JoyNews Today || Bank of Ghana Losses in 2022: Governor addresses news conference

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Transcript

00:00 Welcome to news today I am Amir Sinyamichae Thompson in the next hour more than 30%

00:05 increase in persons killed due to road traffic accidents in July 2023 compared

00:11 to the same period last year. We have details from latest figures from the

00:15 National Road Safety Authority. Also death toll from the northeast floods

00:23 climbs to eight with more floods expected as the Bagri Dam is opened. We

00:28 have details. An Nigerian coup leader General Chiani promises to hand over

00:35 power in three years. How so will tell you plus how South African president

00:40 Sir Ramaphosa intends to work with the AE to restore constitutional order in

00:45 countries experiencing coup.

00:54 Details of these and more plus business in this hour stay tuned.

01:00 Let's take you live now to the Bank of Ghana head office where the governor

01:09 Ernest Addison is addressing a news conference on reported losses the bank

01:13 has incurred. Who's the financing gap? It is important to state that a significant

01:20 part of the annual borrowing was just to meet debt service and energy payment

01:26 obligations. Given that Ghana's annual external debt service payments and

01:31 energy payments alone had risen to the range of three to four billion dollars

01:38 annually as at 2020. Losing access to the international capital market for new

01:46 financing immediately triggered a liquidity crisis for government

01:51 spilling over into a balance of payments crisis as the country had to continue to

01:57 honor its debt service obligations, energy payments, and import bill. In

02:04 keeping up with these critical external payments the Bank of Ghana lost five

02:10 hundred million dollars in external reserves in just two months with no new

02:15 inflows of foreign currency from the usual annual euro bond issuance to

02:21 replenish its reserves. Furthermore to help address government's liquidity

02:27 crisis the bank extended additional overdraft to the government to address

02:32 auction failures and prevent domestic default and enabled government to meet

02:37 domestic debt obligations and other critical payments needed to avoid a

02:43 disorderly halt to economic activity. Throughout the first half of 2022 there

02:50 was no new foreign financing until July when the Afri Exim Bank stepped in to

02:56 support with 750 million US dollars. This is a typical replay of what is

03:03 referred to in the literature as a first-generation macroeconomic and

03:07 balance of payments crisis. You would recall that many people doubted if the

03:14 economy was in crisis because they did not hear that interest rates on bonds

03:19 were not being paid in early 2022. They did not see queues at the pump for

03:25 petrol and diesel. There were no shortages of international essential

03:29 items on the market and they did not hear that public sector workers

03:34 including civil servants, the police and the military were not being paid their

03:39 salaries. The reason was that the Bank of Ghana had provided the needed support to

03:44 keep the economy going. These are the circumstances that led government to

03:49 approach the IMF for support in July 2022. The IMF immediately sent in a

03:56 mission to assess the economic situation. The mission concluded that the economy

04:01 was a tipping point and it was agreed with the understanding of the IMF that

04:07 the Bank of Ghana should continue to provide the necessary support to keep

04:11 the economy running until a reform program had been put in place which will

04:16 trigger IMF financing. The portrait painted above of the Ghanaian economy in

04:24 2022 was similar to what pertained in many other frontier and emerging

04:31 market economies. Key among countries with similar experiences were Egypt,

04:38 Argentina, Turkey, Kenya, Pakistan and Sri Lanka, just to mention a few. What

04:47 separated these countries and their ability to hold their economies until a

04:52 package of reforms were introduced was the availability of policy buffers and

04:57 resilience of key policy institutions. We all know what happened in Sri Lanka.

05:04 The Bank of Ghana was able to step in with the support to the economy until

05:10 the IMF program was concluded because of policy buffers built following years of

05:15 prudent management. This is a reflection of the resilience of the bank for being

05:21 able to rise up to the occasion to play a statutory role as lender of last

05:26 resort. Economic history also teaches us that crises are part of the business

05:33 cycle and the accumulation of policy buffers is the only way to guarantee

05:38 space to deal with such crises and this is clearly that the role that the bank

05:43 played with distinction. Now let me shift my remarks to the corrective measures

05:51 that were put into place in 2022 to manage the crisis. In particular, the

05:58 major policy effort designed to put Ghana's debt on a sustainable path. These

06:04 corrections or these corrective actions included the domestic debt exchange

06:10 program where the stock of government of Ghana public sector debt was to be

06:15 halved from a hundred and five percent of GDP to fifty five percent of GDP by

06:21 2028. The holders of government debt had their instruments exchanged for new ones

06:28 with lower coupon payments and longer tenors. Despite the resulting losses

06:34 incurred by households, banks and other financial institutions, the threshold of

06:40 fifty five percent of GDP was not met. As part of the solution, the Minister of

06:46 Finance wrote to the bank with a proposed treatment of a fifty percent

06:51 haircut on Bank of Ghana's holdings of government's non-marketable debt.

