UK car sales at record high in 2016

The Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT), said 2.69 million cars were registered last year, 2% higher than in 2015.

The industry body said 2016's growth was due to "very strong" consumer confidence, low-interest finance deals and the launch of several new models.

However, the SMMT says this year is unlikely to set another record, with sales expected to fall by 5-6%.

SMMT chief executive Mike Hawes said such a fall would not represent "a collapse in the market" and sales would still be at "historically an incredibly high level".

He said that five consecutive years of increased sales had been fuelled by pent-up demand that developed during the recession of the late 2000s.

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The SMMT added that the UK new car market was one of the most diverse in the world, with some 44 brands offering nearly 400 different model types.

The biggest selling model was the Ford Fiesta, followed by the Vauxhall Corsa and Ford Focus.

The SMMT said diesel and petrol cars continued to be by far the most popular fuel types for consumers with market share at 47.7% and 49.0% respectively.
However, alternatively fuelled vehicles (AFVs) experienced a strong uplift in demand, rising by 22.2% across the year.

Plug-in hybrids and petrol electric hybrids, in particular, experienced significant growth, with demand up 41.9% and 25.1% respectively.

And more than 10,000 motorists chose to go fully electric in 2016 - up 3.3% on 2015.


The record level of registrations in 2016 doesn't tell the whole story. Overall it was fleet buyers that propelled the market to new highs.

Sales to consumers suggest a very different story.

After a strong start, private car sales fell throughout most of the year. December's 5.5% fall year on year was the ninth monthly decline in a row.

With claims that the new car market is saturated, higher prices coming on forecourts and economic uncertainty ahead, the industry's forecast of a 5% fall in the market this year could prove optimistic.

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The SMMT's Mr Hawes warned car prices were beginning to rise, with the fall in the value of the pound resulting from the Brexit vote having increased prices by 2-3%. More than 85% of new cars bought in the UK are imported.

Mr Hawes said the impact of Brexit on the car industry was, as yet, unclear.
He warned though that if the UK was unable to trade freely with the EU and tariffs were introduced, it would add about £1,500 to the price of each imported car.

Unilever appoints Mr. Yeo Ziobeieton as MD and Mr. Edward Effah as Board Chairman

The thebeftonline.com has learnt that effective from January 1, 2017 Unilever Ghana Limited has appointment of Mr. Yeo Ziobeieton as its new Managing Director. He takes over from Ms. Maidie Arkutu who takes up a new role as the Vice President of Francophone Africa, within the Unilever Group, effective January 1, 2017.


Also Mr. Edward Effah has been appointed Chairman of the Board of Directors effective November 1, 2016. He also replaces Mr. Ishmael Yamson, who resigns after a successful 12 year run as Non-Executive Chairman of the Unilever Ghana Board, having already served as Chief Executive Officer and Chairman for 18 years.


READ ALSO: SSNIT increases pension benefits by 18%

These new appointments are made in line with regulatory requirements and Unilever’s company policies after the completion of successful tenors by former directors.


Mr. Yaw Nsarkoh, the new Executive Vice President (EVP) of the Ghana/Nigeria cluster and Mrs. Adesola Sotande-Peters, new Chief Finance Officer for Ghana/Nigeria have now been appointed as Non-Executive Directors of Unilever Ghana, effective 1 January, 2017.


Luc-Olivier Marquet, Vice President of Unilever West Africa, also moves into a new role as Executive Vice President of Unilever’s South Africa business, effective January 1, 2017, while Miguel Marquez, Finance Director of Unilever Ghana moves into another role within the Unilever finance chain.

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The new directors, according to Unilever Ghana come with a wealth of experience having served in various leadership and top executive positions within and outside of the company.


Mr. Edward Effah, who is currently Group CEO and Chairman of the Fidelity Group, comes to the job with over 15 years of experience in senior executive positions in finance and treasury management. He is a Chartered Accountant by profession and is a member of the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales. He is also a member of the Institute of Directors (UK).


Yeo Ziobeieton, has 14 years’ experience with Unilever Cote D’iviore, Dakar, Durban, Kenya and South Africa. He has held a number of general management and marketing positions at the company most recently as the managing Director of the 16 countries of Unilever in Francophone West Africa.


Yaw Nsarkoh, was appointed as Unilever Nigeria’s Managing Director effective January 1, 2014. Until his appointment as the EVP Ghana and Nigeria, he served as the Managing Director, of Unilever Nigeria.

