Access Bank raises GH¢29m from IPO

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December 20, 2016

Access Bank raised GHC29.6 million at the close of the Initial Public Offering (IPO) but expects about GHC96 million from potential investors.

The bank has described the development as successful considering that its initial target was GHC 21 million at the close of the IPO.

The IPO prospectus aims at raising GHC104 million. With the initial funds and that of potential investors, the company is looking at raising about GHC 125 million.

The amount will be invested in two critical operations of the bank; expanding its physical presence nationwide and massive investment into ICT.

This will help it attract more business as it increases its customer base and afford clients stress-free banking services.

“We want to expand our retail business. All investment will be geared towards making banking convenient to our retail customers, making sure that we serve our corporate and commercial client effectively and efficiently; and making banking easy,” the Head of Financial Control, Caleb Osei told Starr Business’ Osei Owusu Amankwah.

He added that the amount that has been raised is enough to sustain the bank’s operation for the next five years and also satisfy the increment of the minimal capital of banks by the central bank set to be announced soon.

The bank currently has over 300,000 customers and hopes the figure will significantly increase in the coming years.

“We will be the preferred bank in terms of the retail market by the end of first quarter next year. We have a few retail products that we will be lunching; apart from the mobile banking app that we have come up with recently, there are few products that we are coming up with next year that will make banking very convenient,” Mr. Osei said.

Source: Ghana/StarrFMonline.com/103.5FM/Osei Owusu Amankwah

Gambian ambassadors urge Jammeh to step down

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December 20, 2016

Eleven Gambian ambassadors serving in various countries around the world have called on outgoing President Yahya Jammeh to hand power and congratulate his rival Adama Barrow.

The diplomats’ move comes in the wake of Mr Jammeh’s decision to challenge the outcome of the December 1 presidential election, which he had initially accepted – even congratulating Mr Barrow.

In their joint appeal letter, the diplomats, including the ambassadors to Beijing, London, New York, Moscow and Brussels, say: “We… strongly appeal for you to accept the choice of The Gambian people and facilitate a peaceful transfer of power to the President-Elect, Mr Adama Barrow.”

The tone of their appeal is diplomatic rather than hawkish and credits President Jammeh’s initial response to the result.

“Your statesmanly and televised acceptance of the election results in favour of the coalition candidate on 2nd December, was acclaimed and applauded throughout the world.

“The fact that you further congratulated Mr Barrow on his victory and assured him of your support and guidance was testimony to the fact that you care for the progressive development of The Gambia in a peaceful and orderly transition,” they said.

Efforts by the regional grouping, Ecowas, to convince Mr Jammeh to step down have so far been unsuccessful.

Source: BBC

Facebook accused over WhatsApp takeover

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December 20, 2016

Facebook has been accused by the European Commission of misleading it during its investigation of the company’s 2014 takeover of WhatsApp.

The Commission says it was misled when Facebook said it was impossible to match users’ Facebook and WhatsApp accounts.

But in August, WhatsApp said it would do just that, by linking users’ phone numbers with their Facebook identities.

Facebook said it had nothing to hide and had acted in good faith.

The Commission believes the ability to link the accounts of the two services’ users must have existed in 2014, though this is vigorously disputed by Facebook.

If the Commission concludes that it was definitely misled, either by accident or design, it could fine Facebook up to 1% of its turnover, which would amount to hundreds of millions of euros.

“Companies are obliged to give the Commission accurate information during merger investigations,” said Commissioner Margrethe Vestager, who is in charge of competition policy,

“In this specific case, the Commission’s preliminary view is that Facebook gave us incorrect or misleading information during the investigation into its acquisition of WhatsApp.”

‘Continued cooperation’

Facebook is being asked to respond by 31 January 2017.

For its part, it says that it was only very early this year that it found a way to establish a link with the accounts of WhatsApp users, via their phone numbers.

And even so, Facebook says in fact it still cannot match accounts with the precision needed for full “cross-platform messaging”, which it argues was the Commission’s main concern back in 2014.

“We’ve consistently provided accurate information about our technical capabilities and plans, including in submissions about the WhatsApp acquisition and in voluntary briefings before WhatsApp’s privacy policy update this year,” said a Facebook spokesman.

