Enough of the CIA’s “Enough Project” in Africa. With Hollywood superstar George Clooney as it’s talking head, EP, as it is known, was founded by senior US Intel “spook” Gayle Smith, former Senior Director of the National Security Council under President Obama and now head of the USAID/CIA. Today EP is headed by Ms. Smith’s … Read more
Life insurance companies in the country are now faced with significant challenges in selling insurance policies to consumers as pressure in the economy forces people to cut down on their discretionary expenditure. Industry chieftains noted that the unfavorable economic conditions are affecting purchasing power, which reduces the ability of persons to subscribe to savings plans, … Read more
In 2009, Kosmos Energy, a small oil exploration company in Texas, wished to cash in on its discovery of an oil field off the coast of Ghana — one of the largest found in West Africa in a decade. The company had an eager buyer in ExxonMobil. But some in Ghana believed the firm had … Read more
The country’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) for the second quarter has plummeted to 2.5 percent from the 4.8 percent recorded in the first quarter of 2016, on the back of the technical challenges on the FPSO Kwame Nkrumah which decelerated oil production, the Statistical Service has said. “We saw a 49 percent decline in oil … Read more
The oil producers cartel Opec has agreed a preliminary deal to cut production for the first time in eight years, sending crude prices surging. The major oil exporting nations struck the deal at talks in Algeria on Wednesday to ease fears of oversupply. “Opec made an exceptional decision today,” Iran’s Oil Minister Bijan Zanganeh said. … Read more
Warri (Nigeria) (AFP) – The Niger Delta Avengers on Saturday claimed responsibility for the destruction of a major oil pipeline in southern Nigeria, breaking a ceasefire the militant group had declared a month ago. In a statement, NDA spokesman Mudoch Agbinibo said the group attacked the Bonny pipeline in Rivers State on Friday as “a … Read more
Algiers (AFP) – The Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) agreed Wednesday to cut oil production, ministers said, in a surprise move aimed at boosting persistently weak crude prices. The news triggered an immediate spike of more than 5 percent in crude prices, as markets had expected the Algiers meeting to end without agreement. In … Read more
The Ghana Statistical Service (GSS) has reveled the shutdown of the Kwame Nkrumah FPSO in the second quarter of 2016 led to a slowdown in Ghana’s economic growth for that period. Gross Domestic Product (GDP) figures released by the GSS today [Wednesday] revealed that Ghana’s economy in the second quarter of 2016 grew by 2.5% … Read more
Ghana’s economic growth slowed to 2.5 percent in the second quarter compared with a year earlier, provisional official data showed on Wednesday, due mainly to a temporary halt in oil production. Ghana saw sustained GDP growth of above 8 percent until 2013, helped by exports of gold, cocoa and oil, but then slumped because of … Read more
The Chief Executive of Petroleum Commission, Mr Theophilus Ahwireng has touted the prospects of the country’s gas production as it is set to produce about 300 million cubic feet of gas daily by 2018 from its oil and gas fields. “The good news here is that Ghana has an unyielding demand for gas in the … Read more
Frank Agyekum, spokesperson for former President John Agyekum Kufuor, has entreated Ghanaians to ignore claims by the Minister for Transport, Fifi Kwetey, that the New Patriotic Party under former President Kufuor ran a cocaine economy. According to Frank Agyekum, the NPP under former President Kufuor rather turned the economy around after inheriting a tattered and … Read more
The Office of Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia has noted the discussions on his Public Lecture on the theme – “The State of the Ghanaian Economy – a foundation of Concrete or Straw” – and continues to thank the General Public for their support before, during and after the event. Though the government has till date not … Read more
Ghana earned $3.208 billion from petroleum revenue for the production of 161.7 million barrels of crude oil between 2011 and 2015. Although the highest number of barrels, 37.4 million, was recorded in 2015, Ghana received the lowest revenue of $396,171,909 in that year as a result of the fall in the international market price. In … Read more
Is anyone serious about cutting politicians’ outrageous salaries and allowance? If this recession is not enough reason to deflate an economy that was pumped up by corruption for so many years, it is very difficult to see what else it would take. Sending that message alone would have reciprocal effect on the economy, driving inflation … Read more
Nigerian billionaire Aliko Dangote told CNBC that a wave of asset selling by the government could be the best way to boost Nigeria’s recession-hit economy. “I think the real challenge for us is now for us to have the political will in terms of selling some assets,” he told CNBC Africa on Friday. “I think … Read more
South Sudan’s political and military elite have made themselves rich while the country has struggled under a civil war of their making, a report says. Commissioned by actor George Clooney, the document accuses President Salva Kiir, opposition leader Riek Machar, and top generals of profiteering. It follows the trail of money with links to the … Read more
There are at least two Deputy Finance Ministers in the Mahama-led government of the National Democratic Congress (NDC), and so I had to do a double take to ensure that I was responding to the rejoinder of the right Finance Ministry second-bananas. According to Mr. Cassiel Ato Baah Forson, numbers do not lie. Well, the … Read more
Outspoken oil and gas consultant, Dr. Steve Manteaw has entreated individuals and groups affected by Ghana’s oil production and activities to claim compensation by going through the petroleum revenue management Act, section 24. ‘Usually in law, when there is such a provision, regulations provide how to access this compensation, so lets wait till the regulations … Read more
Speeches by the vice-presidential nominee of the New Patriotic Party (NPP) always send “shivers within the NDC”, Sydney Casely-Hayford, a member of OccupyGhana, has claimed. For him, the dexterity with which the former Second Deputy Governor of the Bank of Ghana uses data and figures to his advantage always gets the governing party flummoxed. Mr … Read more
The father of an ex-Niger Delta militant leader has reportedly died following injuries sustained during incursions by the Nigerian military, potentially exacerbating tensions in the crisis-hit oil-producing region. The Niger Delta has been the site of regular militant activity since earlier in 2016, as groups including the Niger Delta Avengers (NDA) have blown up oil … Read more