READ ALSO: Akyempim Rural Bank and Gomoaman Community Bank to merge

Mrs. Adesola Sotande-Peters, is a Finance Executive (FCCA) with a strong Business Finance leaning and with over 22 years varied professional experience (spanning various organizations such as British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) UK, Informa Group UK, Openwave Telecoms UK, Diageo Plc (Guinness Nigeria Plc, East African Breweries Limited (Kenya), and Guinness Cameroon SA) where she has held various senior finance roles in commercial/strategic finance, financial management consultancy/analysis, with a strong focus on people development/mentoring.

SSNIT increases pension benefits by 18%

The Social Security National Insurance Trust (SSNIT) has increased the pension benefits of pensioners by 18%, the corporate Affairs Manager of SSNIT, Eva Amegashie has disclosed.

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“On the whole there has been an 18% increment for 2017. There is a fixed rate of 15% which everybody is going to collect of whatever salary you are earning plus GHc 17.41 and this will equal the 18 % increment,” she said in an interview.

The increment is however, lower than that of 2016 which was perked at 20%. Per the current hike, pensioners are expected to receive GHc334.81 as benefits from GHc276.00.

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In the meantime, all fresh pensioners from January 2017 will receive a minimum monthly pension benefit of GHc276.00.
Also, SSNIT urges all pensioners who have not yet re-registered for their biometric smart cards to do so by 28th February 2017.

All unregistered pensions, according to a statement by the scheme, will have their pension payment delayed if they do not re- register for their smart cards.
“It helps us to know those on the pension scheme and you can even use the biometric card for any identity…We have moved into a new environment so even those who are not pensioners are advised to get the smart card,” said Amegashie.

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Fintech: Senegal Has Launched The eCFA, A Blockchain-Enabled Digital Currency

Akyempim Rural Bank and Gomoaman Community Bank to merge

The shareholders of distress Akyempim Rural Bank have voted overwhelmingly to merge with Gomoaman Community Rural Bank.

The move is as a result of the banking getting into bankruptcy and their inability to meet a new capital requirement set by the regulating of the banking and financial industry, the Bank of Ghana.

The central bank has given all rural and community-based banks to increase their minimum capital requirement to GHC 1million by the end of the new coming 2017.

Speaking at the bank’s 30th Annual General Meeting (AGM) for shareholders, the interim board chairman Mr Alex Coffie appealed to the shareholders to avoid the situation where the banks will be closed down entirely as the regulator have given them by time resolve problems facing the bank or have their license withdrawn.

“Please let us accept the resolution of the board to join Gomoaman Community Bank with its headquarters at Apam to avoid facing consequences of withdrawing operational license by the Bank of Ghana (BOG).”

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“This is a hard decision that was taken by the Board of Directors to merge with our sister bank. And let me add that this has become necessary following an emergency meeting convened by ARB APEX Bank with distressed banks in the Central region early this year,” he added.

Mr Coffie said the move he believes would attract investors also be able to meet the new capital requirement set out by the Bank of Ghana (BOG) by the end of 2017. The Board Chairman stated that one million Ghana Cedis Share capital required by BOG for every Rural and Community Banks cannot by met due to the current situation of the Bank.

In August 2015 the then board members of Akyempim Rural Bank resigned at a go, on the directives of ARB Apex Bank the mandated regulator of the rural and community base banks in the country due to poor performance and negligence as directors of the Bank. 

Mr Coffie lamented that Akyempim Rural Bank as at the time that they were having the AGM could not boost of 50,000 Ghana Cedis share capital and it would be extremely difficult for shareholders to mobilise one million Ghana Cedis by the end of the period given by Bank of Ghana and therefore the merger was a better option.

He told the AGM that, the board was waiting for the completion of the merger processes initiated for the three banks Gomoa Rural Bank at Apam, Gomoa Ajumako Rural Bank at Gomoa Afransi and Eastern Gomoa Assin Rural Bank at Gomoa Dominase due to the liquidity crisis, then theirs could also be commenced.

Mr Coffie said there was an urgent need for the fresh injection of funds to resuscitate the bank so that depositors whose monies are locked up in the bank could be paid gradually to build confidence.

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Fintech: Senegal Has Launched The eCFA, A Blockchain-Enabled Digital Currency

Senegal will soon begin using a digital currency, ushering in the use of blockchain technology by the central bank. It’s another opportunity for financial technology (fintech) to help emerging markets leapfrog traditional banking systems and bring financial inclusion to more people.


If the Senegal roll-out is successful, the currency will be used in most of Francophone West Africa Cote d’Ivoire, Benin, Burkina Faso, Mali, Niger, Togo and Lusophone Guinea Bissau. Known as the eCFA, it is designed to operate alongside the CFA, the West African Franc. 

