Larmeta Hotel, Afua Gyamfua Owusu-Akyaw has been voted as the new chairperson while the deputy position went to Daniel Agyei, Chief Executive of Danny Praise Computers. 

AGI to set up industrial development bank

The Association of Ghana Industries (AGI) is in the process to establish an industrial development bank to cater for the financial needs of the mostly small and medium enterprises (SMEs), which constitute about 70 percent of its membership, the President of AGI, Mr. James Asare-Adjei, has said.

Access to credit has consistently been listed as the number one challenge hindering the growth of businesses in the country, particularly those in the SME bracket, according to AGI business barometer reports.

Many credit institutions and banks have tagged SMEs as a high risky venture to invest and as a result of which have introduced rigorous processes and procedures to follow when giving out credit to such businesses, in places where funds are available.

This has become a major disincentive to several businesses that are mostly are unable to meet these stringent requirements. Even the few who qualify to access these credit facilities are asked to come up with ‘ridiculous guarantees’ while also being made to pay back at unbearable interest rates.

Mr. Asare-Adjei, addressing members of the AGI at the 17^th Regional Annual General Meeting of the AGI Ashanti and Brong Ahafo chapter, in Kumasi, said the Association is fully aware of the challenges confronting businesses and in particular SMEs in the country.

He listed that critical among these challenges has been the issue of unavailability and the high cost of credit, which has become a deterrent to many businesses.

It was in view of which this that he disclosed that the AGI has taken an initiative to apply to the Bank of Ghana for a license to establish and operate an industrial development bank, as part of efforts to address some of these challenges.

He said while the Association awaits response from the Central bank and go through the necessary processes, the AGI has gone a step further to set up an industrial support fund to offer some medium to long term financing at concessionary rates to businesses.

He said the Association is seeking to draw funds from other liked minded organizations and other government established funding institutions like the EDAIF, Venture Capital Fund among others to support the operations of the Fund.

Meanwhile he asked that government should show support to industries by committing some money to the Fund. He emphasized that the only way to develop the local economy is to ensure that SMEs are well resourced with the needed capital at all times to expand their operations.

Despite these developments, he appealed to financial institutions to support the growth of SMEs and other businesses in the country. He said considering the critical role of SMEs in the economy, it is important that they are offered the necessary financial support to grow these small businesses into African giants.

He therefore asked that financial institutions should be flexible in their requirements to allow SMEs to access credit without any impediments, and also develop products to meet their needs.

Vulnerable countries meet in Philippines ahead of Paris climate summit

A global meeting of senior officials of the Climate Vulnerable takes place is scheduled to take place between 9^th and11th November, 2015, at Manila, Philippines, complementing pre-COP 21 events organised in Paris during the same week.

The Climate Vulnerable Forum (CVF) meets in Manila for a three-day global conference gathering vulnerable countries across regions ahead of the major UN Climate Change Conference at Paris (COP21), commencing on 30 November 2015.

The CVF is chaired by the Philippines and Undersecretary and Climate Change Commissioner Emmanuel de Guzman.

He said international collaboration on climate change is largely based on considerations other than the changing climate, such as regional links, or through countries sharing similar development levels or geographical commonalities.

He further commented that the forum unites developing countries from around the world because of their specific interests on climate change, now a serious global threat to us.

“Our nations all have the most to lose if the international community fails in this challenge. We also have the most to gain from a successful conclusion of a Paris agreement on climate change this year,” he noted.

The global Manila meeting of the Climate Vulnerable Forum is jointly hosted by the Philippine Climate Change Commission and Department of Foreign Affairs, and serves to set the agenda and key messages of vulnerable countries for the UN Climate Change Conference at Paris (COP21).

It also agrees the full program of activities of the CVF through to 2018, which includes cooperative action at intergovernmental level, awareness promotion and the exchange of best practices in climate change adaptation and mitigation.

As the third full global meeting of the CVF, the Manila conference will develop new contributions to shaping critical climate policy decisions, promoting the safeguard of most vulnerable groups.

The event includes presentation of the highlights of the forum to His Excellency President Benigno S. Aquino III, of Philippines, and working sessions with delegates representing wide-ranging vulnerable countries involved in the CVF.

The global CVF event at Manila in November 2015 is the culmination of a series of regional consultations carried out by the CVF during 2014-15 in Africa, Asia, Latin America/Caribbean, the Middle East and the Pacific involving 50 countries.

The Manila conference has been prepared through a series of activities involving negotiators and diplomatic representatives in Bonn, Geneva and New York, and also marks the second occasion in the history of CVF that other countries will be considered for confirmation to join the international cooperation group, potentially expanding its membership.

Beyond the existing 20 member countries of the CVF, a large number of observer developing countries are taking part in the Manila meeting. International and civil society organizations and international experts are also being involved in the Manila CVF conference ahead of COP21.

In October 2015 at the UN climate talks in Bonn, the CVF, together with CARE International, launched an online campaign “#1o5C www.1o5C.org” to garner support for strengthening the 2 degrees C goal to 1.5 degrees, a central priority for over 100 states and many more civil society groups.

At the Lima 2015 Annual Meetings of the World Bank Group and IMF on 8 October, the CVF’s finance ministers formed the Vulnerable Twenty Group (V20: www.V-20.org) to accelerate progress on international, regional and domestic economic and financial responses to climate change.

Saleemul Huq, Director of the International Centre for Climate Change and Development (ICCCAD), has said the momentum of the forum of the vulnerable countries reflects just how expansive the front-line of climate change has become. He noted that almost every year there are more nations being put at high risk.

He said “by meeting together to prepare for the COP21 in Paris and the years ahead, these countries are not only sharing their experiences with each other. Surprisingly, these groups of low and middle income developing countries are also at the forefront of action on climate change and I am sure their enthusiasm will continue to catch on."