Last week, the Venture Capital Trust Fund (VCTF) began the process of
attracting impact investors, which it expects to make investments that
will both give them profit and make positive social impacts at the same
time.
The VCTF last week introduced its impact investing program to a
selected audience of major local and international fund managers who it
is now negotiating with to make impact investments in Ghana.
The presentation and subsequent negotiation are coming ahead of the
formal commissioning of the GIMPA Centre for Impact Investing (GCII),
which is slated for August 1st, 2013.
The Ghana Institute of Management and Public Administration (GIMPA) is
partnering with the VCTF to promote impact investing in Ghana and their
collaboration has already resulted in the establishment of the GCII.
Funding for the promotion of impact investing in Ghana and the
establishment of the GCII itself is being provided by the Rockefeller
Foundation of the United States.
Impact investing is generally defined as investment intended to create
positive social impact beyond financial return. Unlike the traditional
forms of investment, impact investment 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.
According to a research conducted be the Rockefeller Foundation and JP
Morgan, it is estimated that the impact investment market offers the
potential over the next 10 years for investments of US$400 billion to
US$1 trillion and profit of US$183 billion to US$667 billion. This
potential is a key driving force behind the VCTF’s decision to promote
impact investing in Ghana as a means to complement government effort to
address major social challenges.
Daniel Duku, CEO of the VCTF, at last week’s presentation explained to
the gathered fund managers that impact investing is direly needed in
Ghana considering the scope of the societal and environmental challenges
facing the country and the government’s obvious financial constraints.
“Challenges, which continue to impact on the quality of life in the
country, include access to education, health care, housing, energy,
water, sanitation and unemployment among others” noted Duku.
“Given the enormity of these challenges in Ghana, government alone is
incapable of resolving all these challenges effectively. It calls for
the collaborative efforts of both government and the private sector to
coordinate and direct capital with, the view to addressing them, and
this is what impact investing seeks to accomplish.
Presenting the new initiative to fund managers last week, VCTF’s
Percival Ampomah, identified the sectors that needed impact investing
the most in Ghana; agriculture, housing, education, healthcare, water
and sanitation, energy, unemployment and access to finance for small and
medium sized enterprises.
The audience included fund managers from a number of investment
management firms including among others, Boulders Advisors, Axis Pension
Trust, Acumen Fund, EM Capital partners, IC Securities, Secure
Pensions, Bridge Capital, Blackstar Advisors, Activity Venture Capital
Company, SIC Insurance and Persistent Energy Partners.
Fund managers from the Social Security and National Insurance Trust,
the biggest institutional investor in Ghana, as well as the Export
Development and Agricultural Investment Fund were also at the
presentation and are seeking to become impact investors as well.
A detailed report that will form the roadmap for impact investing in
Ghana has already been completed by investment experts from GIMPA and
the VCTF itself and will be unveiled imminently.
Assured Duku: “The establishment of GCII is only a first step towards
building traction for impact investing in Ghana. GCII promises to set
out an effective and influential platform to drive impact investing
activities in Ghana.”
Monday, 29 July 2013
Saturday, 27 July 2013
6 questions to look out for at your next job interview! -gsmbizmen
Leaving one job to another can be
challenging. In order not to give a bad impression about yourself or
your previous job, here are six questions you should look out for and
how to answer them.
1.How much do you want to be paid?
Find out the appropriate wage range for your job. Then give a number a little higher than that range to give you room for negotiation.
2.What did you make at your last job?
This question is quite uncomfortable. But you can easily say your previous company asked you not to disclose that figure when you were hired. Better still, you can give a range. Remember to be truthful because the employers can always check.
3.What are your strengths and weaknesses?
Don't pull the strength as your weakness card. They won't fall for it. Instead, talk about something that is actually a weakness and how you are trying to fix it. Try something like, "I used to get nervous about calling up clients, but then I realized that the more I did it, the easier it became." Putting your weakness in the past (and showing that you took care of it) demonstrates that you're willing to change and grow.
4.Did you get along with your old boss?
Let us say your old boss was really horrible, painting a true picture of your “horrible boss” might get your interviewer freaked out and will think you can do the same to him or her when you are hired. So when asked the question, just say yes and move on.
5.Why are you leaving your job?
Never complain or criticize something that happened in the past at your job. Try saying something like, "It's not a good fit and I want a new challenge." Then drop it.
6.How did you overcome a challenge at work?
Don't be vague. Give a concrete example like, "I was given a giant project at the last minute." Then describe how you tackled it (pulled a few late-nights, recruited help from fellow employees, etc.) and what the outcome was.
Watch out for these six questions and make sure you have your facts right!
1.How much do you want to be paid?
Find out the appropriate wage range for your job. Then give a number a little higher than that range to give you room for negotiation.
2.What did you make at your last job?
This question is quite uncomfortable. But you can easily say your previous company asked you not to disclose that figure when you were hired. Better still, you can give a range. Remember to be truthful because the employers can always check.
3.What are your strengths and weaknesses?
Don't pull the strength as your weakness card. They won't fall for it. Instead, talk about something that is actually a weakness and how you are trying to fix it. Try something like, "I used to get nervous about calling up clients, but then I realized that the more I did it, the easier it became." Putting your weakness in the past (and showing that you took care of it) demonstrates that you're willing to change and grow.
4.Did you get along with your old boss?
Let us say your old boss was really horrible, painting a true picture of your “horrible boss” might get your interviewer freaked out and will think you can do the same to him or her when you are hired. So when asked the question, just say yes and move on.
5.Why are you leaving your job?
Never complain or criticize something that happened in the past at your job. Try saying something like, "It's not a good fit and I want a new challenge." Then drop it.
6.How did you overcome a challenge at work?
Don't be vague. Give a concrete example like, "I was given a giant project at the last minute." Then describe how you tackled it (pulled a few late-nights, recruited help from fellow employees, etc.) and what the outcome was.
Watch out for these six questions and make sure you have your facts right!
Glo cautions job-seekers, public against fraudsters -gsmbizmen
The management of Glo Mobile Ghana is
cautioning the general public against fraudsters purporting to be
recruiting workers on behalf of Glo by posting fictitious adverts on the
internet and elsewhere to attract and extort money from unsuspecting
job-seekers.
