Ecobank Inaugurates China Desk

Story: Fauziatu Adam
The Ecobank Group and the Bank of China have jointly opened the first China Desk at Ecobank Ghana to provide banking services to Chinese companies doing business in Ghana and to Ghanaian businessmen who have or want to do business in China.
The desk will be manned by two Chinese staff of the Bank of China and some Ecobank Ghana staff and will facilitate trade and investment between Ghanaian and Chinese businesses.
The China Desk is designed as an operational unit within Ecobank Ghana to offer on-hand business support and trade facilitation located  within African countries where Ecobank is in existence.
The desk is a manifestation of an agreement between Ecobank and the Bank of China in 2009 and the subsequent signing of a pact in July, 2010.
The Managing Director of Ecobank Ghana, Mr Samuel Adjei, notes that the significance of the desk is based on records available at the Ghana Investment Promotion Council (GIPC), which indicate that trade and investment between Ghana and China reached $2.05 billion last year, jumping from $1.3 billion in 2009.
“This is the first time trade between Ghana and any country has crossed the two-billion-dollar mark and that is very significant for both countries.”
“Records at the GIPC also show that Chinese companies top the list of registered companies in Ghana in terms of foreign direct investment (FDI),” he said.
Mr Adjei also noted that China’s foreign direct investment (FDI) has also grown by 80 per cent in recent years, with the scope of investment spanning mining ICT/telecommunication, manufacturing, tourism and agriculture.
He said the China Desk would, therefore, provide an opportunity for the Bank of China to provide more focused solutions for its clients in Ghana and also allow Ecobank to expand its business in China.
The Executive Director of Corporate Banking at the Ecobank Group, Mr Albert Essien, told Adom News that the volume of trade and investment between China and Ghana now is one of the highest so there was a need for more proactive measures like the China Desk that Ecobank had opened.
He said the desk would provide a bouquet of banking services such as loans, project funding and other support services to both Chinese and Ghanaian business persons whose activities have mutual benefits for Ghana and China.
“In the coming months, we will open similar desks in all 32 African countries that Ecobank operates in,” he said.
Trade Minister, Hannah Tetteh, urged Chinese investors in Ghana not to focus only on trade but also on investing in the processing of raw materials in Ghana.
She reminded them that Ghana was now focusing on processing more of its raw materials and adding value to them before exporting, so the government was willing to support investors who would focus more on the government’s vision than on those who are only interested in buying and selling.
Ms Tetteh stated that even though trade between Ghana and China had reached record high, in terms of the financial value, there was a huge disparity in terms of benefits, and that “Chinese businesses are benefiting more than Ghanaians are.”
“I hope Ghanaian businesses will take advantage of the platform provided by Ecobank to close the gap as much as possible,” she said.
The minister lauded Ecobank for the initiative and expressed the hope that other banks in the country would emulate them.
The Economic Counsellor of the Bank of China, Mr Gao Wenzhi, said the collaboration between the two banks was of great importance to their businesses, both in and outside Africa.
The Head of Banking Supervision at the Bank of Ghana, Mr Nicholas Sai, also lauded Ecobank but urged the bank to manage the risks involved more effectively to prevent unforeseen challenges. He also pledged the BOG’s support for such initiatives.
The Ecobank Group Chief Executive, Mr Arnold Ekpe, said the initiative was significant for Chinese-Africa co-operation, adding that the desk was open to Chinese companies in the rest of Africa and also to Ghanaian businesses with interests in China.

Public asked to adhere to prescriptions

Story: Fauziatu Adam
GHANA yesterday joined the rest of the world to celebrate World Heath Day, with a call on the public to strictly adhere to guidelines concerning the prescription, dispensing and use of drugs.
The Deputy Minister of Health, Mr Robert Joseph Mettle-Nunoo, who made the call, advised various health professionals to help in educating the public on the use and misuse of drugs.
The theme for this year’s event was: “Combat Antimicrobial Resistance: No Action Today, No Cure Tomorrow”. 
Launching the celebration, Mr Mettle-Nunoo said a study in the country had shown that there was, indeed, antimicrobial resistance and that a significant extent of resistance existed among the most common and affordable antibiotics such as ampicillin, co-trimoxazole and chloramphenicol.
Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) is resistance of a micro-organism to an antimicrobial medicine to which it was previously sensitive.
 Resistant organisms include bacteria, viruses and some parasites which are able to withstand attack by antimicrobial medicines such as antibiotics, antivirals and antimalarials, so that standard treatment becomes ineffective and infections persist and may spread to others.
About 440,000 new cases of multi-drug-resistant tuberculosis (MDR-TB) emerged annually, causing at least 150,000 deaths in the world, according to the World Health Organisation (WHO).
Inappropriate and irrational use of medicines provides favourable conditions for resistant micro-organisms to emerge and spread
In a message to mark the occasion, the WHO called for concerted action to halt the spread of antimicrobial resistance and recommended a six-point policy package for governments.
The package underscores the need for all key stakeholders, including policy makers and planners, the public and patients, practitioners and prescribers, pharmacists and dispensers and the pharmaceutical industry, to act and take responsibility for combating antimicrobial resistance.