06:56 Naturally, the bank was concerned and fully aware of the implications of such

07:02 a treatment on the books of the bank. We held several discussions with the

07:07 Ministry of Finance, the government advisors on the debt exchange, that is

07:11 Lazard, and the IMF on this treatment. At the request of the bank, the IMF sent a

07:19 technical mission of central bank balance sheet experts to assist the Bank

07:24 of Ghana to assess how the debt treatment would impact the bank's

07:29 financial position and its ability to carry out its statutory mandate. The

07:34 conclusion of that technical assistant mission was that the Bank of Ghana

07:39 should be able to function effectively, that is remain policy solvent, even after

07:45 the imposition of such a haircut. The IMF placed a high premium on this

07:51 particular debt scenario involving that Bank of Ghana, as that was the only

07:57 scenario that was going to allow the government to meet the debt threshold

08:02 that would allow Ghana's IMF program to proceed for board approval. The Bank of

08:08 Ghana accepted this proposal on that basis, given how crucial it was to

08:15 secure the fund-supported program and the benefits that would be new to the

08:20 economy, as it would help to reset the economy and prevent a total collapse

08:25 with much broader socio-economic implications. The Bank of Ghana board

08:31 meeting was therefore arranged to get the board pass a resolution to this

08:35 effect. The bank acted in good faith for the broader interest of Ghana's economy.

08:42 The debt included all the legacy debts of government of Ghana dating back to

08:49 1992, including the overdraft of 2022, overdraft to cocoa board, the COVID-19

08:57 bond, and even Bank of Ghana holdings of telecom Malaysia bonds, and the Tema oil

09:03 refinery bonds issued by government. As of 2015, the accumulated claims on

09:09 government and cocoa board were about 13 billion Ghana cedis. The debt therefore

09:15 is not about recent debt alone. Almost all lending from the IMF, including the

09:22 external credit facility and rapid credit facility during the COVID-19

09:27 pandemic and financial sector resolution bonds, have been presented in the recent

09:34 discourse as Bank of Ghana lending to government. This is not factual. It is

09:40 important to state that losses reported were technical losses arising from the

09:45 haircut and the application of accounting standards, in particular IFRS 9, to

09:52 estimate expected credit losses over the tenure of the government debt held by

09:58 Bank of Ghana. It is not money lost by the Bank of Ghana through its operations

10:04 in 2022. Rather, one should look at this as a reflection of the total cost of the

10:11 economic and social crisis that the country has faced over the years in an

10:16 attempt to resolve a major structural problem of the Ghanaian economy. I must

10:23 also add that if one takes time to go through the historical financial

10:29 statements of the Bank of Ghana, you would realize that this is not the first

10:33 time that the bank has gone into negative equity. During the early years

10:37 of the structural adjustment, very large exchange rate depreciations led to

10:43 revaluation losses that drove the bank into negative equity. Indeed, any time the

10:49 economy faces major challenges, the Bank of Ghana's balance sheet suffers and the

10:54 equity position moves into negative territories. You would recall that in 2017

10:59 and 2018, the bank incurred similar negative equity from the impairment of

11:05 legacy liquidity support loans granted in 2015 and 2016 to insolvent banks,

11:13 which the external auditors impaired due to the doubtful prospects of recovering

11:19 from those insolvent banks. The bank, however, recovered and generated profits

11:26 throughout the period 2019 to 2021. It is worth noting that central banks are not

11:34 commercial banks. Bank of Ghana's current financial condition would not

11:39 negatively impact on the operations of the bank. The IMF technical assistance

11:46 mission validated this conclusion before the necessary decisions were taken. In

11:52 their opinion, the Bank of Ghana was policy solvent and will remain so, as it

11:57 had enough income to cover monetary policy operational costs. The Bank of

12:03 Ghana had sufficient capital amounting to about 15% of its total liabilities.

12:09 Its recommendation was for the bank to retain all future profits and the

12:16 reassessment should be made in the year 2027. The bank will also manage to reduce

12:23 its operational costs during this period. Ladies and gentlemen, in all these, the

12:31 Bank of Ghana has acted within the applicable laws. It is not true that the

12:36 Bank of Ghana has been providing financing for government every year.

