U.S. – Ghana Digital Forum

AmCham Ghana, on Monday, March 2, held the U.S. – Ghana Digital Forum on the theme; Securing Ghana’s Cyberspace for Future Digital Growth.

The forum was an AmCham IT committee meeting with government agencies and other stakeholders to gain a better understanding of each other’s activities and perspectives in securing the country’s cyberspace.

Speaking at the event, Deputy Minister for Communications, Vincent Sowah Odotie (MP), shared some policies and programs that are being implemented by the government of Ghana to build a resilient and robust digital ecosystem.

He mentioned the government’s efforts in fighting cybercrime through capacity building in the judiciary, and the development of the country’s incident response capabilities with the establishment of the National Computer Emergency Response Team at the National Cyber Security Centre.

“Ghana has also ratified two international conventions namely the African Union Convention on Cybersecurity and Data Protection (Malabo Convention), and the Convention on Cybercrime (Budapest Convention), making her the 5th country to ratify to both treaties,” Hon. Odotie added.

Other speakers at the event included AmCham Ghana President, Ayesha Bedwei, and the U.S. Ambassador to Ghana, Stephanie S. Sullivan, who stressed the importance of developing new habits to deal with cyber threats.

The forum also featured a panel discussion on the Cyber Security Bill, fake news, the role of data privacy/protection in securing communication and data storage, the state of the nation’s connectivity infrastructure, and the government’s initiative to establish Ghana as a leader in ICT innovation in the sub-region by 2023.

The panel was made up of Mr. Owusu Bediako-Poku, Director of Operations at the National Cyber Security Centre, Mr. Kwaku Kyei Ofori, Deputy Director-General at the National Information Technology Agency, and Prof. Kwaku Appiah-Adu, Head of the Delivery Unit, Office of the Vice President.

The session was moderated by Franklin Asare, Country Director at Oracle / AmCham IT Committee Chairman.

Also present at the forum were executives from VISA, Uber, PwC, IBM, Emergent Technology, National Information Technology Agency, KPMG, Oracle Corporation, American Tower Corporation, National Cyber Security Centre, Office of the Vice President, the Bank of Ghana, and representatives from other AmCham member companies.

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AmCham Development Financing Forum

The chamber, in collaboration with the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) on Thursday, February 27, 2020, held a forum to discuss financing development through the U.S. Development Finance Corporation (DFC). 

James Lykos, Primary DFC Liaison for USAID/Ghana, took participants through the institutional structure, tools, and capabilities of the DFC. He also explained the eligibility requirements of the program.  

The DFC is a $60 billion program to invest in sectors ranging from critical infrastructure, energy, technology to health care, and financing for small businesses and women entrepreneurs in Low-income (LICs) or lower-middle-income (LMICs) countries. 

“The DFC is equipped with a more than doubled investment cap of $60 billion and new financing tools such as equity financing, debt financing, political risk insurance, and technical development.

“With the $60 billion cap, the DFC would be shared among Africa, Latin America, and Asia, with each continent receiving approximately $20 billion under the initiative,” he said.

He stated that the DFC consolidated and modernized the Overseas Private Investment Corporate (OPIC) and the Development Credit Authority (DCA) of the United States Agency for International Development (USAID).

The initiative is designed to help businesses to expand into emerging markets, finance solutions to the most critical challenges facing the developing world and reinforces US foreign policy and national security interests.

Click here to download the presentation for more information on the DFC. Email James Lykos, Primary DFC Liaison for USAID/Ghana at jlykos@usaid.gov for specific questions about how the DFC can apply to your projects. 

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The Capital Group Limited | AmCham Member of the Month

The Capital Group Limited (TCGL) is a Management Consulting firm established under the Companies Act of Ghana, 1963 (Act 179) on 22nd May 1996 and commencement of business on the 24th May 1996 to provide management consulting services in Human Resource, Training and Organizational Development, Facilities Management, Financial Management, Financial Advisory Services, and Event Management services for the public and private sectors in Ghana. Originally in the form of two wholly-owned subsidiaries – Capital Consulting Limited and Capital Factors and Debt Management Services Limited – the group consolidated into one company, The Capital Group Limited by the close of 2004.