A statement from Glo said it has discovered a number of such adverts with the address “JOBS.GLOGHANA@qualityservice.com” on the internet and other places, where the fraudsters behind the advert demand GHC100 payable via rapid transfer into an Ecobank Account.
Glo stated categorically that it has no such email address inviting job-seekers and is not charging any moneys from job-seekers.
Below is the full statement of caution from Glo Mobile Ghana.
It has come to the attention of the Management of Glo Mobile Ghana that certain individuals or group of persons, purporting to be staff of Glo, have posted fictitious adverts on the internet and elsewhere, targeting unsuspecting job-seekers with promises of employment at Glo Mobile Ghana.
The said adverts demand a fee of GHC100, paid via rapid transfer from applicants into an Ecobank Account, supposedly to facilitate documentation for a so called three-month training program in London and also to cover the cost of courier charges for a free ‘Tablet Computer’.
The Management of Glo Mobile Ghana hereby strongly advices job-seekers and the general public to desist from dealing with such faceless individuals since their activities are unauthorized, unlawful and criminal.
Glo Mobile Ghana has no such E-mail address as ‘JOBS.GLOGHANA@qualityservice.com’ and neither does the companyhave a Dr. or Mr. David Coker in its HR Department or its entire staff list, as the fraudsters claim. The Management of Glo HAS NOT authorized any individual, group of individuals or any agency to recruit new staff on its behalf.
Indeed, on Friday, July 12 and thereafter, Glo Mobile Ghana put out an official advertisement in the newspapers, announcing new job openings in our business. A full-page advert was published which elaborately outlined specific vacancies currently available and which also directed that all prospective applicants must address their applications and inquiries to jobs4u@glomobileghana.com .
In the best interest of the public, our Security Unit is working closely with the security agencies to bring the perpetrators of this vile scam to book. Much in the same light, we urge all those who have had contact or dealings with the fraudsters not to hesitate to report their experience to the nearest police station.
Management uses this opportunity to stress that Glo Mobile Ghana is determined to build a robust and indigenous African telecommunications network and will not permit such miscreant and distractive activities to obliterate its focus on that mission.
A statement from Glo said it has discovered a number of such adverts with the address “JOBS.GLOGHANA@qualityservice.com” on the internet and other places, where the fraudsters behind the advert demand GHC100 payable via rapid transfer into an Ecobank Account.
Glo stated categorically that it has no such email address inviting job-seekers and is not charging any moneys from job-seekers.
Below is the full statement of caution from Glo Mobile Ghana.
It has come to the attention of the Management of Glo Mobile Ghana that certain individuals or group of persons, purporting to be staff of Glo, have posted fictitious adverts on the internet and elsewhere, targeting unsuspecting job-seekers with promises of employment at Glo Mobile Ghana.
The said adverts demand a fee of GHC100, paid via rapid transfer from applicants into an Ecobank Account, supposedly to facilitate documentation for a so called three-month training program in London and also to cover the cost of courier charges for a free ‘Tablet Computer’.
The Management of Glo Mobile Ghana hereby strongly advices job-seekers and the general public to desist from dealing with such faceless individuals since their activities are unauthorized, unlawful and criminal.
Glo Mobile Ghana has no such E-mail address as ‘JOBS.GLOGHANA@qualityservice.com’ and neither does the companyhave a Dr. or Mr. David Coker in its HR Department or its entire staff list, as the fraudsters claim. The Management of Glo HAS NOT authorized any individual, group of individuals or any agency to recruit new staff on its behalf.
Indeed, on Friday, July 12 and thereafter, Glo Mobile Ghana put out an official advertisement in the newspapers, announcing new job openings in our business. A full-page advert was published which elaborately outlined specific vacancies currently available and which also directed that all prospective applicants must address their applications and inquiries to jobs4u@glomobileghana.com .
In the best interest of the public, our Security Unit is working closely with the security agencies to bring the perpetrators of this vile scam to book. Much in the same light, we urge all those who have had contact or dealings with the fraudsters not to hesitate to report their experience to the nearest police station.
Management uses this opportunity to stress that Glo Mobile Ghana is determined to build a robust and indigenous African telecommunications network and will not permit such miscreant and distractive activities to obliterate its focus on that mission.
sales of android os overtake apple ios in ghana -gsmbizmen
Samsung has become the most profitable mobile phone company in the world and even ghana, overtaking Apple, a report says.
Samsung's handset division had an estimated operating profit of $5.2bn (£3.4bn) in the second quarter of 2013, according to Strategy Analytics.
Apple's iPhone operating profit was estimated at $4.6bn, with the iPhone range "underperforming".
Total mobile phone shipments were 386 million in the April-to-June period, 4% up on the same time last year.
In all, 27.7% of phones shipped were made by Samsung. Separately, Samsung, which is also the world's biggest TV maker, reported second-quarter profits of $7bn for the entire company.
"This was the mobile phone industry's fastest growth rate since the second quarter of 2012," said Neil Shah, senior analyst at Strategy Analytics.
"Strong demand for entry-level Android devices in Asia and Latin America drove much of the growth. Samsung continued to dominate, shipping 107 million mobile phones worldwide."
Samsung's handset division had an estimated operating profit of $5.2bn (£3.4bn) in the second quarter of 2013, according to Strategy Analytics.
Apple's iPhone operating profit was estimated at $4.6bn, with the iPhone range "underperforming".
Total mobile phone shipments were 386 million in the April-to-June period, 4% up on the same time last year.
In all, 27.7% of phones shipped were made by Samsung. Separately, Samsung, which is also the world's biggest TV maker, reported second-quarter profits of $7bn for the entire company.
"This was the mobile phone industry's fastest growth rate since the second quarter of 2012," said Neil Shah, senior analyst at Strategy Analytics.
"Strong demand for entry-level Android devices in Asia and Latin America drove much of the growth. Samsung continued to dominate, shipping 107 million mobile phones worldwide."