12:40 There has been zero financing in 2017, 2018, 2019 and 2021. The Bank of Ghana has

12:52 only had to support in the pandemic year of 2020 and the crisis year of 2022. The

13:01 Bank of Ghana Act, as amended, limits financing of the government to 5% of the

13:07 previous year's tax revenue. This provision in the law has been adhered to

13:12 since I took office in April 2017. Between 2017 and 2019, in addition to the

13:20 requirements of the Act, the bank signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the

13:25 Ministry of Finance to even impose a tighter restriction of zero central bank

13:31 financing. And this was observed strictly, even though the MOUs were not legally

13:37 binding. Between 2012 and 2015, the bank provided overdraft to finance

13:45 government and cocoa board every year. And there was neither a pandemic or a

13:52 global economic crisis. When Ghana was hit with a COVID-19 in 2020, Section 36

13:59 of the Bank of Ghana Act, as amended, was triggered. And as indicated earlier, the

14:05 bank purchased the 10 billion CD's worth of the COVID-19 bonds to support the

14:09 economy through the pandemic. This was done within the applicable laws

14:15 governing the Bank of Ghana. When Section 36 of the Act, as amended, is triggered,

14:22 it allows the governor, the Minister of Finance, and the Comptroller and

14:27 Accountant General to agree on a new limit of central bank financing. The law

14:32 further says that the Minister of Finance will then have to inform

14:37 Parliament. And the Minister has since informed Parliament as part of his

14:41 briefing to update Parliament on the IMF program and the status of the domestic

14:48 debt exchange. Let me also seize this opportunity to talk about an issue that

14:55 has come up lately in the media, and one which borders on our new head office

15:01 building. While discussions on the national security issue by the central

15:07 bank building is a sensitive one, I will provide you with a brief history of how

15:13 this has evolved over the years. The Bank of Ghana, as far back as the 1990s, began

15:20 the search for a suitable and secured land for a head office. In 2012, the bank

15:26 was allocated an unnumbered 5.19 acre land at Accra Central by the Lands

15:33 Commission, which also had issues. The bank did not have access to the land

15:38 since the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Regional Integration refused to give

15:42 the bank vacant possession on the grounds that they had never agreed to

15:47 give up ownership of the land. The bank continued to search for suitable land

15:52 for its head office throughout the period from 2013 to 2016. More recently,

16:00 in 2018, the bank approached the State Insurance Corporation to acquire its

16:06 vacant land at Ridge, near the Ridge Hospital. The government issued an

16:11 executive instrument to allow the Bank of Ghana acquire that land, and SIC was

16:17 duly compensated. The bank then began to plan the building of its new head office,

16:24 taking into consideration the need to ensure that the building meets all the

16:30 requirements of a modern central bank of international standards, similar to

16:36 central bank head office buildings in Abuja and Dakar, and includes provision

16:43 for data centers, currency processing centers, vaults, and other

16:50 sensitive installations. It is not just a simple, ordinary building. Let me

16:56 re-emphasize that the bank followed all the necessary public procurement

17:02 processes in this endeavor. No procurement laws were broken. I have

17:09 requested that a more detailed response to the issues raised in the public

17:14 discourse on the bank's new head office be published on our website immediately

17:20 after this press engagement today. The decision to commence construction was

17:26 taken as far back as 2019, when the bank generated profits. Appropriations for the

17:33 head office were made each year from profits made in 2019, 2020, and 2021. The

17:42 project has therefore been going on for over three years. The DDEP only took

17:48 place in January 2023. If we were to be taking the decision today, building a

17:55 legacy head office would not have been a priority. However, this is a project that

18:00 has been running for three years and about 50% complete. The bank is fully

18:07 aware of its responsibilities to ensure that the costs do not escalate beyond

18:13 reasonable levels, and that many of the original design features, including the

18:20 data center, the currency processing center, ICT equipment, and specialized

18:26 security features, have or will have been deferred, and only grey boxes

18:32 provided for future use to manage costs. Let me end by reassuring the public on

18:39 the policy solvency of Bank of Ghana to achieve its statutory mandate going

18:46 forward. Every central bank's credibility depends on its ability to achieve its

18:51 mandate. These technical losses do not jeopardize that ability, and are sometimes

18:58 the price to pay for achieving those aims. It is important that we place the

19:05 central bank's policy mandate above profits. We must recognize the special

19:10 character of central banks and the role that they play in an economy. Central

19:17 banks are institutions of policy, public policy, and do not exist for profits, but

19:24 for national welfare, and as such could have a negative equity position and

19:29 continue to be policy effective. Very clear policies have been put in place to

19:35 return to positive equity in the medium term, and as we do this, we will continue

19:41 to rebuild our policy buffers to continue to provide the necessary

19:46 assurance of policy support as we build a stronger and a more resilient and

19:52 inclusive economy post pandemic. Thank you very much.

