AngloGold plans more job cuts in Ghana in 2014..................

"AngloGold plans to lay off 2 000 jobs in Ghana by next June, say trade unions."  

Title: AngloGold plans job cuts in Ghana as gold price falls
Dated: October 2013

AngloGold Ashanti, the world’s third-largest producer of the metal, said it plans to cut 400 jobs at its Obuasi mine in Ghana by end of the year to rein in costs as the decline in the price of bullion erodes profit.

To combat higher costs and the retreat in the bullion price, Johannesburg-based AngloGold suspended its dividend, is cutting spending and exploration and is laying off 40% of the 2 000 employees in its corporate offices.

The company, with 21 operations in 10 countries, reported a loss in the second quarter ended June after the metal’s price had dropped 23% in the period, a record quarterly decrease.

Gold output in the West African nation, the continent’s largest producer after South Africa, may fall as much as 18% this year after the drop in prices prices prompted some mines to cut production, Minerals Commission chief executive Ben Aryee said on September 20.

Gold Fields, which mines the metal in Ghana, was forced to temporarily shut its operations in the country in April after illegal strikes that halted more than 40% of the Johannesburg-based company’s output.

Industrywide cuts
Newmont Mining, which has the Ahafo operation and Akyem project in Ghana, sees about 300 job cuts by the end of the year as part of a "restructuring process", Adiki Ayitevie, the company’s regional manager in charge of communications, said in a September 27 interview.

"The situation is quite terrible; we will be losing about 2 000 jobs by June," Prince Ankrah, general secretary of the Ghana Mine Workers' Union, said by phone on Tuesday. "We understand the situation and are negotiating the best and fair deals for all parties." The organisation represents more than 20 000 employees in the industry.

Output at Obuasi increased 18% to 58 000 ounces in the three months ended June 30 from the previous quarter. Total cash costs declined 10% to $1 560 an ounce. Gold was little changed at $1 287.39 by 8:25am in London. It has dropped 23%this year.

AngloGold also operates the Iduapriem mine in Ghana, which has a staff of 1 200, Morcombe said.
The company’s shares slumped 3.7% to R129.51 by the close in Johannesburg yesterday, extending the plunge this year to 51%. The stock’s retreat matches the fall of Gold Fields in 2013. They are the worst performers in South Africa’s 165-member FTSE/JSE Africa All Share Index after Harmony Gold, which retreated 55%. – Bloomberg

Credit/ Source: http://mg.co.za/article/2013-10-02-anglogold-plans-job-cuts-in-ghana-as-gold-price-falls-1


Paulina says: Such sad news.... We need work for our people not job losses... ...we need job creators/wealth creators -businesses that are going to add and not take away from the economy in 2014........I'm wondering....what will these newly unemployed worker do -now??? Are the Ghana's government going to make sure that they get redundancy pay? Or will they be driven into illegal small scale mining??? Surely...... we have all seen the true cost of Galamsey on the environment in Ghana!!!!!

SOS: Climate Change in Totope Ghana........

Some residents are saying that sea levels are rising up to 3 metres each year [Chris Stein/Al Jazeera]

Title: Climate change threatens Ghana's coast

Coastal erosion has forced a town of thousands to flee into a swampy, trash-filled area

Totope, Ghana - Ask anyone in this fishing village along Ghana's eastern coast where they grew up, and they'll likely point south, towards the blue waves of the Gulf of Guinea.

The ocean has encroached on areas that were once land, dry enough for the villagers of Totope to grow crops, build homes and raise families.

It's all gone now, buried by crushing waves and shifting sands that have forced the village of a few thousand to move onto swampy land reclaimed with an unreliable mix of sand and trash.

The people here don't think it will last.

"The future of Totope looks very, very bleak," the village's chief Theophilus Agbakla said.

Grain by grain, West Africa's coasts are eroding away, the dry land sucked under the water by a destructive mix of natural erosion and human meddling.

Sediment flows in Ghana and elsewhere have been disrupted by the damming of rivers. Climate change has led to harsher storms and higher waters. Meanwhile, resurgent economies in many West African countries are bringing development closer and closer to the shore.

From Senegal to Nigeria, scientists say eroding beaches will soon pose an unavoidable threat to booming coastal populations.

A glimpse of that future can be seen in Totope. Situated with a lagoon to the north and the Atlantic Ocean to the south, the village of less than three thousand is cursed by its geography.

Salt water seeps through the makeshift landfill that Totope rests on. Villagers walk on soggy ground, dodging creeks that run between houses, and they hang their possessions from ceiling rafters to keep them above their often-wet floors.

