Finance Students & Associates-FINSA (UGBS)♨
               🇬🇭26th March, 2019
                ⏰6:00pm


BUSINESS SPACE📈
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📡 Ghana among RMB's 2019 Top 10 Investment Destinations in Africa

Ghana remains one of the too attractive investment destinations in Africa even after the worst banking crisis in its history. Studies by Rand Merchant Bank Ltd (RMB), a corporate and Investment Banking arm of FirstRand Limited shows that a growth will be driven predominantly by the hydrocarbons sector, with a continued ramping-up of oil and gas production expected. They stated in their annual study known as 'Where to Invest in Africa' that Ghana has strong growth rates focused around the oil and gas sector, while the non-oil sector growth is supported by pro-business reforms. Ghana dropped from fifth to ninth place in the 2019 rankings as a result of a downward review of its 2018 growth rate by the IMF, and the country's needed focus on fixing weaknesses in its banking sector.

📡 Court joins AG to Receiver Vs uniBank case

An Accra High Court has joined the Government of Ghana in a case in which Dr. Kwabena Duffuor and 16 others are challenging the receiver of now-defunct bank uniBank, Nii Amanor Dodoo over the revocation of the bank's license. Shareholders of the bank in February 2019 filed a motion in court seeking to join the Attorney General (AG)  to an ongoing case in which the Receiver of the Bank, is pursuing them in court. The Receiver had dragged the 17 shareholders of the bank to court to have them forced to repay a GH¢5.7bn debt they allegedly owe the defunct bank. The shareholders, however claimed that the central bank and the Government of Ghana were both misled by the audit firm, KPMG into believing that uniBank was being improperly managed and that the bank was likely to fall into insolvency.

📡 Digital address now a requirement for business registration - RGD

According to the Registrar Generals Department (RGD), effective Monday 25th March 2019, persons who seek to register their businesses will require a digital address code for the business before being able to complete the registration process. The Registra General Jemima Oware, speaking at a press conference said the move is part of the government's efforts to move Ghana up the World Bank's ease of doing business rankings. The GRA, SSNIT, MMDA's and Ghana Post Systems are all being integrated. She said the process should be completed by April. She added that individuals must download the app to get an address before beginning their registration.

📡 GRIDCo transmission tower collapses; company suspects vandalism

One of the transmission towers near the Head office of Ghana Grid Company (GRIDCo) at Tema has fallen over into another tower. Officials of the GRIDCo discovered the fallen tower on Monday morning and noted that the bolts holding the pylon had been loosened causing it to fall over. The company suspects the collapsing of the pylon at Tema was an act of vandalism and not an attempted theft. The director of Systems Operations, Mark Baah said in an interview said the tower was vandalised. It wasn't like somebody went to steal because the bolts and nuts were deliberately cut. He added that though the fallen tower will not affect power during the day, there are concerns some parts of the country will be faced with outages.

|Policy Rate in Ghana - 16.0%|

|Inflation Rate in Ghana - 9.20%|

|Treasury bills rates|
Period        Discount Rates       Interest Rates
91 - Day           14.1953%                  14.7176%
182 - Day         14.0914%                  15.1595%


Foreign News💤
⚖ Uber announces $3.1bn deal to buy Middle East rival Careem

Uber's $3.1bn agreement to buy Careem consists of $1.7bn in convertible notes and $1.4bn in cash. Dubai based Careem claims more than 30 million registered users in 120 cities across North Africa, the Middle East and South Asia. The announcement comes as Uber approaches a much-anticipated initial public offering that reports have said could value the firm's at as much as $120bn. It is expected to be one of the biggest tech IPOs in history.

⚖ Mobile internet penetration brings about 'awakening' in China

Investor Richard Liu of Morningside Venture Capital says the desire for self-expression through the mobile internet is no longer just limited to China's major cities. Subscribers in the country's so-called lower tier regions are demanding more from their mobile experience, he said at an investment conference in Hong Kong. There are now between 800 to 900 million mobile internet subscribers in China and that's significant considering that there are nearly 1.4 billion people in China. He adds that the last five years has seen an accelerated growth in demand in lower-tier cities and that he sees "awakening of self-expression."

⚖ Samsung warns first-quarter earnings will fall short of expectations

Samsung Electronics on Tuesday morning said it expects first quarter earnings to come below market expectations due to weakness in its display and memory businesses. In a regulatory filing, the world's largest smartphone maker said it predicted a bigger-than-expected price decline for major memory products, which are used in mobile handsets and enterprise servers , due to seasonal weakness in demand. Those components are used in mobile handsets and enterprise servers. Analysts say purchases of memory chips from Samsung and other chipmakers have slowed down in recent months following a period of aggressive growth.

⚖ Nintendo shares surge following report of new console models
Nintendo's stocks started to shoot up this morning to as high as 5%, before retracing some of those gains in the afternoon. The stocks close 4.76% higher. The The wall Street Journal reported on Monday that Nintendo is set to release two new versions of its bestselling Switch video game console as early as this summer which was launched in 2017. The report said one of the new versions will be expensive but have improved features aimed at ardent gamers. And the other would be cheaper for casual players.

|Daily Interbank FX Rates|
Currency         Pairs Code   Buying   Selling
U.S Dollar            USDGHS       5.0780    5.0830
Pound Sterling   GBPGHS       6.7126    6.7258
Swiss Franc         CHFGHS       5.1296    5.1252
Canadian Dollar CADGHS       3.7875    3.7911
Euro                      EURGHS       5.7540    5.7589
Chinese Reminbi CNYGHS      0.7570    0.7575

🌀|Sources|
www.citibusinessnews.com
www.bog.gov.gh
www.myjoyonline.com
www.bloomberg.com
www.cnbc.com
www.wikipedia.com
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Term of the day📚
🤔 Venture Capital
Venture capital is financing that investors provide to startup companies and small businesses that are believed to have long-term growth potential. Venture capital generally comes from well-off investors, investment banks and any other financial institutions. However, it does not always take a monetary form; it can also be provided in the form of technical or managerial expertise.

🤔 How different is a venture capitalist from an angel investor?
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📍Compiled & edited by:   
Philip Elike Gagah
Agnes Boatemaa Appiadu