“We’re pleased that the Commission stands by its clearance decision, and we will continue to cooperate and share information officials need to resolve their questions,” he added.

The Commission said its new probe would not undermine its previous decision to approve the $19bn (£16bn) merger of the two companies because it had not relied on the misleading information alone to approve the deal.

Regulatory quagmire

When WhatsApp announced its new policy in August, it justified it by saying this would lead to an improved service, such as providing “more relevant” friend suggestions, letting businesses send adverts directly to users, and also by dealing more effectively with spam and abuse.

But the change has come under scrutiny from regulators across Europe.

The day after the new policy was announced, the UK’s Information Commissioner (ICO) launched an immediate investigation to see if the alteration broke the UK’s data protection laws.

In September, the Hamburg Commissioner for Data Protection and Freedom of Information told Facebook to stop collecting and storing the data of German users of WhatsApp.

Then in November the UK’s Information Commissioner followed suit and told Facebook not to use the data it had gathered from its WhatsApp users in the UK, saying the firm had not obtained valid consent for the move.

Meanwhile European data regulators in October also asked the two tech companies to stop sharing data while the new policy was scrutinised.

Source: BBC

Becca parties with Osu Children’s home

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December 20, 2016

Songstress Becca, on Saturday, December 17, treated kids from the Osu Children’s Home to a Christmas party at the Fun House of Max Mart.

The event which was in collaboration with Zylofon Media gave several kids from the home the opportunity to play and dine with Becca.

Speaking about the reason behind her gesture, Becca said: “Most of the time people visit the Children’s home and make donations in all forms but are never there to know what really happens afterwards. Some of the donations in the form of clothes, cash, etc on most occasions are not given to the kids.

“So this time with the support of Zylofon Media, we have gone to bring them from the home, so they can get to play with all these toys and games here. After, we serve them with the variety of food, have some fun, make some donations and finally say good bye to them with some Christmas presents.”

True to her words, the event was hugely successful and the kids were really happy to have the opportunity to play outside their usual environment and dine with one of their role models.

Source: Ghana/StarrFMonline.com/103.5FM

Reverse capital gains tax – GSE boss to Akufo-Addo

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December 20, 2016

The Ghana Stock Exchange has called on the incoming government to review the capital gains tax.

The tax which took effect on January 01, 2016 is part of the new Income Tax Law 2015. It is paid when one makes profit from selling an asset such as stocks or property.

This means that capital gains earned by companies are subjected to a flat tax rate of 15 percent.

The Managing Director of the GSE, Kofi Yamoah said this renders Ghana’s Stock Exchange less competitive in the sub-region while at the same time, hindering the growth of the capital market.

The performance of the Stock Exchange for this year has been poor owing to the unfavorable economic indicators such as Treasury bill rates. Mr. Yamoah said investors would repose more confidence in the bourse if government rates reduce.

Source: Ghana/Starrfmonline.com/103.5FM

Fifa proposes two-year ban for Nigeria’s Amos Adamu

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December 20, 2016

Nigerian administrator Amos Adamu is facing another ban from all football-related activities by Fifa.

The investigatory chamber at the world governing body’s ethics committee has been looking into alleged breaches of its code of ethics since March 2015.

It has now recommended a two-year ban and a fine for Adamu, a former Fifa executive committee member who was banned for three years in 2010.

A final decision on his punishment may several take months to be determined.

A Fifa statement says Adamu, who was also once on the Confederation of African Football board, violated three articles – covering general rules of conduct, loyalty and conflict of interest – of its Code of Ethics.

“For reasons linked to privacy rights and the presumption of innocence until proven guilty, the adjudicatory chamber will not publish further details at the present time,” the statement reads.

The 62-year-old was a member of Fifa’s executive committee for four years until 2010, when he was banned from all football activity for three years.

He was found guilty of asking for money in exchange for World Cup votes – an accusation he denied.

Adamu’s suspension expired in October 2013.

A high-ranking government official for Nigerian sport for 20 years, Adamu was once considered to be a leading candidate to succeed long-serving Issa Hayatou as Caf president.