20:17 So we will take a question. One question from the media.

20:25 And so you had the governor of the Bank of Ghana giving details of losses that

20:40 the bank incurred in its financial year in 2022, and also responding to

20:46 allegations in the public domain about the new head of his building, and he's

20:51 been saying that the Bank of Ghana started construction way back in 2029,

20:55 and has been going on through 2020 till this year 2023, and that it's been

21:02 financed by profits made in 2019 through to this year, and that it hasn't been

21:08 using money that has been lost since the DDEP began in this year. We'll be

21:14 bringing you more on that, and we'll also be going live to our correspondent and

21:18 business editor George Riafie for more updates on that as we go. Now moving on,

21:26 43 persons died through road traffic accidents in July 2023 compared to the

21:32 same period in 2022. These are figures contained in the latest data on road

21:37 traffic casualties published by the National Road Safety Authority. According

21:41 to the data, 1,328 people died through crashes in July this year compared to

21:49 1,221 recorded last year. Let's take a look at the highlights and various

21:54 breakdowns as given to us by the National Road Safety Authority. And on

22:00 your screen we have the numbers that have been coming in in between

22:06 January to July 2023. The data says that cases reported in January to July 2023,

22:14 which is the yellow color you're seeing on your screen, is 8,137. In 2022, within

22:22 that same period, it was much higher, which is 8,869. Vehicles involved were

22:29 13,862, and in 2022 were slightly higher, over 2,000 higher, by 15,239.

22:40 Persons killed in January to July 2023 in the same period is 1,272 and 1,443 in

22:54 January to July 2022. Persons injured 9,135 in 2023 and 9,228 in 2022.

23:09 Pedestrian knockdowns were much less in January 2023, that is 1,418 and 1,580 in

23:20 2022. On your screen now is percentage change in the crashes in January to July

23:32 comparing July 2022 to July 2023, and we have minus 8.25% as cases reported. And

23:42 then vehicles involved, when you're comparing these two, you have minus 9.04%

23:49 which is the difference between both periods. Persons killed, you have a

23:54 difference of minus 11.85%, persons injured minus 1.01%, and pedestrian

24:01 knockdowns of minus 10.25%. And then we go to the road crashes and

24:12 casualty between January and July 2023. Cases reported 1,223 in July 2023 and

24:22 1,182 in July 2022. The vehicles involved are 2,099 this year and 1,991 last year.

24:37 Persons killed 186 this year in July this year and then 143 in July last year.

24:47 Persons injured slightly higher 1,328 persons injured in July this year and

24:56 1,221 slightly lower in July last year which is 2022. And pedestrian knockdowns

25:04 you see on your screen. Meanwhile the National Road Safety Authority says some

25:11 of the interventions ruled out are working. Commander Joint News for the

25:15 Drive Safe campaign, David Osafwa-Donting is acting Director General of the

25:20 National Road Safety Authority. The little motivation is that comparing this

25:27 year's figures to last year, we've seen some reductions in some of the

25:35 indicators. Marginal as some of them may look though, but it is very refreshing to

25:42 know that something positive is being done by way of interventions to have

25:48 come and reflecting positively also on the figures. Indeed the performance of

25:55 every country's road safety management is to see figures going down. The crashes,

26:00 the injuries and the deaths and those are the indicators that suggest that

26:05 some intervention is receiving or reflecting positively on the roads. So

26:13 that's quite quite motivating. But indeed we wish that we have far lower

26:19 figures so we can see some more reductions by now. But the level of

26:25 intervention that we're ruling out, the National Road Safety Authority itself as

26:30 a lead agency by way of the Drive Safe campaign that you, your media championed

26:36 and then the Stay Alive campaign that we also championed together, have gone deeper

26:43 into the structure of road safety management in this country to the extent

26:48 that campaign, education, publicity, advocacy, it's something that we can all

26:56 say that we have made some relevant achievement, very significant. Now you

27:01 don't get figures coming down for the sake of it. It is always contingent on

27:08 accepting practical work you are doing on the ground and that is how our figures

27:13 come down because we have factors that are always fighting against us. The

27:17 vehicle population is growing every day, human population is growing every day,

27:23 indiscipline on our roads and as you are aware some more functioning of certain

27:29 road facilities. These are all critical factors that give impetus for risk,

27:37 people to take risk and for that matter result in the deaths.