WSJ: Ghana Overseas Bond Sale Receives Modest Response -gsmbizmen
Dollar-starved Ghana’s first overseas bond sale in six years received a
modest response Thursday from investors who are becoming increasingly
demanding in lending to African countries with shaky finances.
Ghana’s sale of $750 million in 10-year bonds attracted orders of over $2 billion, a response that’s less enthusiastic than other African countries have seen in recent months. The yield is 8%. That is a level rarely seen in dollar bonds recently and sharply higher than what Nigeria and Rwanda, two other sub-Saharan African countries, have had to pay in recent months.
The muted reaction is a sobering reminder to emerging-market countries that foreign inflows can abate as quickly as they arrived. African countries with below investment-grade debt ratings had flocked to debt markets in recent months as investors scrambled to buy assets offering higher returns. In April, at perhaps the height of the frenzy, Rwanda sold its first-ever overseas bond. It attracted bids that were more than eight times the amount the country sold. The yield was just 6.875%.
Since then, investors have become more cautious, especially given signs the U.S. Federal Reserve might pull back monetary stimulus, and emerging-market bonds have oscillated wildly. The bond Ghana issued in 2007, which matures in 2017, yielded as little as 4.7% in April. By the end of June, the yield was over 7%; it is now around 5.5%. Yields fall when prices rise.
Just a few months ago, amid the search for yield, investors were keen on Africa’s considerable growth prospects. Now, they’re troubled by its risks. Ghana has had envious economic performance–growth has averaged over 7% over the past 12 years, according to the International Monetary Fund. But frenetic public spending has opened a huge budget gap and has pushed up the government’s debt pile. Rising income has meant a hunger for imports and a consequentially large trade deficit.
The twin deficits mean the country is desperate for foreign financing. “The yield on offer reflects Ghana’s many risks,” said Mahan Namin, portfolio manager at Insparo Asset Management, a specialist Africa and Middle East asset manager, which manages $155 million in assets. “Its current-account deficit is worrying in light of low and decreasing foreign-exchange reserves, as is its fiscal deficit. The deficit is still rising and there isn’t a clear indication of how, and when, this trajectory will change.” Namin said he prefers local-currency Ghanaian debt and equities to dollar bonds.
In the local-currency market, Ghana pays more than 20% for one-year debt. Dollar bonds bear the risk that the government won’t have the foreign reserves to repay them; local bonds bear the risk that repayment is in a devalued currency. Ghana’s government will use the proceeds from the new issue to buy back some of its external and local debt, thus lowering its average borrowing cost, and fund infrastructure projects already budgeted for this year.
The timing of the bond sale, which comes during a summer lull in markets, suggests Ghana sorely needs the money. Samir Gadio, an emerging-markets strategist at Standard Bank, estimates that the country only has enough foreign-exchange reserves to pay for less than three months of imports. Still, for some investors, the yields on Ghana’s dollar bond are just too high to be ignored. By comparison, 10-year U.S. Treasurys yield 2.60%. The equivalent South African bond yields 4.30%.
“Ghana’s government is clearly making a growth bid,” said Antoon de Klerk, emerging-markets portfolio manager at Investec Asset Management. “This is a high-growth country, with all the problems that come with it, which, to be honest, are almost nice problems to have,” he added. De Klerk said he already invests in the local bond market but the high yield on offer for this dollar bond has caught his eye. BarclaysBARC.LN -0.73% and CitigroupC -0.85% are assisting Ghana in its bond issue. Ghana has a “junk” rating from the three main credit-ratings firms.
Source: WSJ http://blogs.wsj.com/moneybeat/2013/07/25/ghana-overseas-bond-sale-receives-modest-response
Ghana’s sale of $750 million in 10-year bonds attracted orders of over $2 billion, a response that’s less enthusiastic than other African countries have seen in recent months. The yield is 8%. That is a level rarely seen in dollar bonds recently and sharply higher than what Nigeria and Rwanda, two other sub-Saharan African countries, have had to pay in recent months.
The muted reaction is a sobering reminder to emerging-market countries that foreign inflows can abate as quickly as they arrived. African countries with below investment-grade debt ratings had flocked to debt markets in recent months as investors scrambled to buy assets offering higher returns. In April, at perhaps the height of the frenzy, Rwanda sold its first-ever overseas bond. It attracted bids that were more than eight times the amount the country sold. The yield was just 6.875%.
Since then, investors have become more cautious, especially given signs the U.S. Federal Reserve might pull back monetary stimulus, and emerging-market bonds have oscillated wildly. The bond Ghana issued in 2007, which matures in 2017, yielded as little as 4.7% in April. By the end of June, the yield was over 7%; it is now around 5.5%. Yields fall when prices rise.
Just a few months ago, amid the search for yield, investors were keen on Africa’s considerable growth prospects. Now, they’re troubled by its risks. Ghana has had envious economic performance–growth has averaged over 7% over the past 12 years, according to the International Monetary Fund. But frenetic public spending has opened a huge budget gap and has pushed up the government’s debt pile. Rising income has meant a hunger for imports and a consequentially large trade deficit.
The twin deficits mean the country is desperate for foreign financing. “The yield on offer reflects Ghana’s many risks,” said Mahan Namin, portfolio manager at Insparo Asset Management, a specialist Africa and Middle East asset manager, which manages $155 million in assets. “Its current-account deficit is worrying in light of low and decreasing foreign-exchange reserves, as is its fiscal deficit. The deficit is still rising and there isn’t a clear indication of how, and when, this trajectory will change.” Namin said he prefers local-currency Ghanaian debt and equities to dollar bonds.
In the local-currency market, Ghana pays more than 20% for one-year debt. Dollar bonds bear the risk that the government won’t have the foreign reserves to repay them; local bonds bear the risk that repayment is in a devalued currency. Ghana’s government will use the proceeds from the new issue to buy back some of its external and local debt, thus lowering its average borrowing cost, and fund infrastructure projects already budgeted for this year.
The timing of the bond sale, which comes during a summer lull in markets, suggests Ghana sorely needs the money. Samir Gadio, an emerging-markets strategist at Standard Bank, estimates that the country only has enough foreign-exchange reserves to pay for less than three months of imports. Still, for some investors, the yields on Ghana’s dollar bond are just too high to be ignored. By comparison, 10-year U.S. Treasurys yield 2.60%. The equivalent South African bond yields 4.30%.