"Have you seen how the sea broke the town?" asked Michael Akutu, a fisherman who like most people here grew up on now submerged real estate. "Now, it's all gone."

Rapid coastal erosion
As the ocean pushes the shoreline back, the beach has risen up to swallow whatever gets in its way.
There's an old Pentecostal church, still standing with sand up to its windows.

One resilient soul dug a trench and bought himself a little more time from the wall of sand that's advancing on his house.

Agbakla says the village has land it wants to move to on the other side of the lagoon, somewhere where the water won't get them. But no one has the money to pay for the land.
"You get fed up and you have to leave," Agbakla said. "This the fate of Totope."

Year by year, West Africa's coast is retreating. By how much depends, said Kwasi Appeaning Addo, a lecturer in coastal processes at the University of Ghana.

Around Ghana's capital Accra, the coast is eroding at one-and-a-half metres per-year, while in the eastern coast around Totope it's three meters per-year, Addo said.

But when the weather is rough, Agbakla said the waves near the village can claim as much as ten meters a year.

Like its potency, the causes of coastal erosion vary, but Mathieu Ducrocq, a coastal scientist who coordinated a study on erosion throughout West Africa for the International Union for the Conservation of Nature, said most of the causes tie back to human activity.

"The main problems come from human activities and bad coastal management," he said.

Climate change
Ducrocq credits climate change with driving sea levels higher and making destructive storms bigger.
Ports and jetties along the coast can also disrupt the flow of sediment that nourishes beaches, Ducrocq said.
Guinea-Bissau has already lost one of its finest beaches to erosion, and Gambia's capital Banjul had to borrow millions to regenerate a beach crucial for keeping the capital connected to the country's roads, he said.

Beaches around Totope rely on sediment from the Volta River, Addo said, but that flow was disrupted by the construction of the Akosombo dam in 1965, which provides most of the electricity for Ghana.

"Now that we have blocked it over decades…we are experiencing the consequences," Addo said. "The problem wouldn't have been much if the rate of sea level rise had been very, very low."
The rising seas are occurring amidst a rise of another kind: impressive economic growth in the economies of West African states like Nigeria, Ghana and Ivory Coast, all of which have major cities along their coastlines.

The optimistic economic news has developers in Ghana convinced that people will fork over thousands of dollars to rent luxury condos in a trio of under-construction beachfront high-rises.
A spit of landfill off the coast of Nigeria's mega-city Lagos will soon sit the site of Eko Atlantic, an opulent planned city for those who can afford it.

Addo says projects like these will be the first to take the hit from eroding coasts.
"In the very near future… the government will have to be called upon to look for money to protect that side," Addo said. "I think these huge developments that are going on along the coast are something that we should discourage."

As the sea took Totope's houses one by one, the villagers retreated north to the banks of the Songor Lagoon, a UNESCO biosphere reserve and nesting ground for sea turtles.
Eventually, they ended up in the lagoon itself, layering plastic bags and sand together to make a semblance of dry ground.

The floors of the houses laid in the reclaimed lagoon are constantly wet with water salty enough to undo glue on shoes, Agbakla said, and the ground has to be packed down and refreshed every day.
The landfill is considered illegal, but warnings from the police and condemnation from conservationists don't change Totope's reality: there is nowhere else to go.

"At times you disobey the laws of the country because of certain circumstances," Agbakla said.
The government has invested in a series of groins stretching down the coast that are meant to trap sediment and regenerate the beaches.

Addo said measures like these are double-edged; effective in repairing beaches upstream, but starving others downstream.

Agbakla is sceptical. He said the government told him it will be three years before the coastal defence project reaches Totope.

"It means that within three years, [the sea] will take 12 to 18 meters, which will take some of the village away again," he said.

When that happens, the villagers will do what they've always done: lay down another layer of sand and plastic, and retreat.


Credit/Source: http://www.aljazeera.com/indepth/features/2013/12/climate-change-threatens-ghana-coast-2013129114224783683.html

Luxe Africa: World Retail Congress Africa 2013.....

Title: Luxury goods are taking off in Africa
Africans are showing an increased appetite for luxury items.


The fact that 250 delegates turned up at the first World Retail Congress Africa says something in itself – retailers are mightily positive about the prospects of growth in Africa. The conference was held in the second week of November in Sandton, Johannesburg.

More than one research company has pointed out that Africans’ appetite for luxury is growing especially fast, and there have been a batch of news stories recently that support these findings.