27:43 And still on our Drive Safe campaign, dysfunctional traffic and street lights

27:48 are becoming a common phenomenon in Greater Kumasi. A number of road traffic

27:53 accidents have occurred at some intersessions as a result of the

27:57 malfunctioning traffic lights coupled with some dysfunctional street lights.

28:01 Commuters have lamented delays on fixing these street lights and traffic lights.

28:07 Nana Bwachi Dankwa Iyadom interacted with some commuters at Amakum in Kumasi.

28:12 In several communities, dysfunctional traffic lights and street lights have

28:18 led to traffic congestion, wrong vehicle and pedestrian directions, motorist

28:22 conflict and prolonged travel times. The poor illumination at night and safety at

28:28 road intersections have become a worry to motorists and commuters.

28:32 This traffic light always sometimes it goes on, sometimes it goes off and even yesterday

28:38 as one of my brother was saying there was a accident here with a VIP and a

28:43 motorbike and this traffic light is the inner city traffic light from Kumasi to

28:48 Ajiso and Accra and you can see behind you, you have seen that those from Accra

28:54 to Kumasi they just stop here and watch those from Kumasi to Accra to come

28:59 before they to the move because of the traffic light and I don't know who is

29:02 responsible for the traffic light to I mean maintain or to repair when it goes

29:07 off anytime is it the road minister or is it any other institution who's

29:11 supposed to do the traffic light at all time in Kumasi here I can tell you and I

29:16 can show you that those living in Kumasi we don't have traffic light and it's

29:20 true this is a highway traffic light and it's off so those from the left and

29:25 those from the right who's supposed to pass and who's supposed to wait and even

29:29 the traffic light behind me the street light behind a traffic light you can see

29:34 it's not working some is not working so and this is a dark spot and here armed robbers

29:40 came around to rob us if you are holding your back like this with the way they

29:43 told us we have some mobile phone or laptop because we are all students living in

29:46 this area so we are pleading with authorities to come on board they should

29:50 do it on time.

29:52 We really do have a problem with our traffic lights over here.

30:01 Sometimes when the drivers use the stretch they do get confused.

30:12 City authorities really do use the stretch so I am really surprised as to why we have

30:17 some dysfunctional traffic lights coupled with dysfunctional street lights.

30:23 We really do record some accidents over here.

30:36 I am quite surprised as to why we have a dysfunctional traffic light on such a huge

30:42 stretch.

30:43 The assembly member thought of working on these dysfunctional traffic lights.

30:52 We got some MTTD officers to be stationed over here but they could not do the job.

30:58 We are living here in Amokum, we are living in a death trap concerning this stretch.

31:03 If you look at the dysfunction of this traffic light it's causing a lot of accidents over

31:07 here.

31:08 Just recently I think yesterday yeah there was a huge accident over here that was VIP

31:12 bus and a certain motorbike due to this dysfunction of this traffic light and it's very

31:17 disheartening and embarrassment.

31:19 So we are calling on the authorities to come into our aid.

31:22 Kumasi, we are very worried about this situation.

31:26 Look at the children's park just opened here and that place is called a headquarters of

31:30 Ann Roberts because of the abandonment of the street lights.

31:34 We don't have work there.

31:36 Reporting for JOY News, Nana Bwachi, Dankwa Yadom, Kumasi.

31:41 Now deaths from the Northeast Regional Floods have risen to eight as two more bodies were

31:46 found after a building collapsed on them in the Yongyon-Nansuyano District.

31:51 Now the incident occurred on Friday and the bodies have since been retrieved and buried.

31:55 Meanwhile authorities in Burkina Faso have begun the spillage of the Bagri Dam which

32:00 is expected to cause more flooding and potentially worsen the situation.

32:05 Speaking to JOY News, the regional minister Yidana Zakaria has called on residents leaving

32:10 and farming along the spillways to evacuate to safer grounds and stay alert.

32:15 Correspondent Ilya Sotanko reports.

32:18 The Northeast Regional authorities are still taking stock of the damages as a result of

32:22 the torrential rainfall in the region.

32:25 Eight people are now confirmed to have lost their lives and three more injured and receiving

32:30 treatment.