The company in line with its vision has built a multi-cultural workforce that allows it to build on the expertise of its non-executive directors and management team in the areas of Recruitment, Contract Staffing, Training, People and Project Management, and Financial Advisory Services. Over the years, our emphasis on quality coupled with our business philosophy of “The Power of Partnership” has earned us the trust of our clients.

We have developed deep relationships with clients in various sectors including Insurance, Banking, Mining, Manufacturing and Construction, Oil and Gas, Hospitality, Aviation, Telecommunication Services, and Engineering.

 

Group’s Full Range of Services

  1. Human Resource Services:
  • Recruitment
  • Contract/Temporary Staffing
  • Staff-Outsourcing
  • Consulting
  • Talent Management Solutions- Harrison Assessment
  • Staff Screening
  • HR Audit
  • Functional HR Outsourcing
  1. Training and Organizational Development:
  • Corporate Training
  • Leadership Retreat and Development
  • Change Management
  • Organizational Development
  • Customer Service Training (Representative/Consultant of the Service Quality Institute of USA).
  • Reliability Maintenance and Engineering Training
  • Effective Debt Recovery and Negotiations Skills Training
  • Corporate Image and Grooming
  • Supervisory Skills for Efficiency and Performance Training
  • Overcoming the Dysfunctions of a Team, Leadership and Management Skills Training
  1. Event Management:
  • International Workshops
  • Public Educational Seminars
  • Conferences
  • Annual People Challenge Summit (HR and IR Conference)
  • Maintenance Engineering Conference.
  1. Industrial Relations:
  • Collective Bargaining
  • Negotiation
  • Employee Relational Management
  1. E-Learning Solutions
  2. Financial Services
  • Financial Advisory Services
  • Debt Recovery
  • Receiver/Manager Function
  • Factoring

CLIENTS AND PARTNERSHIPS

  • GCB BANK LIMITED
  • FBN BANK LIMITED
  • TOTAL PETROLEUM GHANA
  • GHANA BAUXITE COMPANY LIMITED
  • CARGILL
  • GRAPHIC COMMUNICATION
  • GRAPHIC PACKAGING
  • AVIAT NETWORK
  • ITALIAN TRADE AGENCY
  • JAY KAY LTD
  • MOBILITY INT.
  • DUNLOP CONVEYOR BELTING
  • IHRMP
  • GOLDFIELDS GHANA LTD
  • NEDCO

Learn more

Mastercard Joins AmCham Ghana

The chamber is pleased to announce the world’s fastest payment processing network, Mastercard, as our new Platinum Member.

For more than 50 years, Mastercard has been using their technology and expertise to make payments safer, simpler and smarter. They know safety and security are the top priorities of their customers, cardholders, and partners, that’s why they won’t stand still in developing new and better ways to keep payments safe.

Innovation is at the heart of Mastercard’s 50-year history. They take an innovative, value-driven approach to the solutions they create and the services they offer, making transactions faster, easier, and more convenient and secure.

As technology advances, devices change and payment methods adapt, Mastercard continually innovate to ensure the safety of billions of electronic payments wherever and whenever they occur. Their goal is to build a World Beyond Cash® where every person, every payment and every device is protected.

What started as a small group of bankers is now a driving force in the payments industry and providing the technology that’s leading the way toward a World Beyond Cash. Learn more here 

About the American Chamber of Commerce (Ghana)

The American Chamber of Commerce (AmCham) Ghana is the representative arm of U.S businesses and subsidiaries voluntarily working to create an environment where businesses can thrive between Ghanaian and American communities. AmCham exists to promote commercial, economic, educational and cultural ties between the United States of America and the Republic of Ghana. The Chamber is one of the 118 affiliates of the U.S Chamber of Commerce, which is the world’s largest business association with over one million members worldwide.

www.amchamghana.org

US Embassy Relaunches BVAP On Pilot Basis

AmCham Ghana, the U.S. Embassy in Ghana, and PwC on Thursday, January 16, 2020, relaunched the Business Visa Appointment Program (BVAP) on a pilot basis to streamline the visa appointment process for qualified companies.