“Ghana’s government is clearly making a growth bid,” said Antoon de Klerk, emerging-markets portfolio manager at Investec Asset Management. “This is a high-growth country, with all the problems that come with it, which, to be honest, are almost nice problems to have,” he added. De Klerk said he already invests in the local bond market but the high yield on offer for this dollar bond has caught his eye. BarclaysBARC.LN -0.73% and CitigroupC -0.85% are assisting Ghana in its bond issue. Ghana has a “junk” rating from the three main credit-ratings firms.
Source: WSJ http://blogs.wsj.com/moneybeat/2013/07/25/ghana-overseas-bond-sale-receives-modest-response
Petroleum energy Depot nears completion in Tema - gsmbizmen
Work on a $60 million petroleum depot in Tema is near completion to
facilitate the import and distribution of refined petroleum
products to help curb shortages of LPG and fuel on the market.
The depot, initiated by the Fuel Trade Limited but operating under the name Tema Fuel Company, is currently under going a test running to check teething problems before full operations start.
With the entry of the privately-owned Ghanaian import and distribution company, it is expected that there would be abundant gas, gasoline and diesel on the market to create competition among distributors.
The company also has a facility in Takoradi, where LPG is discharged directly onto trucks.
Reports indicate that market demands for LPG now stand at 1,100 of gas, 500,000 litres of super (gasoline) and 800,000 litres of diesel, daily.
It was expected that the other bulk distribution companies in the sector would supply the remaining shortfall, which is minimal.
The Daily Graphic found out that some fuel and gas tankers were already loading for distribution as part of its test operations.
The depot has a weekly delivery schedule during which products made up of a LPG, super and diesel, were delivered and, therefore, did not foresee any shortage.
The project is near completion and has started test supplies to solve all teething problems on the equipment.
It was gathered that gas from the West African Gas Pipeline (WAGP) was predominantly for power generation unless it was separated.
The source said laboratory equipment for that purpose were not available to provide what could be used for domestic and smaller machines and, therefore, would not be of use to domestic consumers.
When the Daily Graphic got to the depot, some officials from the National Petroleum Authority (NPA) Customs Division and a technical team from the Tema Oil Refinery (TOR) were checking the pumps on various tanks to ensure that they were in good conditions.
The depot has seven tanks with five for fuel, one for water and a mounded bullet tank purposely for LPG.
It also operates six loading bays for gas, gasoline and diesel, with each bay loading 200 tons in an hour.
This system of loading created efficiency and minimal delays at the loading bay.
Speaking to the Daily Graphic in an interview at the depot, the Technical and Operations Director, Mr Andrews Barfi Owusu, disclosed that the components of the depot were adjustable and the depot could increase its intake when the need arises.
He said the company would not want to create overcapacity in the system, hence, the gap to enable other bulk distribution companies to take the shortfall.
Mr Owusu noted that the company’s intention was to contribute to government’s effort to make available fuel and gas to consumers
He said the decision to set up a depot came about when shortages of gas, especially, kept occurring because of the low capacity of existing distributors .
Mr Owusu said the ‘Tema Fuel Company would be able to satisfy the consumer market even if TOR shuts down’.
He narrated how clearing of the land started in September 2010 and by April 2013, was ready to start importing fuel and gas for test running.
He said Fuel Trade had, for the last three months, been experimenting with the computerised systems, equipments, pumps and tanks.
Mr Owusu was optimistic that shortages of fuel would be things of the past.
He noted that there was a collaboration between all bulk distribution companies operating in the sector and said the depot would work closely with the companies to make fuel and gas available on the market.
Mr Owusu said with pride that ‘since when we started test running, there has not been any shortage on the market since May 2013’.
He gave the assurance that TOR, being the mother of distribution, had made its storage facilities available to enable the company store reserves when the need arose.
The depot, initiated by the Fuel Trade Limited but operating under the name Tema Fuel Company, is currently under going a test running to check teething problems before full operations start.
With the entry of the privately-owned Ghanaian import and distribution company, it is expected that there would be abundant gas, gasoline and diesel on the market to create competition among distributors.
The company also has a facility in Takoradi, where LPG is discharged directly onto trucks.
Reports indicate that market demands for LPG now stand at 1,100 of gas, 500,000 litres of super (gasoline) and 800,000 litres of diesel, daily.
It was expected that the other bulk distribution companies in the sector would supply the remaining shortfall, which is minimal.
The Daily Graphic found out that some fuel and gas tankers were already loading for distribution as part of its test operations.
The depot has a weekly delivery schedule during which products made up of a LPG, super and diesel, were delivered and, therefore, did not foresee any shortage.
The project is near completion and has started test supplies to solve all teething problems on the equipment.
It was gathered that gas from the West African Gas Pipeline (WAGP) was predominantly for power generation unless it was separated.
The source said laboratory equipment for that purpose were not available to provide what could be used for domestic and smaller machines and, therefore, would not be of use to domestic consumers.
When the Daily Graphic got to the depot, some officials from the National Petroleum Authority (NPA) Customs Division and a technical team from the Tema Oil Refinery (TOR) were checking the pumps on various tanks to ensure that they were in good conditions.
The depot has seven tanks with five for fuel, one for water and a mounded bullet tank purposely for LPG.
It also operates six loading bays for gas, gasoline and diesel, with each bay loading 200 tons in an hour.
This system of loading created efficiency and minimal delays at the loading bay.
Speaking to the Daily Graphic in an interview at the depot, the Technical and Operations Director, Mr Andrews Barfi Owusu, disclosed that the components of the depot were adjustable and the depot could increase its intake when the need arises.
He said the company would not want to create overcapacity in the system, hence, the gap to enable other bulk distribution companies to take the shortfall.
Mr Owusu noted that the company’s intention was to contribute to government’s effort to make available fuel and gas to consumers
He said the decision to set up a depot came about when shortages of gas, especially, kept occurring because of the low capacity of existing distributors .