32:31 According to the Disaster Management Organization, the eight-died crew buildings collapsed and

32:36 drowned in the Eastern West Manprasir Municipality in the Yongyon-Nansuyano District.

32:41 The flooding has grounded transportation to certain parts of the region as road bridges

32:46 have been washed away.

32:47 Education and health care services have also been suspended in some of the affected areas

32:52 with several farmlands and houses destroyed and many residents are still stranded in their

32:57 communities with no access to other parts of the region.

33:00 As part of its regional toll of the affected areas to assist local authorities conduct

33:05 aftermath assessment, the regional minister Yidana Zakaria visited the Tripoli District,

33:10 one of the districts hard hit by the floods.

33:12 Here, the flooding has worsened the already bad state of the road network and the poor

33:17 living condition of the people as road bridges, farmlands as well as food crops have been

33:22 flooded and washed away.

33:24 At Tikinga, where a bridge linking the Tripoli and Yongyon District was collapsed, a member

33:29 of parliament, Tahiru Abdirazak, explained the state of damage caused by the torrential

33:34 rains.

33:35 "Where we are specifically is known as Tikinga, which falls within the Tripoli constituency

33:41 or Tripoli District.

33:43 And across the Bekan Bridge is Yuyu constituency.

33:47 Our sierre has been split at once, but beyond Yuyu, I'm told it's split at about two, three,

33:53 four times of the main road.

33:56 Yesterday was Wanchike Market Day.

33:58 Bunkuruku people, Yuyu, couldn't access Wanchike Market due to this damage.

34:03 But when we stand here and look at this way, we have communities along this side.

34:08 We have Daptangu, Nigeria, Patani, Babangani, Saku, Pampali, Saka, Pampali."

34:18 Let's stay a while longer in the Northeast region.

34:24 We're joined on the line by John Alasan Kweku, who is Northeast Region's NADMO Regional Director.

34:29 Good afternoon, sir.

34:30 Thank you for your time here.

34:32 How prepared are you to ensure that there is no other disaster or any deaths recorded

34:37 as the Baguio Dam has been spilled?

34:41 Well, I want to say good afternoon to you and good afternoon to the residents across the country.

34:47 And thank you for your question.

34:50 NADMO is a state and a state institution itself that is becoming to deal with so many issues

34:59 that we are all dealt with.

35:02 Even before the smooch, NADMO has already engaged residents along the White Coast.

35:10 We did some extensive coaching, asking them to move from higher ground to have themselves safe.

35:19 And those who are coming along the White Coast, we engaged with the host of address.

35:26 We gave them some space to go home and they need to cultivate their life so that by the time

35:33 they have their test or the background test is at 10 days, they will have had their test and left the home.

35:40 Better to have them down.

35:42 Monthly, we have been giving them a book, after the work, and we also released the documents

35:51 whenever they are able to do so.

35:55 We also started making the smooch and we realized that the water level at the White Coast started rising.

36:05 It's down.

36:08 So we are also calling on residents and people around the White Coast to be very cautious of their life.

36:16 You know, when you have a smooch, it's not just a happy time for them, it's also a distress.

36:24 So we are asking them to be alert so that they won't be able to affect us.

36:32 Well, Mr. Koko, are the residents responding to these calls to move to higher ground or safer ground,

36:39 as in anticipation of the water coming downstream?

36:46 Well, about the home safety, and this is not the first time they are doing this.

36:52 It's been a long time since we have had a smooch in this country.

36:59 And so some of them are called, they are moving to higher ground.

37:04 And I would advise the people who are not compliant with the call that we are making,

37:12 because you are not, for instance, able to report, some of them who are technical,

37:19 and moving to higher ground, but I want to show them.

37:23 Well, are there contingency plans to ensure safety of lives and property?

37:28 As for the contingency plan, as I said, the management has positioned itself specifically in the apartment,

37:36 in the north district, in the northern region, and moving in all the different, to handle the situation.

37:44 And so that's why we are not putting a maximum period.

37:51 And briefly before you go, I mean, following the floods earlier reported,

37:56 you said that you weren't able to reach some communities to give aid to the people stranded there.

38:02 What's the latest on the situation?

38:06 Well, some of the communities have left, but others are now assisting.

38:12 And to do that, we have met with other donor companies,

38:21 and that's what I support so much.

38:25 [inaudible]

38:53 to put their lives on the feet of the victims of the floods.

38:58 And we also assume, and I am very optimistic, that other donors have mentioned,

39:04 NGOs there, will come out to help them, so that they can return to their normal lives.