The eCFA will be issued by the regional bank Banque Régionale de Marché and will be used by countries in the West African Economic and Monetary Union (link in French), according to a statement.

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The eCFA has been designed to work with existing mobile money platforms like MPesa, which have themselves been revolutionary for the millions of unbanked Africans. The e-currency will be produced with technology created by eCurrency Mint Limited, a company that enables central banks to create their own digital fiat currency, designed to be circulated alongside paper money as legal tender.

Just like paper money has a water mark, serial number and governor’s signature, these security features can be translated to a digital currency, explained Jonathan Dharmapalan, founder and CEO eCurrency Mint.

“By layering these together and binding them into a single instrument you have essentially created a central bank-issued digital currency,” Dharmapalan told a room at the Alliance for Financial Inclusion Global Policy Forum in the Mozambican capital Maputo in 2015.

The physical technology behind the currency is a digital currency production engine. In Dharmapalan’s presentation, the engine was a pyramidal structure with a tiny slot at the top. Each central bank will have their own engine, locked in a vault and kept offline. It will only be operational when the central bank wants to use it, he explained.

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The advantages represented by the new technology have been tempered by a lack of clarity on how exactly the system will work. Skeptics say it’s unclear what kind of distributed ledger—the foundation of blockchain technology—the new currency will use, which could introduce a host of unforeseen regulatory and distribution issues for the West African regional bank.

Tunisia became the first African nation to use blockchain technology to digitize its currency, launching the eDinar earlier this year. Last year, Ecuador launched the first state-sponsored e-currency in the world.

Central banks around the world have kept an eye on the disruptive technology of cryptocurrencies. On the one hand, they’re excited about the distributed ledger innovation that allows the secure transfer of information, without a third party, according to a 2015 report released by the Bank for International Settlements (PDF), of which more than 60 central banks are members.

Digital currencies, however, are also difficult to regulate, and until now had no links to sovereign currencies. A digital currency issued by central banks allows national treasuries to make use of all the technological advantages of cryptocurrencies, without relinquishing control to decentralized organizations like Bitcoin.

With banks taking charge of issuing e-currency, they maintain their role as sole issue of national currency, disrupting the disruptor before independent blockchain currencies even gained a foothold in Africa.

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'Okada' business booms as traffic engulfs capital city

   An illegal business popularly known as “Okada” has taken over the transport business in the capital city as traffic situation worsens in the central business centre.

Traders and shoppers who cannot withstand hours in traffic have no alternative than to rely on Okada as means of transportation to their various destinations.

Some “Okada” riders who spoke to atinkaonline.com mentioned that the motorbikes ability to dodge the traffic has made their business lively ever since the traffic situation worsened in Accra central. They added that most people are people who patronise the Okada are usually in a rush which makes the Okada the best option.

Traders who also shared their views attributed the traffic to visitors who usually visits the Central business centre during festive seasons. They added that due to the festive season business ends very late and in order to get home on time, “Okada” is the only alternative.

TOR to refine 18 million barrels of crude in 2017

The Tema Oil Refinery (TOR) has announced it will from next year refine between 16 to 18 million barrels of crude oil. 

The crude will be from the Jubilee oil fields and subsequently other oil fields in Ghana. 

The Managing Director of TOR, Kwame Awuah Darko disclosed this when he addressed staff of the company at an end of year thanksgiving ceremony in Tema. 

According to him, the expansion projects carried out by TOR should translate into refining the increased quantities of crude. 

“The plan the company has in place is to make sure that in 2017 February, we go through our turnaround maintenance and because of the expanded capacity we now have we are planning to refine between 16 and 18 million barrels of crude oil in 2017. We are going to be in a place which I believe will be a much stronger place by the virtue of the foundation that we have laid,” he said. 

They workers have among other things argued that refining the nation’s crude abroad is not cost effective. 

The Africa Centre for Energy Policy (ACEP) has cautioned that TOR should only be allowed to refine crude oil if it will be cheaper. 

But Mr. Awuah Darko was optimistic management will continue with laid down processes to achieve its set target.

 “The concrete which we have cast is not yet hardened so there is still a lot of fragility and a lot of work to be done,” he asserted. 

Kwame Awuah Darko who assumed office about a year now is however expected to leave office with the coming in of a new government.

 In a brief statement to the staff of TOR, he expressed his appreciation to all and urged collaboration with the new management to take over.

 “I am very sure that this is the very last time I will address you as a Managing Director hence change has come and when that change comes, we must all support that change and work accordingly,” he observed. 


Source: citifmonline.com