The International Finance Corporation (IFC) has provided over $200 million to some six financial institutions in the country for on-lending to women businesses. The move is to reduce the lack of access to capital by women led businesses. Speaking at this year’s Women International Day Forum organised by the Ghana Stock Exchange Forum, a Senior Country Officer at IFC, Cemile Hacibeyoglu, said the IFC which is a member of the World Bank Group is committed to increasing funding for women led firms.

Crude oil price hits $130. The rising oil prices on the world market mean fuel prices at the pumps will keep going up unless the government moves quickly to intervene. Cabinet has actually begun a meeting to subsidize the price of petroleum products, as the rising cost of fuel prices bite hard at consumers.

The rate of depreciation of the Ghana cedi almost doubled within just a week or only the first week of March to 14.21%, since the beginning of the year. This was against 7.6% recorded at the end of February 2021. The decline in value of the cedi still ranked it as the worst-performing among Africa’s top-performing currencies.

The World Bank has begun processing $60.6 million additional COVID-19 funding for Ghana. This follows a satisfactory audit conducted by the Betton Wood institution over the 435.8 million dollars injected into the economy to support the fight against the COVID-19 pandemic. $305 million dollars has so far been used by the government, leaving some $130 million unutilized.

The Bank of Ghana has been urged to increase interest rates in the country to help stop the free fall of the Ghana cedi. According to the Chief Finance Officer of the Valley View University, Dr. Williams Peprah, increasing interest yield will entice investors to purchase more government securities and help slow down the depreciation of the cedi, despite the difficulty it will bring to the economy.

The Director-General of the Internal Audit Agency (IAA), Dr Eric Oduro Osae, has revealed that staff of three state institutions will soon be prosecuted for misappropriating Covid-19 funds. According to him, the Agency is collaborating with the Economic and Organised Crime Office (EOCO) to fast track the processes for the prosecution.

The Ghana cedi has been classified as the worst of African currencies with the “Worst Spot Returns” by Bloomberg. Bloomberg pegs the depreciation of the cedi to the dollar at 8.86% between January 1, 2022 and February 25, 2022.

The Chamber of Independent Power Producers, Distributors, and Bulk Consumers has commended the Energy Minister, Dr. Mattew Opoku Prempeh, for his good leadership and working relationship that has helped resolve some major issues in the energy sector. This is coming after the Chamber canceled energy debt and arrears via “accounting set-offs” owed by the government to the tune of $600 million.

Energy experts are worried the rising oil prices will impact negatively on consumers, though the country will benefit significantly from the windfall of the commodity price. Brent crude crossed the $100 mark on 24th February 2022, selling at $105 per barrel on the world market, far more than the $65 dollars budgeted by the government in the 2022 Budget. It has since fallen marginally, hovering around $100 per barrel.

The World Bank has commended Ghana for considerable progress in economic and social progress in the past 30 years, saying, it achieved middle-income status in 2011 because of strong, sustained economic growth, averaging over 5% since the early 1990s. This is coming after the World Bank Group today discussed a new 5-year Country Partnership Framework for Ghana.