Just before the conference both Euromonitor and Bain & Company pointed to brands such as clothing marque Ermenegildo Zegna, sports’ car-maker Porsche and handbag seller Louis Vuitton opening stores in parts of Africa. Whether the roads in some of these parts are entirely suitable for low-slung Porsches is another question!

Most of these stores are in South Africa, Morocco or the oil-rich economies of Nigeria and Angola, but there have been some interesting snippets of news recently that support the view that luxury consumption is on the up.

Shoprite’s results published in August included the startling news that the company’s seven stores in Nigeria sold more bottles of Moët & Chandon champagne than all the group’s liquor stores in South Africa combined.

Coty has ended its distribution agreement with South African group AVI. This suggests that the global cosmetics giant wants to be more hands-on in the sales and marketing of its products, a sure sign of a growing market.

Distell’s results for the year to June 2013 included news of a big growth in cider sales in sub-Saharan Africa, excluding South Africa. Cider is a drink associated with the middle-class, an aspirational drink.

Diageo’s decision to start selling smaller bottles of its branded spirits is not directly related to the luxury idea, but shows that brands are keen to help their customers and potential customers move up the value chain – away from unbranded, cheap, liquor, towards small quantities of aspirational brands. Luxury brands will follow, or might be used on special occasions.

Credit/Source: http://www.frontiermarketnetwork.com/article/4572-inside-track-luxury-goods-are-taking-off-in-africa#.Ur8xOsKYZMs

Paulina says: The first 'World Retail Congress Africa' --I wonder who/whom/what brand(s) represented Ghana at this must-event.... I must investigate.... Plus, could Coty be getting ready to do something special in Africa....in 2014????

Healthcare: Celebrating Esther Ogara........

Esther Ogara

Title: Esther Ogara is a positive force for advancement in Kenya
Dated: 14-11-13

Esther Ogara is distinctively African. She was born in Ghana, settled in Kenya, and travels regularly throughout sub-Saharan Africa. She is at once a formidable task master, a passionate healthcare advocate, a caring friend and loving mother. There is no surprise that she has been a driving force behind eHealth in Kenya.

Esther has been at the forefront of Kenya’s eHealth development for many years. Her first major achievement was leading the development of Kenya’s national eHealth strategy and the National Health Training policy. August 2011 saw the launch of the eHealth strategy. It set a new standard with wide-ranging acknowledgement in Africa and abroad. She coordinated its implementation and is now developing the Ministry of Health’s national research strategy.

Before her eHealth days, she worked for the Ministry of Health in various capacities in health and healthcare for more than two decades she led the development of the maternal, obstetric and neonatal guidelines which are currently used to manage maternal and neonatal health in Kenya.  As if this is not sufficient, she is a member of Kenya Red Cross Society Health Committee, the Kenya Medical Association, Public Private Partnership Health Kenya Committee, a founding member of Telehealth Society of Kenya (TSK) and its treasurer. There are still only 24 hours in each day, and there is more. Esther is also a member of the Review of Health Related Law Committee and part of the team developing the National Unique Person’s Identifier for Kenya. The Committee role is to review all the health laws in Kenya.

Esther is highly qualified. She is a Medical Doctor, holds a degree in general medicine, has advanced diplomas in Public Health and Health Systems Management and been part of the Strategic Leadership Development Program. While professionals like Esther remain in leadership positions, Kenya’s eHealth development is certain to advance.

Credit/Source: http://ehna.org/?p=1961

Paulina says: I am beyond inspired by Esther Ogara and want to know more about this incredible woman......plus anyone who is passionate healthcare in Africa and is doing something about it -must be celebrated.... Kudos Esther Ogara..... For more info visit: http://ehna.org/

Transfer news: West Ham confirm interest in former Sunderland striker Asamoah Gyan

The Ghana international could arrive at Upton Park on loan

Dated: 24-12-13
West Ham boss Sam Allardyce has confirmed the club have made tentative enquiries into the possibility of signing striker Asamoah Gyan in the January transfer window.

The relegation-threatened Hammers are short of attacking options due to Andy Carroll's long-term injury-enforced absence and Allardyce has said he will look for "one or two" additions in the new year.

Representatives of Gyan, who left Sunderland in 2012 to join Al Ain in the United Arab Emirates, have hinted the east Londoners are keen on taking the Ghana international to Upton Park on loan.
And Allardyce has admitted he is a player on the radar.

"We'll be linked with anybody that's a centre forward that might be coming back into this country," said Allardyce.

"So if there's a player of any sort of quality we try and find out what the situation might be, but it is nothing more than that."

Asked if would not rule out a move but could not confirm an approach, Allardyce said: "Absolutely."
Captain Kevin Nolan will return after suspension for West Ham's home clash with Arsenal.
And Allardyce said his pivotal leader must now start weighing in with goals.