39:11 So I can also make an appeal to the government, businessmen, big men, other organizations,

39:25 to come to the aid of them.

39:27 Because we are talking about people's families that are taken over by water.

39:32 We are talking about people's food that is being washed away.

39:37 We are talking about people's food that is being pushed down because of the flood water.

39:43 So it's not easy.

39:45 And so you can understand that somebody finds themselves in a difficult position.

39:49 And understand.

39:50 So that's why I'm calling, you know, action that's good.

39:54 So all the people who are here to support this thing,

39:57 so that they can also feel happy in their daily life.

40:03 >> Director, Northeast Region, you're still watching "Join News Today."

40:07 We'll be right back with business.

40:09 [ Music ]

40:14 >> Hello, good afternoon.

40:15 Welcome to the business segment on "Join News Today" with me, Pius Kodjumbaka.

40:19 Interest rates surged on the money market to 31.08%

40:23 as government borrowing spree on the domestic market continued.

40:27 According to results of Treasury bills auctioned by the Bank of Ghana,

40:30 the government got 3.45 billion cedars,

40:34 lower than the ambitious targeted amount of 3.96 billion cedars.

40:38 Here is more.

40:41 >> The National Council for Curriculum and Assessment approved literacy

40:46 and numeracy materials were handed over to the Education Directorate for distribution to schools.

40:52 The Obwasi Municipal Director of Education says the book will complement efforts of the Directorate

40:59 to improve the reading abilities of children in the municipality.

41:03 George Alfred Cumson is direct.

41:05 >> Interest rates in Ghana rank the highest in middle-income countries in Africa.

41:10 The rates, however, are lower than the inflation of 43%,

41:14 indicating that the real rate of return on investment is negative.

41:19 According to data from the Bank of Ghana,

41:21 the yield on the '91 debt bill increased by 0.61% to 26.70%.

41:28 The debt of the 182-debt bill reached 27.88% from 27.59% the previous week.

41:36 The one-year bill reached up by 0.39% to a total of 1.08%.

41:42 Meanwhile, demand for the 182-debt bill for the first time in several years exceeded the '91-debt bill.

41:49 Investors tended 1.69 billion cedars for the six-month bill.

41:53 All the bets were accepted.

41:55 Investors also offered 1.63 billion cedars for the '91-debt bill, in which all the bets were accepted.

42:02 >> Anglo Gold Ashanti has partnered with the Otoomfo Study II Foundation

42:10 to invest in the reading culture of children in public basic schools.

42:14 30,000 books worth 1.3 million cedars were distributed to pupils in Obuasi Municipal

42:19 and Obuasi East District to improve reading skills.

42:23 There is more in this report.

42:25 >> National Council for Curriculum and Assessment approved literacy and numeracy materials

42:32 were handed over to the Education Directorate for Distribution to Schools.

42:37 The Obuasi Municipal Director of Education says the book will complement efforts of the Directorate

42:43 to improve the reading abilities of children in the municipality.

42:47 George Alfred Compson is Director of Education, Obuasi Municipal.

42:52 >> About two months ago, we had a training workshop on differentiated learning for the early grade teachers,

42:58 that is from kindergarten to basic three.

43:01 And after the workshop, we put in a request that we'd be very grateful if they supply us with books

43:07 which we will use to teach the children.

43:09 And here we are.

43:11 They brought the English, that's the literacy, and then a Ghana language books for the learners.

43:16 >> Prior to the distribution of books, AGA had trained 525 teachers at the preschool level

43:23 to effectively teach children.

43:25 Social Development and Gender Superintendent Mavis Nanayache noted the initiative

43:31 will strengthen the foundation of the education system in its operational areas.

43:36 >> And that's it for business. I am Pius Kujoba.

43:41 Cardara will be here at 1 p.m. with The Marketplace.

43:44 [ Music ]

43:49 >> Ladies and gentlemen, I want to join you today with me, Muftahu Nabila Abla.

43:53 Ghana's national record long jump athlete Deborah Akwa says that jumping 6.50

44:00 at the ongoing World Athletics Championships was expected because she's been injured

44:05 since the World Athletics Championships in Oregon last year.

44:09 According to her, Ghanaians, or the country Ghana had promised to support her,

44:14 but unfortunately she was let down as the support never came.

44:18 >> I think my performance, even though it wasn't expected, I was expecting it.