Mr Owusu said the ‘Tema Fuel Company would be able to satisfy the consumer market even if TOR shuts down’.
He narrated how clearing of the land started in September 2010 and by April 2013, was ready to start importing fuel and gas for test running.
He said Fuel Trade had, for the last three months, been experimenting with the computerised systems, equipments, pumps and tanks.
Mr Owusu was optimistic that shortages of fuel would be things of the past.
He noted that there was a collaboration between all bulk distribution companies operating in the sector and said the depot would work closely with the companies to make fuel and gas available on the market.
Mr Owusu said with pride that ‘since when we started test running, there has not been any shortage on the market since May 2013’.
He gave the assurance that TOR, being the mother of distribution, had made its storage facilities available to enable the company store reserves when the need arose.
Changing face of the University of Ghana, Legon -gsmbizmen
The
University of Ghana, Legon has over the years gone through many changes
with the aim of offering better tertiary education to Ghanaians and
foreigners.
The changes range from the review of courses and programmes to the provision of new facilities and other infrastructure.
The university, popularly referred to as Legon, the name of the village where it is located, is a member of the International Association of Universities (IAU), the Association of Commonwealth Universities (ACU), the Association of African Universities (AAU) and the League of World Universities.
It was founded in 1948 as the University College of the Gold Coast on the recommendation of the Asquith Commission on Higher Education in the then British colonies. The Asquith Commission, which was set up in 1943 to investigate higher education, recommended among other things, the setting up of university colleges in association with the University of London. This was followed by a number of commissions in different regions.
The West Africa Commission was under the Chairmanship of the Rt. Hon. Walter Elliot. The Elliot Commission published a majority report which recommended the establishment of two university colleges in the Gold Coast (Ghana) and Nigeria, and a minority report which held that only one university college for the whole of British West Africa was feasible.
The British Government at first accepted the minority report of the Elliot Commission and decided that a university college for the whole of British West Africa should be established at Ibadan in Nigeria. But the people of the Gold Coast could not accept this recommendation. Led by the scholar and politician, the late Dr J.B. Danquah, they urged the Gold Coast Government to inform the British government that the Gold Coast could support a university college. The British government accordingly reviewed its decision and agreed to the establishment of the university college of the Gold Coast.
First site
At the time, Achimota College was in many respects one of the best institutions in Africa. It had spacious grounds, good buildings and compound, with a library of 16,000 books. There was therefore a consensus that the new university college should grow out of Achimota College, in accordance with the wishes of the people.
So on October 11, 1948, the formal opening of the University College of the Gold Coast took place in the dining hall of the western compound of Achimota College. Subsequently, the university college operated from the western compound and the secondary school on the eastern compound until the 1950s when construction work at the new site for the university college commenced, and the university moved gradually into the new campus at Legon.
Within the campus are the traditional halls of residence; Commonwealth Hall, Legon Hall, Akuafo Hall, Mensah Sarbah Hall and Volta Hall. There are also departments, lecture theatres and laboratories; sports fields and a central cafeteria. Also, there is the Great Hall, where major indoor programmes such as lectures are held. It has a seating capacity of 1,500.
The university will have a new frontage once the Tetteh Quarshie-Madina stretch of the road is completed.
Students/lecturer population
The university started in 1948 with a total of 90 students, made up of 88 males and 2 females. However, the population has increased drastically over the past 60 years. According to the 2012-2013 academic board the university has 37,531 students made up of full-time, part-time, City Campus, weekend, distance education and sandwich programmes.
When it started initially, seven post-secondary staff: Four teaching staff and three administrators of Achimota College were appointed as the nucleus staff for the new university.
Now the university boasts 1,139 lecturers, comprising 850 males and 289 females.
Faculties
Academic life of the University of Ghana is centered on colleges, faculties, institutes/schools and centres of research/ learning. The university started with three faculties - Arts, Science and Commerce (preliminary Economics) in 1948. Now there are six faculties -Arts, Law, Science, Social Sciences, Business School and Engineering Sciences.
Colleges
There are two main colleges in the university. They are the College of Health Sciences which comprises five schools and an institute, and the College of Agriculture and Consumer Sciences which comprises two schools and an institute.
Legon Staff village
The university has a staff village which currently has 248 housing units for its junior staff. It was established to provide accommodation for artisans such as electricians, carpenters and cooks who worked at the university.
Infrastructure
As part of the process of change, the university has undertaken a number of initiatives to realise its objectives of providing quality tertiary education. The infrastructure include new halls of residence, staff bungalows, lecture halls, laboratories and the construction and expansion of roads.
Today, four new additional halls of residence to accommodate 8,000 students have been built. This is to meet the increasing demand for accommodation by students. Securing accommodation in the past was a problem and some students took advantage of the inadequacy of the halls to make money. Issues that readily come to mind are the sale of beds to fellow students and ‘perching’, resulting in overcrowding in the traditional halls of residence-Commonwealth, Legon, Akuafo, Mensah Sarbah and Volta.
New Halls
The four new halls named after Professor Alexander Kwapong, a former Vice Chancellor; Dr Hilla Limann, President of the Third Republic; Dr Jean Aka Hall, named after a distinguished alumnus who was instrumental in mobilising funds for the construction of the Jubilee Hall, and Elizabeth Frances Sey, first female graduate of the university, have eased the accommodation problem faced by students drastically. Apart from that, the new halls have also brightened the aerial view of the university campus, from the Noguchi Memorial Institute for Medical Research (NMIMR) section.
At the new halls four students occupy a room, with a spacious and conducive environment for learning. At the new halls, rainwater is harvested and there are biogas facilities.
Four students; Ms Belinda Tweboah, Ms Linda Tetteh and Messrs Ben Boateng and Samuel Koomson, lauded the initiative that led to the construction of the facilities. They said they believed that such huge projects should be done in other tertiary institutions since the lack of conducive environment for sleeping or relaxation was a problem.
Ms Tweneboah said being accommodated at a hall was a great relief to her “because in the past we heard so many reports on problems with securing accommodation”.
“I am okay here and everything is going on smoothly. These facilities have brought great relief to us,” she said.