He said: "We've left ourselves with a massive programme by Christmas, and going into New Year with Premier League games, FA Cup games, a semi-final in the Capital One Cup, so we're going to be using the squad to its full extent.

"So the quicker I can get players back fit in January and find one or two additions as well, the better it will be for us.

"The most important thing we miss with Kevin is his goals, he's only scored one.

"We have to accept the criticism, take it on the chin and focus on how well we know we can play, and try to get back to the same level of performance - but when you're in command of a game, make sure you put the ball in the back of the net.

"Otherwise you end up where we are.

"We are where we are for one reason, because we haven't scored enough goals."
Allardyce has challenged his West Ham side to copy Chelsea, who shackled Arsenal at the Emirates Stadium on Monday, holding Arsene Wenger's men to a 0-0 draw.

He said: "The fact Arsenal went an entire 90 minutes at home and only sneaked one shot on target I think shows you how well Chelsea defended all night, but maybe the weather had something to do with that.

"It's something we could do with doing against them on Boxing Day, blocking them out like Chelsea did and seeing what we can get from there."
Defender James Tomkins remains central to Allardyce's Christmas plans, despite his arrest on Sunday.

The 24-year-old was charged with one count of assaulting a police officer, one count of resisting arrest and one count of being drunk and disorderly in a public place after an incident outside the Sugar Hut Village nightclub in Brentwood.

Allardyce said: "He's a footballer we need and is a big player for West Ham, he's West Ham born and bred."

Credit / Source: http://www.independent.co.uk/sport/football/transfers/transfer-news-west-ham-confirm-interest-in-former-sunderland-striker-asamoah-gyan-9024490.html


 

Former Spurs and AC Milan star Kevin Prince-Boateng in hospital after suffering assault in Germany

The footballer was attacked in the street while enjoying time off in the industrial city of Gelsenkirchen, it has been reported
Dated: 26-12-13

AC Milan's Kevin-Prince Boateng celebrates AC Milans victory over Barcelona

 

Former Tottenham and Portsmouth midfielder Kevin Prince-Boateng has been rushed to hospital after being assaulted in the street.
German newspaper Bild reports that the midfielder, now of Schalke, was attacked by an unknown assailant while enjoying time off in the industrial city of Gelsenkirchen.
The injuries are believed not to be serious.

The Bundesliga is on it's winter break and Boateng, who has also made his name as an anti-racism campaigner, is not due to represent the Königsblauen again until January 26.

Schalke qualified for the knockout phase of this season's Champions League as runners-up to Chelsea, but face a tough tie with Real Madrid

Credit/ Source: http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/former-spurs-ac-milan-star-2962511

Paulina says: Horrible, horrible news.... We love you Kevin-Prince Boateng, get well soon..... https://twitter.com/KPBofficial

Business: Africa's Banking Industry....

Title: Africa offers growth potential on a vast scale / Dated: 15-12-13
 

After a long and largely successful career in banking, Bob Diamond, former head of Barclays, could probably have his pick of markets and institutions at which to stage his comeback – whether in investment banking, hedge funds or at one of the fast-growing Chinese lenders. Business:

 

Instead, the American banker is opting for sub-Saharan Africa, long neglected by mainstream investors. Unlikely on the face of it, perhaps, but if there is one developing region of the world that still excites bankers confronted with stuttering faith in the traditional emerging markets of Asia and Latin America, it is Africa.

 Whatever the fate of Mr Diamond’s venture – which is expected to involve buying a bank in Africa – his decision is symbolic of a renewed interest in the continent, particularly its financial sector. The demographics of the continent are breathtaking.

Sub-Saharan Africa alone has a population of about 1bn,
which, on many estimates, is set to double over the next three decades. The potential is obvious.

Sim Tshabalala, joint chief executive of Johannesburg-based Standard Bank, says banks are benefiting from economic growth and increasing banking penetration. “Both are growing in Africa very fast,” he says, adding: “The continent is becoming very attractive.”

McKinsey, the consultants, estimates that three-quarters of Africans still do not have a bank account. Industry executives estimate that only 5 per cent of the region have a credit card. The so-called “unbanked”, which in bleak times might seem a symbol of economic hopelessness, are viewed by many Africa watchers as a key to unlock a virtuous circle of economic growth.

“Sub-Saharan African financial and banking systems remain underdeveloped,” Pim van Ballekom, vice-president responsible for sub-Saharan Africa at the European Investment Bank, said in a report this year.