44:25 Like, not to say that I wasn't, like I wasn't prepared to do whatever that happened, you know, yesterday,

44:32 but looking at the whole of last year coming into this year with this whole injury,

44:40 no help coming from anybody, you know, like it was very challenging because I ended up having to

44:48 take care of my own self, spending money on this same injury, and then still not, you know,

44:54 seeing any improvement. So I decided not to, I decided to call it a quit.

45:01 Like I decided to not come to the World Champs because it got to a point where it was both my Achilles.

45:09 So I had to talk with my coach and then he was like, he think I should, you know, get the season over with.

45:16 >> That's your Sports Corner. We do have more sports stories on myjoyonline.com

45:22 and also at 2 p.m. when we come your way with sports today. We appreciate your time.

45:26 [Music]

45:31 >> Good afternoon. Welcome to Showbiz here on Joy News.

45:34 We're now beginning. In 2011, the Chaliwate Street Arts Festival has thrilled fans across the globe,

45:41 particularly Ghanaians. The event has evolved to bring together thousands of people from all walks of life

45:48 to experience the uniqueness of Ghanaian art and culture.

45:52 It's time to get yet another experience with exciting time as we kick start this year's edition in style.

46:00 Here is a detailed lineup of events.

46:03 >> Monday 3 p.m. we open with an all-white procession from Dawesu Castle into Dawesu community.

46:12 >> Okay.

46:13 >> Through the Black Star Square and back to...

46:16 >> All white.

46:17 >> All white.

46:18 >> Any reason for that?

46:19 >> It's called a day of remembering.

46:22 >> What are we remembering?

46:24 >> We're remembering the departed.

46:27 >> Okay.

46:28 >> We're also remembering ourselves as in who we are as people. And also it's also a celebration...

46:35 >> Okay.

46:36 >> ...of everything that we've done over the last 13 cycles.

46:41 There will be performances in the castle, the opening exhibition for Chalewote by a really talented Ghanaian art collective called Afwabe.

46:56 The name of the exhibition is "This is Not Make Believe." That's going to be inside the castle gardens on Monday.

47:04 It opens on Monday throughout the week until the 27th.

47:08 And then from the 22nd, from Tuesday to Friday, we have the film labs and film salons.

47:15 We're screening films from all over the world, but particularly from the continent and directors of African descent.

47:25 We have films from the Caribbean, Guyana, Jamaica, Trinidad and Tobago.

47:31 And, you know, when you see these films, you see how connected we are to these people, how similar our cultures are.

47:38 One of the films is about stilt walkers, you know, the stilt walking culture in Trinidad and Tobago.

47:44 And we have that here, you know, from Winnebago all the way into the Western region.

47:49 Basically, if you take out the language they're speaking, they're talking about us, you know.

47:55 So this, I mean, this is an opportunity for us to also engage the Caribbean.

47:59 I'm more interested in us connecting with other folks of African descent in the Caribbean, in South America, in Latin America.

48:09 Those people are much closer to us.

48:12 Meanwhile, Mancha, organizer of the event, has asked that creatives pay critical attention to archiving and keeping records of our history and traditions.

48:25 We need to take history more importantly. We need to pay attention to our own history.

48:30 Because we've had, you know, this renaissance that we're experiencing, you know, post-independence Guyana was like that.

48:39 You know, 60s into the 70s, even the 80s, you know, even during the revolution, people were still actively, you know, producing art.

48:50 Cultural engineers were still around, you know, but there is also no memory.

48:56 There's no institutional memory. It's almost non-existent.

49:00 So even when things are documented, we don't go back to it.

49:04 So sometimes you speak to young people and I feel like they say what they know sort of starts from when they become conscious.

49:16 You know, so there isn't an awareness of the past.

49:21 You know, the past is like consistently erased, you know, so people have nothing to point to or have no reference point.

49:30 And sometimes, you know, something happens to say it was the first time in Guyana.

49:34 And I'm like, no, this happened like 30 years ago.

49:39 You can't claim first. Also, these people, and they are very definite.

49:44 This is the first time it's happening. You know, so it's like, are you?

49:49 I don't know. Like, you can't just wake up and say things and be so sure that it's never happened in this country before.

49:59 There's more on Chalewate in our subsequent bulletins.

50:02 That will be all for Chauvis here on Join News Today. Good afternoon to you, Mamisi.

50:06 Good afternoon, Becky. And Chauve be there at Chalewate this afternoon.

50:10 It's starting at 3 p.m. Becky, you'll be there, right? Of course.

50:14 And that's it for the bulletin here on Join News Today.

50:18 We brought you sports as well and business.

50:21 There's more news on myjoyonline.com.

50:24 [Music.]

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