Ms Tetteh indicated that the only problem students occasionally experienced was the lack of water, adding “once this has been completely solved I believe everything would be okay”.
“I like the environment and it’s good for learning,” she said.
Messrs Boateng and Koomson called for immediate action to address the water problem.
The Director of Physical Development and Municipal Services, Mr Philip Azundow, said the Ghana Water Company Limited (GWCL) had disappointed the authorities since they had indicated they would provide water to at the new facilities. Notwithstanding that, he said, the authorities had been able to provide some boreholes to meet water needs of students.
The university has also allowed some private developers to build halls of residence. These are: United Nations Hall, Bani Hall, James Topp Nelson Yankah Hall and Africa Union Hall. These are expected to provide accommodation for students at Legon.
Tolling of roads
The roads that link the various halls, departments and lecture halls are currently being given a facelift. They are being asphalted and toll booths would be installed when they are completed. This means that vehicles that enter and exit the campus will have to pay tolls. A flat rate of GHc1 is to be paid by users of the roads upon every entry.
A total of 9.6 kilometres of roads are being resealed and asphalted. According to Mr Azundow, Accra has expanded and many vehicles use the Legon road to avoid traffic, among other things. The tolling, he said, was to cater for the wear and tear as a result of the regular use of the roads. The project is expected to cost GH¢7 million. The asphalted roads would also have speed humps to control the flow of vehicles. The tolling is expected to start later this month and the six entry points to the university would have the toll booths.
According to the site engineer for the asphalting and resealing of roads, Mr Kwaku Tsegah, 70 per cent of the asphalting and resealing of the roads had been done.
“Everything is okay and the work is going on smoothly,” he said, and expressed the hope that work would be completed on schedule.
Works remaining, he said, included the construction of drains and asphalting of the road leading to the Teachers’ Fund Hostel.
Commercial, private vehicle drivers
While some drivers have welcomed the initiative, others think it would increase transport fares on campus.
A taxi driver, Stephen Quartey, said driving on good roads “prolongs the lifespan of your vehicle”, and added that although it would mean extra cost to people, the idea was not bad.
“I know some of my colleagues will not agree with me but we must pay for what we destroy. Everything is government but we have to be responsible too,” he said.
Adjei Mensah, another taxi driver, strongly disagreed with his colleague. For him, the authorities were not considering the fact that the toll would be passed on to students.
“Once I pay GH¢ 1, I will also add that GH¢ 1 to the lorry fare,” he said, and urged the authorities to either scrap the initiative or reduce the toll to 50 pesewas.
However, Mr Azundow said the intention was not to burden students but to ensure that the roads were in good shape regularly for the smooth movement of people. Moreover, he said, the late President J.E.A. Mills sanctioned the initiative.
Students
Rachael Ahiable believes “We don’t have to be going out and coming as and when we feel like it”. We must use our time and money judiciously because if you want to be going out and coming in it means you would have to pay more”.
Moses Arthur said it was up to the authorities to take decisions that would improve facilities and infrastructure to promote academic activities.
“We are not going to be on campus forever. All you have to do is to regulate your movements to save you the trouble of spending all your money on transportation fare,” he said.
Amelia Botchway said the authorities had decided to implement the initiative and what everybody had to do was to brace up for it.She supported the initiative and said that state institutions tended to rely too much on government for funding.
“I believe this would boost the internally-generated funds of the university. Money generated could be used to put up more facilities to admit more students. It is a good idea,” she said, adding that “Ghanaians don’t want to be creative but do things the same way all the time”.
Closed Circuit Television
To maintain the credibility of its examination and deal with the practice of cheating, the university has mounted closed circuit television (CCTV) systems in the examination halls. The authorities would not give much detail on the facilities but believe it would go a long way to ensure sanity during examination.
Control of students in traditional halls
To control the number of students who access the halls, the university purchased a turnstile machine to begin a pilot exercise at the Commonwealth Hall but before the equipment could be installed, it was burnt by suspected arsonists on April 30, 2013 at about 2 a.m.
The equipment, bought at a cost of GH¢ 48,000, was supposed to be used as part of the university’s measures to ensure that the halls of residence remained decongested.
The turnstile machine, also called a baffle gate, is a gate which allows one person to pass at a time. It can also be used to enforce one-way traffic of people and in addition, can restrict passage to only people who insert a coin, ticket or pass.
Other projects
There is also the Institute of Statistical Social and Economic Research (ISSER) Conference facility for the hosting of various programmes. The facility has been completed, creating the opportunity for the hosting of programmes.
Other ongoing projects include the Earth and Health Science infrastructure. A teaching hospital project has also taken off.
The Balme Library pond has also been given a new lease of life. There are 34 new boreholes to augment water supply from the water company.
The university is looking for a strategic partner to complete work on the stadium, along with the provision of staff housing project.
Security/police station
Eleven years after the establishment of the university, a police station was put up (1959) as part of measures to maintain law and order in and outside campus. Petty thefts, robberies and other criminal activities were reported in the past.
However, the Head of Security, ACP Amadu Salifu (retd), told the Daily Graphic that there have been improvement in the security system. For instance, he said, when he took over in 2007, the first thing he observed was that guards had not gone through the requisite training. Moreover, he said, some of them were not active because they were old and weak, and “supervision too was almost zero”.
“The first thing we did when I took over was to revamp the system to get more active guards. I convinced the authorities and we did a mass recruitment,” he said.
Mr Salifu said the number of guards was subsequently increased from 200 to 321, while items such as uniforms, raincoats, batons and torches were requested for to enable the guards work efficiently.
“With the new halls I think we should have about 400 guards,” he said. Now, he added, apart from sensitisation of students and staff, there were mobile patrols in the day and regular night patrols.
The entry points to the campus are closed at midnight and opened at 5 a.m. After 7 p.m. no university vehicle is supposed to enter or go out of the campus.
Mr Salifu said he monitored the “security guards to ensure that we are working”, adding that there were also plainclothes security personnel who monitor and report security issues.
His worry is that some students did not take security issues seriously when it came to petty thefts. For instance, he said, while some of the students left their doors ajar, others did not assist in investigations when into petty thefts.
“Some of them also allow themselves to be duped by confidence tricksters.