Potential BVAP companies will be nominated by the U.S. Embassy Foreign Commercial Service, Economic Section, and Foreign Agricultural Service, for approval by the Consul General.

This program is for full-time employees of qualified companies traveling for business purposes.  It does not cover accompanying family members, or for employees traveling for personal reasons.

Employees are required to complete a visa application, pay the visa fee, and use the online appointment system to book a visa interview, even if the interview date is after the date of travel. The Consular Section will not approve a BVAP request when these steps have not been taken.

An approved BVAP request does not guarantee a favorable visa adjudication. It is up to the discretion of the interviewing Consular Officer whether an applicant qualifies for a visa and whether the visa should be limited.

The Embassy believes this program will be mutually beneficial and would help companies secure favorable visa appointment dates for their workers. The program is currently being run on pilot basis with 10 companies and would be open to other qualified companies in due course.

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AmCham Ghana Holds the 2020 Economic Outlook Forum

The American Chamber of Commerce, Ghana, on Friday, January 10,  held the 2020 Economic Outlook Forum to provide members with insights on the 2020 Budget Statement of the Government of Ghana, the implications of tax and fiscal policies on businesses as well as highlight compliance with existing and emerging legal and regulatory policies.

Abeku Gyan-Quansah, Tax Partner at PwC, presented Ghana’s 2020 Economic Outlook with emphasis on the 2020 Budget Statement and its impact on business, the state of the economy, the new companies act, and the proposed tax exemption bill.

Mr. Gyan-Quansah, in his presentation, noted that the Government of Ghana expects to achieve a real GDP growth (including oil) of 6.8%, an end of period inflation of 8%, and an overall fiscal budget deficit of 4.7% in 2020. He stated that the government’s expenditure for 2020 is estimated to be GH¢84.5 billion, and its total revenue is estimated to be GH¢67.1 billion resulting in a deficit of GH¢17.4 billion.

According to him, although from experience, governments are prone to overspend in an election year, the overall fiscal deficit in 2020 is expected to remain within the 5% threshold imposed by the Fiscal Responsibility Act (2018) which requires fiscal deficit to be up to 5%.

He mentioned that of the GH¢67.1 billion revenue expected in 2020, the government intends to generate GH¢51.5 billion from taxes alone (GH¢26.6 billion from income and property tax, GH¢19.1 billion from taxes on goods and services and GH¢5.8 billion from international trade tax). He cautioned that given that Ghana’s economy is largely informal and the fact that 2020 is an election year, the government will pursue companies rather than individuals to be tax compliant in 2020.

He also stated that the government’s anticipated GH¢26.6 billion revenue from direct taxes represents a 20% increase from the revenue generated in 2019. And to achieve this growth in revenue, it is likely the government will introduce new taxes in addition to existing measures. The new measures, he said, could include:

  • increase in the tax-free band for individuals to ensure that the minimum wage for 2020 is tax-exempt;
  • increase in personal reliefs such as marriage relief, child education relief, personal educational relief, and old age relief;
  • renewal and extension of the National Fiscal Stabilization Levy (NFSL); and
  • a 5% tax on the accounting profit before tax of selected entities;
  • a requirement for taxpayers to disclose their aggressive tax planning arrangements under the relevant Base Erosion and Profit Shifting (“BEPS”) Action Point.

For indirect taxes, Mr. Gyan-Quansah noted that the government intends to introduce new policy measures in addition to existing ones to achieve its 2020 revenue target. The new policy measures include:

  • the renewal and extension of the Special Import Levy for five years;
  • strengthening the regulatory framework for taxation of the digital economy;
  • Value Added Tax (VAT) exemptions for fund management companies; and
  • the Automative Manufacturing Development Policy which offers three to ten years of tax holidays as well as VAT and Special Import Levy exemptions for businesses in the automotive industry for vehicles.

