Today's Ghana Business, Banking and Economic news

South Africa's largest insurer Sanlam Ltd has sold its stake in Ghanaian holding company Enterprise Group's insurance business for $130 million but will retain a presence in the country, Sanlam said on Friday.

Government’s ‘One District One Factory’ initiative has received a major boost following the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding for a funding facility worth up to $2 billion between a number of Ghanaian banks and the private sector led by the Association of Ghana Industries (AGI), and the Chinese government’s private sector development corporation.

Breakdown in dialogue has forced the Data Protection Commission to arrest directors of unlicensed data controllers in the country.

Vice President Dr Mahamudu Bawumia has appealed to the government and people of China to significantly invest in the country.

Narcotic substances worth over $2million have been burnt by the Narcotics Control Board (NACOB) at Bundase Training Camp at Prampram in the Greater Accra Region.

With a population of over 1.41 billion according to UN 2017 report, China is currently the most populous country in the world but whether or not it will remain at that position is a subject for debate.

Shortage in supplies for the piloting of the government's planting for food and jobs initiative has forced Ghana to import some inputs from Burkina Faso to sustain the project.

The Special Revenue Mobilization Task Force of the Ghana Revenue Authority's (GRA) has closed down the offices of four companies in Accra for evading taxes running into millions of cedis.

The Social Security and National Insurance Trust (SSNIT) is suffering from the knock-on effect of loans gone bad in the banking sector, due to its large shareholding in the sector.

Over the last few years, there have literally been a week going by without one reading about a proposed investment in Artificial Intelligence or automation in one sector, industry or the other.

Tigo Ghana is supporting the country’s largest and most prestigious competitive science platform for secondary schools;  the 2017 edition of the National Science and Maths Quiz (NSMQ). The company says the program is one of the most fertile venues for its commitment towards encouraging education among the country’s youth, and hope to continue with the engagement beyond this year.

Director for Strategy & Planning at Tigo, Efuwa Quansah, made the disclosure ahead of the start of the competition, which is currently ongoing at the University of Ghana Business School premises,

 “As a leading brand in the digital technology industry, we are always excited to pursue programmes that fall in line with our agenda of empowering the youth through access to digital tools and services.”

Tigo is supporting the competition through various means, key among them being the provision of free WIFI and data access via the company’s recently launched data product, Tribe Connect- which offers comprehensive social media, data, and voice bundles for both new and existing customers, and can be accessed by sending ‘START’ to short code 5060 to activate or by dialing *500# for Tribe Plus targeted at existing customers.

“The internet has become the information cornerstone to most students; a gateway to form virtual study groups, gain access to materials beyond what the classroom offers and new opportunities to connect with other academicians. This is why ensuring affordable – or in the case of Tribe Connect -free, reliable access to the internet for these students is paramount”.

She further explained that technology not only provides new forms of delivery for educational content thereby bridging the educational gap between the educated and un-educated, but creates avenues for interactive teaching and learning.

“We believe that the benefits of technology, coupled with education, specifically Math and Science will go a long way to groom tomorrow’s engineers, doctors, teachers and future leaders, and ultimately propel Ghana’s development agenda,” she added.

She also called on the students to take advantage of the mentorship sessions, a number of which will be led by representatives from Tigo and those drawn from the maiden edition of a two-day Science and Technology Fair.

Interest in the competition has been very much encouraging as both students and stakeholders in the education sector keenly follow highlights of the show on social media, especially.

 

Owners of eleven small scale businesses within the Makola and Okaishie Tax jurisdiction have been arrested by the Ghana Revenue Authority (GRA) for failing to issue Value Added Tax (VAT) invoices.

Institutions cited for non-compliance with data protection laws in the country, but have genuine difficulties in the process to attain a license from the Data Protection Commission would be given time to meet the necessary requirement under the law.

Executive Director of the commission, Teki Akuetteh Falconer says others found to have without any tangible reason failed to register with the commission within a stipulated time could have a fine of 250 penalty unit [3,000 fine] or a 2year jail term imposed on their Chief Executives.

The Data Protection Commission on Monday published a list of entities that collect data from the public but have failed to comply with the country’s laws on data protection.

Notable among them are the Korle-Bu and Komfo Anokye Teaching Hospitals, Royal Senchi and African Reagent Hotels, British Airways, and West Hills Malls.

Read also:K'Bu, BA, 175 others face prosecution for flouting Data Protection laws

Madam Falconer says the commission was forced to put out the names because the institutions failed to heed calls on them to put in the necessary measures to protect the data they collect.

The commission is however still ready to open its doors for them to register and bring their operations in line with regulations before legal action is considered against them.

The Bank of Ghana (BoG) says it has given all savings and loans companies (S&Ls) up to the end of July this year to publish their accounts, or face the monetary sanctions that comes with it.