Source: BBC

Ex-NDC general sec. Josiah Aryeh dies at 64

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December 20, 2016

A former General Secretary of the National Democratic Congress Dr Josiah Aryeh is dead after battling a protracted illness.

He died at 64 years.

According to party sources, Dr. Aryeh who fell out with the party passed on at the 37 Military Hospital on Tuesday.

He was a professor of law and a teacher at the Ghana School of Law.

Dr. Aryeh was suspended by the NDC in 2004 over bribery allegations in relation to the then governing New Patriotic Party (NPP).

He later joined the National Democratic Party (NDP) in 2012 as the National Chairman of the party but took the backstage and allowed Dr. Nana Asare Bediako to take over his position in 2016 because he was battling with health issues.

He was born in James Town in Accra in 1958. He attended Accra High and Achimota School for his O and A level education before proceeding to read History and Law at the University of Ghana. He was called to the Bar in 1983.

In April 1984 he left for the UK for his postgraduate education, where he obtained LLM (LSE), Certificate in Law Teaching (UC, London) and PhD (SOAS). He returned to Ghana in January 1998 as a private legal practitioner and Lecturer at his alma mater.

Source: Ghana/Starrfmonline.com/103.5FM

Living standard of Ghanaians will change – Akufo-Addo

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December 20, 2016

President-elect Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo has assured Ghanaians that they will see an improvement in the standard of living under his presidency.

According to him, the next four years must have a positive impact on the life of the ordinary Ghanaian.

“I am extremely concerned, that the next four years will see a marked improvement in the living standards of the people of Ghana,” the president-elect made the comments during his official tour to Nigeria after he won the presidential elections.

Mr. Akufo-Addo addressing the Governor of the Imo State in Nigeria Owelle Rochas Anayo Okorocha, Monday added: “the Ghanaian economy has taken a hit in these last three or four years but we believe with discipline, with hard work and correct set of policies we should be able to bring the country back to prosperity.”

The president-elect who beat Incumbent President, John Dramani Mahama in the just ended presidential election is on a three-day visit to Nigeria where he will have discussions with the oil producing country’s leader, Muhammudu Buhari.

Mr. Akufo-Addo also assured the Imo State governor that relationship between the two West African countries will be strengthened under his presidency.

“We value the historic relationship between the two countries. It is important that such links are established between our people and our leaders. They give confidence to our populations that we are working to try and resolve their problems and help them progress with their lives…the stronger the relationship between the two countries is, the better it is for the West Africa Region and the continent large,” he added.

Source: Ghana/Starrfmonline.com/103.5FM/Kobina Welsing

Gov’t increases National Service allowance by 40%

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December 20, 2016

The Ministry of Finance has approved a 40% increment in the allowances of National Service personnel, translating from GHC350 to GHC559.05.

A letter signed by the ministry’s chief Director, Patrick Nomo and dated 14^th December, 2016 read in part that “…approval is hereby given for the National Service personnel allowance to be adjusted as follows: Current rate-GHC350…approved rate-GHC559.04.”

“By copy of this letter, the Auditor-General is requested to audit the new rate to enable the Ministry of Finance authorize payment,” it added.

The increment is expected to take effect from January 1, 2017.

Source: Ghana/StarrFMonline.com/103.5FM

Mahama confirms Whittal as CHRAJ boss

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December 20, 2016

President John Dramani Mahama has confirmed Joseph Whittal as the new Commissioner for the Commission on Human Rights and Administrative Justice (CHRAJ).

Mr. Whittal was sworn-in at a short ceremony at the Flagstaff House Tuesday afternoon.

Mr. Whittal has been acting as the head for CHRAJ since the former commissioner, Lauretta Vivian Lamptey was removed by the President after causing financial loss to the state.

The President has appointed Ms. Josephine Nkrumah as the substantive head of the National Commission for Civic Education (NCCE).

Ms. Nkrumah who was a deputy chairman for the commission replaces Mrs. Charlotte Osei, wdho was as the head of the country’s Electoral Commission by the President in July last year.

The appointments come few weeks after the President lost the presidential election to opposition NPP leader Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo.

The president-elect will be sworn-in on January 7, 2017.

Source: Ghana/Starrfmonline.com/103.5FM/Kobina Welsing