Ghana is in danger zone of thunderstorms

Story: Fauziatu Adam & Jack Morphet
GHANA is more prone to thunder strikes than other West African countries, according to a Spanish lightning protection company, Aplicaciones Technologicas (AT).
The country is reported to have 10 lightning strikes per square kilometre in a year due to its closeness to the Equator, thereby placing it in the danger zone of thunderstorms.
At the launch of a new lightning protection product in Accra yesterday, the Marketing and Distribution Development Manager of AT, Mr Pablo Gracia, said the new technology could protect larger areas and predict lightning strikes better than traditional methods.
“This new technology monitors the electricity in the air to prevent death and equipment damage, as well as provide protection for large areas around a structure, not just the structure itself,” he added.
He said in other parts of the world where the technology was already in operation, it protected airports, places of worship, financial institutions, military compounds, high-rise buildings, football fields and houses.
The Chairman of the Ghana National Fire Service (GNFS) Council, Alhaji Ahmadu Sorogho, said the first issue that must be addressed was obtaining certification from the Ghana Standards Board and the GNFS.
“We will do our best to give AT all the legal backing we can, provided that it meets certification standards, because I know for sure that this technology will benefit our country,” he said.
“It is easier to destroy buildings than to build them, so if we can protect destruction, that is a good thing, especially as we are challenged by an energy crisis where there are power surges affecting and damaging people’s equipment,” he added.
The company, which was established in 1986, offers increased external protection using lightning rods and earthing lines to protect structures and people from direct lightning strikes.
It also offers internal protection against lightning electromagnetic impulses for electronic equipment, welding and preventative protection that detect lightning and alerts people conducting dangerous activities such as fuelling aeroplanes or playing golf.

AIDS menace on the rise

FRONT PAGE STORY, DAILY GRAPHIC
Story: Fauziatu Adam
Current estimates indicate that 267,000 Ghanaians, including 25,000, children are living with HIV/AIDS, according to the International Health Care Centre (IHCC).
What is even frightening is that 2,500 Ghanaians are infected with the virus and 2,000 deaths are recorded annually.
Dr Naa Ashiley Vanderpuije, a health expert at the IHCC which manages AIDS cases, made this known at a workshop organised on HIV/AIDS for opinion leaders in Muslim communities in Accra.
The workshop was funded by the African Women's Fund and initiated by Yada da Allah, a Muslim women’s outreach organisation, and the Muslim Women and AIDS Association of Ghana.
The estimates are consistent with projections by the National AIDS Control Programme (NACP) from 2009 to 2015.
In its National HIV Prevalence and AIDS Estimates 2009-2015 Report, the NACP projected that the country's HIV prevalence was expected to rise gradually from 267,069 in 2009 to 280,219 in 2011.
That is due to the combined effects of population growth and an increasing number of HIV-infected persons who are living on anti-retroviral therapy (ART).
According to the report, 22,177 new infections were registered in 2009, while 20,313 AIDS deaths were recorded, with 26,150 new infections and 17,046 deaths being projected for 2011.
Addressing the workshop, Dr  Vanderpuije said people living with the virus could also play an important role in limiting its spread and, therefore, stigmatising them would not help them progress in society.
"They can help prevent further infections and improve the quality of their own lives through positive behavioural change. People who have HIV but who are not yet ill can live full and productive lives. People living with HIV/AIDs should not be stigmatised or discriminated against. Rather, they deserve our compassion, care and support," she added.
She called on leaders in all sectors to do their part to limit the spread of HIV.
"If our leaders — political, religious, business, non-governmental, community, district and all others — individually and collectively do their part, I am convinced that we can change the course of this epidemic and limit its impact on the development effort in Ghana," she noted.
The President of Yada da Allah, Mrs Mariam Yussif, said the main aim of the workshop for opinion leaders in the Muslim community was to sensitise them to the virus and what they could do to prevent it.
She added that stigmatisation of HIV/AIDs patients was very rampant in communities, hence the need to reach out to the leaders of the communities to enable them to disseminate the message to the people.