Vice Chancellor
The Vice Chancellor, Prof. Ernest Aryeetey, told the Daily Graphic after the naming of the Atta Mills/Akua Kuenyehia Law Faculty Building, among other things, that the university community was waking up to the fact that it had to develop its infrastructure rapidly to cope with the large number of students.
“We have a large number of students these days, compared to 20 years ago. So it is inevitable for us to push the agenda of developing our infrastructure,” he said.
The changes range from the review of courses and programmes to the provision of new facilities and other infrastructure.
The university, popularly referred to as Legon, the name of the village where it is located, is a member of the International Association of Universities (IAU), the Association of Commonwealth Universities (ACU), the Association of African Universities (AAU) and the League of World Universities.
It was founded in 1948 as the University College of the Gold Coast on the recommendation of the Asquith Commission on Higher Education in the then British colonies. The Asquith Commission, which was set up in 1943 to investigate higher education, recommended among other things, the setting up of university colleges in association with the University of London. This was followed by a number of commissions in different regions.
The West Africa Commission was under the Chairmanship of the Rt. Hon. Walter Elliot. The Elliot Commission published a majority report which recommended the establishment of two university colleges in the Gold Coast (Ghana) and Nigeria, and a minority report which held that only one university college for the whole of British West Africa was feasible.
The British Government at first accepted the minority report of the Elliot Commission and decided that a university college for the whole of British West Africa should be established at Ibadan in Nigeria. But the people of the Gold Coast could not accept this recommendation. Led by the scholar and politician, the late Dr J.B. Danquah, they urged the Gold Coast Government to inform the British government that the Gold Coast could support a university college. The British government accordingly reviewed its decision and agreed to the establishment of the university college of the Gold Coast.
First site
At the time, Achimota College was in many respects one of the best institutions in Africa. It had spacious grounds, good buildings and compound, with a library of 16,000 books. There was therefore a consensus that the new university college should grow out of Achimota College, in accordance with the wishes of the people.
So on October 11, 1948, the formal opening of the University College of the Gold Coast took place in the dining hall of the western compound of Achimota College. Subsequently, the university college operated from the western compound and the secondary school on the eastern compound until the 1950s when construction work at the new site for the university college commenced, and the university moved gradually into the new campus at Legon.
Within the campus are the traditional halls of residence; Commonwealth Hall, Legon Hall, Akuafo Hall, Mensah Sarbah Hall and Volta Hall. There are also departments, lecture theatres and laboratories; sports fields and a central cafeteria. Also, there is the Great Hall, where major indoor programmes such as lectures are held. It has a seating capacity of 1,500.
The university will have a new frontage once the Tetteh Quarshie-Madina stretch of the road is completed.
Students/lecturer population
The university started in 1948 with a total of 90 students, made up of 88 males and 2 females. However, the population has increased drastically over the past 60 years. According to the 2012-2013 academic board the university has 37,531 students made up of full-time, part-time, City Campus, weekend, distance education and sandwich programmes.
When it started initially, seven post-secondary staff: Four teaching staff and three administrators of Achimota College were appointed as the nucleus staff for the new university.
Now the university boasts 1,139 lecturers, comprising 850 males and 289 females.
Faculties
Academic life of the University of Ghana is centered on colleges, faculties, institutes/schools and centres of research/ learning. The university started with three faculties - Arts, Science and Commerce (preliminary Economics) in 1948. Now there are six faculties -Arts, Law, Science, Social Sciences, Business School and Engineering Sciences.
Colleges
There are two main colleges in the university. They are the College of Health Sciences which comprises five schools and an institute, and the College of Agriculture and Consumer Sciences which comprises two schools and an institute.
Legon Staff village
The university has a staff village which currently has 248 housing units for its junior staff. It was established to provide accommodation for artisans such as electricians, carpenters and cooks who worked at the university.
Infrastructure
As part of the process of change, the university has undertaken a number of initiatives to realise its objectives of providing quality tertiary education. The infrastructure include new halls of residence, staff bungalows, lecture halls, laboratories and the construction and expansion of roads.
Today, four new additional halls of residence to accommodate 8,000 students have been built. This is to meet the increasing demand for accommodation by students. Securing accommodation in the past was a problem and some students took advantage of the inadequacy of the halls to make money. Issues that readily come to mind are the sale of beds to fellow students and ‘perching’, resulting in overcrowding in the traditional halls of residence-Commonwealth, Legon, Akuafo, Mensah Sarbah and Volta.
New Halls
The four new halls named after Professor Alexander Kwapong, a former Vice Chancellor; Dr Hilla Limann, President of the Third Republic; Dr Jean Aka Hall, named after a distinguished alumnus who was instrumental in mobilising funds for the construction of the Jubilee Hall, and Elizabeth Frances Sey, first female graduate of the university, have eased the accommodation problem faced by students drastically. Apart from that, the new halls have also brightened the aerial view of the university campus, from the Noguchi Memorial Institute for Medical Research (NMIMR) section.
At the new halls four students occupy a room, with a spacious and conducive environment for learning. At the new halls, rainwater is harvested and there are biogas facilities.
Four students; Ms Belinda Tweboah, Ms Linda Tetteh and Messrs Ben Boateng and Samuel Koomson, lauded the initiative that led to the construction of the facilities. They said they believed that such huge projects should be done in other tertiary institutions since the lack of conducive environment for sleeping or relaxation was a problem.
Ms Tweneboah said being accommodated at a hall was a great relief to her “because in the past we heard so many reports on problems with securing accommodation”.
“I am okay here and everything is going on smoothly. These facilities have brought great relief to us,” she said.
Ms Tetteh indicated that the only problem students occasionally experienced was the lack of water, adding “once this has been completely solved I believe everything would be okay”.
“I like the environment and it’s good for learning,” she said.
Messrs Boateng and Koomson called for immediate action to address the water problem.
The Director of Physical Development and Municipal Services, Mr Philip Azundow, said the Ghana Water Company Limited (GWCL) had disappointed the authorities since they had indicated they would provide water to at the new facilities. Notwithstanding that, he said, the authorities had been able to provide some boreholes to meet water needs of students.