Mr van Ballekom explained in the report that the relatively stable macro­economic and financial environment of sub-Saharan Africa, together with the current reform momentum and expected strong growth in many countries in the region, did indeed “bode well for further development of the banking system”.

 

The region is dominated by a handful of banks, with four institutions from South Africa leading the pack. Standard Bank is by far the largest by assets, with $182bn, followed by FirstRand, with $100bn, and Barclays Absa and Nedbank – controlled by London-listed Old Mutual – with $95bn and $80bn, respectively.

 

Outside South Africa, banks are far smaller in terms of total assets.

 

Ecobank, a Togo-based bank with business across the continent, is the largest with assets of about $20bn, followed by Nigerian lenders First Bank and Zenith, and United Bank for Africa, a Nigeria-based lender that is focusing on a few big African markets, rather than trying to cover the continent.

 

Standard Bank also dominates in terms of profits – its pre-tax income last year roughly equalled the combined profits of the 10 largest banks in sub-Saharan Africa outside South Africa, where rivals FirstRand, Barclays and Nedbank are also very profitable. International banks are following Standard Bank and Barclays into Africa. Standard Chartered has expanded across the region, along with Citigroup, Société Générale and HSBC.

 

Investment banks, including JPMorgan, Deutsche Bank, Goldman Sachs and Credit Suisse are becoming more active, helping countries raise funds through sovereign bonds, and playing a bigger role in mergers and acquisitions in the region.

 

The influx of foreign banks, plus the expansion of local lenders, comes as Africa enjoys its strongest economic growth in a generation, leaving behind the stagnation of the 1980s and 1990s.

 

The International Monetary Fund forecasts that sub-Saharan Africa will grow by 6 per cent in 2014 – roughly the same rate as in the past 10 years – second only to developing Asia at 6.5 per cent and well above the global rate of 3.6 per cent.

 

“We are at the beginning of something,” says Maria Ramos, the chief executive of Barclays Africa, referring to the macroeconomic and financial changes across the region.

Both local and international banks are increasingly focused on the opportunities such growth gives them. Yet, although bankers see opportunities across Africa, most say they are focusing on a handful of markets, including South Africa, Nigeria, Kenya, Tanzania, Mozambique, Ghana, Angola and Zambia. Bankers would love to enter the Ethiopian market, but it has remained largely closed to them.

Bankers and government officials believe that as ordinary workers gain access to basic banking facilities, and the emerging middle classes tap into sophisticated financial services, there should be a feedback loop to greater spending and consumption, and hence further economic expansion.

“The growth is healthy,” says Diana Layfield, head of Africa for Standard Chartered, the emerging markets bank. “It’s not just about banking either. Insurance is emerging as a financial product in the region.”
African banks often achieve returns-on-equity, a typical measure of profitability, in excess of 20-30 per cent, significantly above the 10-15 per cent more common in developed markets and more mature emerging economies. Yet, there are dangers exemplified by a nasty banking crisis in Nigeria in 2008-09. And regulation, particularly of banks with operations across borders, is in its infancy.

High operating costs and infrastructure are also problems. The lack of branches in many countries has made it difficult for individuals to open an account, even if they have the funds and income. In some cases, lenders such as Standard Bank have tried to bypass the issue by partnering with corner shops to create mini-branches.
And the dearth of cross-border operators, which made life difficult for businesses wanting to expand, has been changing. Lenders such as Kenya’s Equity Bank are rolling out branches aggressively.

And many business banks are operating across large chunks of the continent, such as Nigeria’s UBA and Togo’s Ecobank, spurred in part by the advent of cross-border infrastructure deals. Mergers and acquisitions is another area that is booming, albeit from a low base.

The same is true for sovereign bond issuance in hard currency, which this year is set to hit a record of roughly $10bn across Africa, up from $1bn a decade ago. But it is in mobile banking that African finance can really claim to be ahead of the game. M-Pesa, the mobile payment service operated by Safaricom of Kenya, is reckoned to be responsible for more than half of all mobile remittances globally. Even if most Africans still do not have formal bank accounts, the profusion of mobile phones and payment technology has “done a lot for financial inclusion”, says Ms Layfield, with 70 per cent of adults now able to make such basic payments, up from 7 per cent a few years ago.

While many western banks struggle with ancient IT systems and a top-heavy branch network, African banks may well have sounder foundations for the financial services of the future.
Credit/Source: http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/fa46d61c-574e-11e3-9624-00144feabdc0.html#axzz2ofZ1vsSe

Paulina says: I know I come here day in and day out to expose my ignorance but really....... I had no idea Ecobank was Togolese owned -did you?