He explained further that the government will introduce tax-related administrative measures to enhance revenue mobilization. According to him, the tax administrative measures include:

  • a Revenue Administration Regulation which includes a voluntary disclosure procedure to waive penalties on voluntary disclosure by taxpayers and an Alternative Dispute Resolution to resolve tax disputes between taxpayers and tax administration;
  • reforming the Ghana Revenue Authority to make it more efficient and productive; and
  • developing a comprehensive revenue policy and strategy.

He added that Ghana now has a Tax Exemptions Bill with clear procedures for obtaining tax exemptions, but the bill is yet to be passed into law, although the government had intended to pass it in June 2018. He, therefore, called on parliament to speed up processes to pass the bill. He also noted that the Tax Exemptions Bill, if passed into law, will repeal any existing enactment related to tax exemptions except for enactments in income tax and the VAT.

Constance Ameyartey, Chartered Secretary, PwC, briefly educated members of the chamber on major changes in the new Companies Act 2019 (Act 992). She noted that, apart from companies operating in regulated industries, the new Companies Act grants companies the option to file a registered constitution upon registration with the Registrar of Companies. She added that the Companies Act 2019 (Act 992) also ensures easy identification of the actual legal form of a registered company.

She also explained that under the new Companies Act, a person appointed a director of a company must among other things consent in writing, should not be an ex-convict or found culpable for any criminal offense within the preceding five years. According to her, the new Companies Act also outlines specific qualifications and duties for secretaries that companies must comply with. Also, the new Act stipulates that auditors can be appointed by a company for six years and can be reappointed after another period of six years. She further explained the provisions under the new Companies Act on beneficial ownership, dealing with major transactions, and unclaimed dividends.

Finally, Mr. Gyan-Quansah cautioned members of the Chamber to comply with all tax regulations in the country with particular emphasis on payments and revisions of annual returns with Ghana Immigration Service; PAYE reconciliation and payment of Quarter 1 taxes; statement of estimated tax payable and payment of Quater1 taxes; income tax returns and transfer policy return; employer’s annual tax deduction schedules and individual income tax return for employees; and annual returns at the Registrar General’s Department.

After the presentation, members of the Chamber asked questions on the stability of the Ghanaian currency, revision of tax laws to help support local companies, protection of minority shareholders, and the role of directors under the new Companies Act.

 

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Amcham Ghana Creates Platform for Dialogue Between University of Buffalo, Ghanaian Teachers and Chamber Members

As part of the Chamber’s mandate to promote educational and cultural ties between the United States and the Republic Ghana, the American Chamber of Commerce, Ghana, on Monday, 13th January 2020 hosted students and faculty from the University of Buffalo (UB) School of Management, New York, as part of the University’s Social Innovation and Entrepreneurial Leadership Program.

The meeting provided a platform for engagement between the UB School of Management, members of the Chamber, and teachers from two Senior High Schools in Ghana (Accra Academy; and Presbyterian Senior High School, Osu) to exchange knowledge on educational opportunities, and entrepreneurship and the business environment in Ghana.

Ayesha Bedwai, President of AmCham Ghana, in her opening remarks, highlighted the changes in Ghana’s entrepreneurial landscape, and the growth in the agricultural, information communication technology and the creative arts industries.

Dorothy Siaw-Asamoah, Faculty Director, Global Programs at the UB School of Management, gave a brief overview of the activities of the UB School of Management in Ghana, including medical outreaches in different parts of the country and trips to Senior High Schools and tourist sites. Students from the UB School of Management also gave a presentation on the school which covered alumni engagement, global experiences, core curriculum, collaborative degrees, action learning, global community, business trips, career preparation, mentorship, and funding for students.

Questions raised after the presentation were on enrollment in the UB Schools of Management, the number of international students in the school, funding for students, opportunities in UB for Senior High School students in Ghana, career development challenges of students in Ghana, and the quality of mentorship for students.

Ayesha Bedwai, in closing the meeting, commended the UB School of Management for the multi-dimensional nature of their activities and stressed the importance of student engagement and career advisory services.

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United Way Ghana Honors AmCham Ghana For Its Support

United Way Ghana, at its Community Builders Awards on Thursday, December 5, 2019, honored the American Chamber of Commerce in Ghana for supporting the organization to undertake one of its major projects.