The university has also allowed some private developers to build halls of residence. These are: United Nations Hall, Bani Hall, James Topp Nelson Yankah Hall and Africa Union Hall. These are expected to provide accommodation for students at Legon.
Tolling of roads
The roads that link the various halls, departments and lecture halls are currently being given a facelift. They are being asphalted and toll booths would be installed when they are completed. This means that vehicles that enter and exit the campus will have to pay tolls. A flat rate of GHc1 is to be paid by users of the roads upon every entry.
A total of 9.6 kilometres of roads are being resealed and asphalted. According to Mr Azundow, Accra has expanded and many vehicles use the Legon road to avoid traffic, among other things. The tolling, he said, was to cater for the wear and tear as a result of the regular use of the roads. The project is expected to cost GH¢7 million. The asphalted roads would also have speed humps to control the flow of vehicles. The tolling is expected to start later this month and the six entry points to the university would have the toll booths.
According to the site engineer for the asphalting and resealing of roads, Mr Kwaku Tsegah, 70 per cent of the asphalting and resealing of the roads had been done.
“Everything is okay and the work is going on smoothly,” he said, and expressed the hope that work would be completed on schedule.
Works remaining, he said, included the construction of drains and asphalting of the road leading to the Teachers’ Fund Hostel.
Commercial, private vehicle drivers
While some drivers have welcomed the initiative, others think it would increase transport fares on campus.
A taxi driver, Stephen Quartey, said driving on good roads “prolongs the lifespan of your vehicle”, and added that although it would mean extra cost to people, the idea was not bad.
“I know some of my colleagues will not agree with me but we must pay for what we destroy. Everything is government but we have to be responsible too,” he said.
Adjei Mensah, another taxi driver, strongly disagreed with his colleague. For him, the authorities were not considering the fact that the toll would be passed on to students.
“Once I pay GH¢ 1, I will also add that GH¢ 1 to the lorry fare,” he said, and urged the authorities to either scrap the initiative or reduce the toll to 50 pesewas.
However, Mr Azundow said the intention was not to burden students but to ensure that the roads were in good shape regularly for the smooth movement of people. Moreover, he said, the late President J.E.A. Mills sanctioned the initiative.
Students
Rachael Ahiable believes “We don’t have to be going out and coming as and when we feel like it”. We must use our time and money judiciously because if you want to be going out and coming in it means you would have to pay more”.
Moses Arthur said it was up to the authorities to take decisions that would improve facilities and infrastructure to promote academic activities.
“We are not going to be on campus forever. All you have to do is to regulate your movements to save you the trouble of spending all your money on transportation fare,” he said.
Amelia Botchway said the authorities had decided to implement the initiative and what everybody had to do was to brace up for it.She supported the initiative and said that state institutions tended to rely too much on government for funding.
“I believe this would boost the internally-generated funds of the university. Money generated could be used to put up more facilities to admit more students. It is a good idea,” she said, adding that “Ghanaians don’t want to be creative but do things the same way all the time”.
Closed Circuit Television
To maintain the credibility of its examination and deal with the practice of cheating, the university has mounted closed circuit television (CCTV) systems in the examination halls. The authorities would not give much detail on the facilities but believe it would go a long way to ensure sanity during examination.
Control of students in traditional halls
To control the number of students who access the halls, the university purchased a turnstile machine to begin a pilot exercise at the Commonwealth Hall but before the equipment could be installed, it was burnt by suspected arsonists on April 30, 2013 at about 2 a.m.
The equipment, bought at a cost of GH¢ 48,000, was supposed to be used as part of the university’s measures to ensure that the halls of residence remained decongested.
The turnstile machine, also called a baffle gate, is a gate which allows one person to pass at a time. It can also be used to enforce one-way traffic of people and in addition, can restrict passage to only people who insert a coin, ticket or pass.
Other projects
There is also the Institute of Statistical Social and Economic Research (ISSER) Conference facility for the hosting of various programmes. The facility has been completed, creating the opportunity for the hosting of programmes.
Other ongoing projects include the Earth and Health Science infrastructure. A teaching hospital project has also taken off.
The Balme Library pond has also been given a new lease of life. There are 34 new boreholes to augment water supply from the water company.
The university is looking for a strategic partner to complete work on the stadium, along with the provision of staff housing project.
Security/police station
Eleven years after the establishment of the university, a police station was put up (1959) as part of measures to maintain law and order in and outside campus. Petty thefts, robberies and other criminal activities were reported in the past.
However, the Head of Security, ACP Amadu Salifu (retd), told the Daily Graphic that there have been improvement in the security system. For instance, he said, when he took over in 2007, the first thing he observed was that guards had not gone through the requisite training. Moreover, he said, some of them were not active because they were old and weak, and “supervision too was almost zero”.
“The first thing we did when I took over was to revamp the system to get more active guards. I convinced the authorities and we did a mass recruitment,” he said.
Mr Salifu said the number of guards was subsequently increased from 200 to 321, while items such as uniforms, raincoats, batons and torches were requested for to enable the guards work efficiently.
“With the new halls I think we should have about 400 guards,” he said. Now, he added, apart from sensitisation of students and staff, there were mobile patrols in the day and regular night patrols.
The entry points to the campus are closed at midnight and opened at 5 a.m. After 7 p.m. no university vehicle is supposed to enter or go out of the campus.
Mr Salifu said he monitored the “security guards to ensure that we are working”, adding that there were also plainclothes security personnel who monitor and report security issues.
His worry is that some students did not take security issues seriously when it came to petty thefts. For instance, he said, while some of the students left their doors ajar, others did not assist in investigations when into petty thefts.
“Some of them also allow themselves to be duped by confidence tricksters.
Vice Chancellor
The Vice Chancellor, Prof. Ernest Aryeetey, told the Daily Graphic after the naming of the Atta Mills/Akua Kuenyehia Law Faculty Building, among other things, that the university community was waking up to the fact that it had to develop its infrastructure rapidly to cope with the large number of students.
“We have a large number of students these days, compared to 20 years ago. So it is inevitable for us to push the agenda of developing our infrastructure,” he said.
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