Business
We have capacity to produce armoured bullion vans for banks to meet BoG deadline – GAF
The Ghana Armed Forces (GAF) has said it has what it takes to produce enough bullion vans for banks and financial institutions in Ghana which are currently racing against time to meet a July 1, 2023 deadline.
The Bank of Ghana (BOG) in 2021 issued a directive for all financial institutions to procure the protective sophisticated vans failure to which the Bank of Ghana said it would not admit any substandard or soft-skinned Cash in Transit (CIT) vehicle into any of it’s premises nationwide.
This deadline was however extended to July 1, 2023 just after the James Town robbery attack on a Bullion Van in which a police officer was killed and another by- stander was hit with a stray bullet.
The series of robbery attacks on officers accompanying sub-standard vehicles for cash transfers forced the Inspector General of Police to issue threats not to escort any vehicle without the necessary protection for police officers.
Board Secretary of the Defence Industries Holding Company Limited (DIHOC), the business arm of the Ghana Armed Forces, Brigadier General Benjamin Amoah-Boakye, who doubles as Director General of Legal Services of the Ghana Armed Forces said they have a plant located at Burma Camp in Accra which has the capacity to assemble bullion vans.
Speaking to Alfred Ocansey on TV3’s Ghana Tonight, Brigadier General Benjamin Amoah-Boakye, lamented the risk and cost involved for banks and financial institutions to continue to chart money in ordinary vans.
“Having military men in pickups holding guns following another soft-skin vehicle transiting cash is quite not a good sight because you’re not because you’re not in the jungle so to speak. And if you look at the cost implications, as you deploy one vehicle carrying about seven soldiers following one CIT vehicle, each soldier is entitled to some monies as per diem”, he said.
He explained that what DIHOC and its partners have is more secure and has ultra modern features that meet today’s security standards.
“So when you have the type of vehicles we’re assembling where you have a driver, two escorts and a teller within an environment where they’re very secured and other services that we provide including having a national control room where the vehicles are tracked”, he said.
He said the original idea for the plant was to assemble armoured vehicles for the Ghana Armed Forces but that a production line has been added to produce the armoured bullion vans to help address the security of cash in transit. He said they have so far assembled four armoured bullion vans ‘and those four are for a particular bank and we’re in the process of assembling more, as I said we produce only on demand’.
Source: 3news.com
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
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.
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.”
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