The Community Builders Awards Dinner was organized to appreciate volunteers, partners, and corporate institutions for their tremendous support towards United Way Ghana’s impact work in the various communities in Ghana.

In May 2019, AmCham Ghana supported United Way Ghana for its Nyansapo Literacy Project which was aimed at promoting childhood literacy at the Ayebeng Memorial Primary School in Accra. Through AmCham Ghana’s support, United Way presented the school with a ‘Library In A Box,’ each class in the school was given a box of books to make materials accessible and inspire reading culture in pupils.

Other organizations and individuals honored at the event includes AmCham Ghana members – Newmont Goldcorp Ghana and Morrison & Associates. AmCham Ghana Treasurer,  Adiki Ayitevie, and Former Treasurer of the Chamber, Doris Afanyedey, were also honored for her contributions and support to United Way Ghana.

AmCham Ghana Launches ‘State of American Business Study 2020’

The American Chamber of Commerce, Ghana, in collaboration with PricewaterhouseCoopers, has launched the State of American Business Study 2020.

The study will serve as a pulse check of the current United States business environment in Ghana and provide an overview of the contributions of American companies to Ghana’s economy.

PwC first supported the Chamber with the exploratory study in August 2015.

Speaking at the launch of the study in Accra on Thursday, November 21, 2019, the outgoing AmCham Ghana President, Joe Mensah, said,  “American companies have contributed immensely to Ghana’s development, and that data is needed to know where we are now.”

He added that the Chamber would once again collaborate with PwC to conduct the study as it did in 2015.  “A significant amount of time has passed since the first study and I hope that we will receive a greater level of participation this year,’ he noted.

He advised all American businesses in Ghana to sign up and share their data with the Chamber. “I urge American businesses in Ghana to sign up to be part of the study to enable us to get a true depiction of their contributions to the country,’ he said.

About the American Chamber of Commerce (Ghana)

The American Chamber of Commerce (AmCham) Ghana is the representative arm of U.S businesses and subsidiaries voluntarily working to create an environment where business can thrive between Ghanaian and American communities. AmCham exists to promote commercial, economic, educational and cultural ties between the United States of America and the Republic of Ghana. The Chamber is one of the 118 affiliates of the U.S Chamber of Commerce, which is the world’s largest business association with over one million members worldwide.

www.amchamghana.org

AmCham – USDA Dinner Reception | AmCham Ghana Hosts Deputy Secretary For United States Department Of Agriculture

The American Chamber of Commerce, Ghana, on Tuesday, October 29, 2019, hosted a dinner in honor of Stephen Censky, Deputy Secretary for the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) and his business delegation who are in Ghana for a three-day (October 28-31, 2019), trade mission seeking to unlock new export opportunities in West African as part of the U.S. Government’s Prosper Africa initiative, which seeks to strengthen commercial ties and foster fair and reciprocal trade with African countries.

The dinner had in attendance the U.S. Ambassador to Ghana, Stephanie S. Sullivan; President of AmCham Ghana, Joe Mensah; a delegation of businesses from the U.S.; staff of the USDA and U.S. Embassy in Accra as well as members of the American Chamber of Commerce in Ghana.

Mr. Joe Mensah, President of AmCham, welcomed Mr. Censky and the business delegation, highlighting the important role of agriculture to Ghana’s development, citing renewed efforts by the Government of Ghana to invest in the sector.

Mr. Censky, in his remarks, expressed his gratitude to AmCham for hosting the USDA delegation. He noted that West Africa- and Ghana in particular- is one of the fastest-growing regions in the world and presents trade opportunities for American businesses. He stated that AmCham plays an important role in working to ensure that trade and investment policies of the Government of Ghana facilitate trade and development. He added that the United States is interested in the economic development of Ghana as well as in facilitating trade relations which are mutually beneficial to both countries.

Ambassador Sullivan,  commended AmCham for its strong partnership with the U.S. Embassy in Ghana, in facilitating business for American companies and promoting strong investment as well as world-class environmental, labor and ethical standards in the business environment in Ghana.

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