Business
Fuel prices to drop – COPEC predicts

The Chamber of Petroleum Consumers Ghana (COPEC) has predicted fuel prices to go down in the next pricing windows.
According to COPEC Ghana, petrol is likely to be sold at GH¢11.67 per litre, down from the GH¢12.00 being sold at the moment.
“The second pricing window of the month of May 2023 is set to commence in a few hours from now, indications are that pump prices are likely to decline for fuel products across the country,” a statement issued by COPEC said.

It added “The following basic information forms the basis of projections for the coming window, that; Crude price has seen a decline from the mean price of $85.29/barrel to $76.64/barrel (-10.14%) whiles the forex or Dollar exchange rate has slightly decreased from a previous average of GHS12.0060 to GHS11.9963 (0.08%) per $1, the following shall be the predicted retail figures for Petroleum products; Petrol – GH¢11.67/L, Diesel GH¢11.51/L.
“Fuel prices in the first May pricing window were fairly stable.”
CHAMBER OF PETROLEUM CONSUMERS
14 May 2023
REVIEW OF FUEL PRICES FOR THE SECOND WINDOW OF MAY 2023.
The second pricing window of the month of May, 2023 is set to to commence in a few hours from now, indications are that pump prices are likely to decline for fuel products across the country.
the following basic information forms the basis of projections for the coming window, that; Crude price has seen a decline from the mean price of $85.29/barrel to $76.64/barrel (-10.14%) whiles the forex or Dollar exchance rate has slightly decreased from a previous average of GHS12.0060 to GHS11.9963 (0.08%) per $1, the following shall be the predicted retail figures for Petroleum products.
Petrol .. GHS11.67/L
Diesel .. GHS11.51/L
Current Mean Price for Petrol and Diesel*..GHS11.59/L
LPG.. GHS10.63/kg
Thus for a 14.5 kg LPG cylinder, is expected to be selling at GHS154.10 for the window.
All Predictions are within (±5%) error margin.
Find below are the details of the projections for the window.
Petrol
With the international price declining from $868.14/MT to $795.31/MT (-8.39%), the retail price works up to GHS11.67/L
Thus, Petrol is expected to decline by 4.94%* of the current Mean Market price of GHS12.28/L, to close selling between GHS11.09/L and GHS12.26/L within ±5% of this prediction.
Diesel
With the International benchmark prices declining from $747.93/MT to $673.25/MT (-9.98%), the expected mean retail price for the next window shall be GHS11.51/L
Thus, Diesel is expected to also decline by some 6.53%* of the current Mean Market price of GHS12.31/L to be selling between GHS10.93/L and GHS12.08/L within ±5% of projection.
Mean Price of Petrol and Diesel
The Mean price of Petrol and Diesel for the coming window per the numbers shall be 11.59/L ± 5%
LPG
With the international benchmark prices declining from $522.77/MT to $452.75/MT (-13.39%) the projected retail price of LPG is expected to see a reduction by about 1.02% from the current average of 11.64/kg to GHS10.63/kg.
Thus, within ±5% error, LPG is expected to be sold between GHS10.10/kg and GHS11.16/kg
Government is however encouraged to do all it can to reduce taxes on LPG or to subsidise the price of LPG to promote or encourage its nationwide accessibility and usage which will eventually help save the environment.
Signed.
Duncan Amoah.
Executive Secretary.
Business
We’ll ensure there are enough funds for 2023/2024 cocoa purchasing season – COCOBOD

COCOBOD has assured that concrete steps have been taken to ensure it is able to secure enough funds to finance its annual cocoa purchases in the 2023/2024 crop season.
Against the backdrop of a reportage by Reuters that the firm had borrowed up to $200 million from cocoa traders to plug its funding gap, COCOBOD said it had adopted a two-prong financing strategy to ensure that it obtained the required funds for the purchasing season.
A statement from COCOBOD in response to the Reuters report indicated that it had had firm assurances from its bankers of making funds available in time for the purchasing season and that a “Cocoa syndicated Loan has been laid in Parliament for consideration and approval.”

Below is COCOBOD’s full statement.
FINANCING OF PURCHASES FOR 2023/24 CROP SEASON
There have been some recent publications in the news media in relation to funds for cocoa purchases for the 2023/24 Crop Season.
We wish to brief our stakeholders on this very sensitive national issue as follows:
COCOBOD planned a two-prong financing for the 2023/2024 Crop Season in an effort to diversify Its source of funding for the annual cocoa purchases.
The strategy was therefore, to use a prefinancing arrangement with the international buyers to raise an amount of US$400 million for purchases at the beginning of the Season in September 2023.
These initial funds were expected to be augmented by an additional US$800 million loan from a syndicate of lenders by the end of November 2023. After engagements with buyers for several weeks, the arrangement was however discontinued.
Thus, since the beginning of the Season, cocoa purchases have been financed with noncollateralized cocoa sales proceeds. COCOBOD is therefore still in the process of securing the syndicated loan for the 2023/24 Crop Season.
As a matter of fact, the Board has so far received firm response from our bankers in this regard, and the Cocoa syndicated Loan has been laid in Parliament for consideration and approval.
We wish to use this medium to assure our stakeholders that the necessary arrangements have been made to secure enough funding for cocoa purchases for the year under review.
ISSUED BY: PUBLIC AFFAIRS DEPARTMENT
Business
Ghana is a good place to do business – Bawumia tells Czech investors

Vice President Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia is actively seeking Czech investors for the country.
Dr. Bawumia emphasized that Ghana remains the best country in Africa for investment due to its stability, peace, and growth opportunities for businesses.
He made these remarks during his meeting with the Czech Prime Minister, Peter Fiala, at the Jubilee House in Accra.

“Ghana is an excellent place for doing business. We are the most peaceful country in West Africa and the second most peaceful country in Africa. It is crucial for anyone looking to invest in Africa to consider Ghana as the ideal destination for business.”
“I am confident that this will open up opportunities for our respective business sectors,” he stated.
Business
Mahama’s ’24hr Economy’ project will revolutionize Ghana – Dafeamekpor

South Dayi Member of Parliament, Rockson Nelson Dafeamekpor, has said that the ’24-hour Economy’ project conceived by the flagbearer of the National Democratic Congress (NDC) Former President John Dramani Mahama will turn the economy around if implemented.
Mr Mahama proposed the ’24hr Economy ‘ project when he met with officials of the country’s mother workers union on Tuesday, November 7, 2023 at the start of his engagement with key stakeholders in a quest to return to power.
Dubbed ‘Building Ghana Tour’, the interactions with the stakeholders is to apprise them of the policies the next NDC administration will implement to transform the economy.

At Tuesday’s engagement, he said “NDC was left alone as the solitary voice seeking to hold the government accountable and speaking up for the voiceless Ghanaian and we were often cast out as spoilt brats who were ranting just because we have lost power.
“Today, the chickens have come home to roost and we are all affected.”
Commenting on this in a tweet, Mr Dafeamekpor said “Some concrete Examples of John Mahama’s ‘24hr Economy’ Projects include Terminal 3 at Kotoka, Tema Port Container Terminal, New Ridge Hospital, Maritime Hospital, Tema, UGMC, Legon, Kejetia Market, Accra Data Centre, the TamaleTeaching Hospital. It’ll revolutionize the economy.”