The Ghanaian delegation was led by the Minister for Trade and Industry, Alan Kyerematen. The Summit was a follow up to a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) signed between the two countries in February 2019 to establish a Business Council as a framework to enhance Trade and Investment Cooperation. It is a forum for exchange between government representatives of the two countries as well as companies already active or interested in Ghana. It provides access to high-ranking German and Ghanaian decision-makers. Addressing the Summit, Federal Deputy Minister, Mr. Thomas Bareiß, stated that Ghana is one of the 10 fastest growing economies in the world. With regards to the Ease of Doing Business Ranking, Ghana has topped all countries in West Africa. As a result bilateral trade between the two countries reached 625 million euros in 2018, representing an increase of about 30 percent compared to 2017. He therefore noted that Ghana is a country with a lot of potential for German companies and the Joint Business Council is an opportunity to contribute to increased trade and investment by German companies in Ghana. Minister of Trade and Industry Alan Kyerematen noted that the interest of Ghana as a developing country is to be able to deal decisively with the challenge of unemployment and it is only the private sector that can lead the way to economic growth and job creation. He added that Ghana has a strong and resilient economy, offers a safe and secure business climate and has arguably the best credentials in terms of democratic governance. He therefore called on German investors to take advantage of this enabling environment to invest in the country as a way of deepening the commercial engagements between the two countries. The German-Ghanaian Business Council is the first ever joint business council between Germany and a Sub-Saharan African country. Several German investors, e.g. Volkswagen, stated their intentions to invest in Ghana and to commence or expand their activities. In the framework of the Business Council several new initiatives were launched: The Africa Business Network, which offers tailor-made advisory and support services to German companies and actively informs them about business opportunities in Africa, including in Ghana. A Competence Center: Mineral Resources will be established within the Delegation of Industry and Commerce in Accra (AHK Ghana). Germany improved conditions for export credit guarantees for German exports to Ghana. A skills expert has been installed at the Delegation in order to help German small and medium enterprises train local workers. Both sides intend to foster their cooperation via the Institutional Partnership programme of the German Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy (BMWi) to improve the business framework in Ghana through exchange between Ghanaian and German institutitions.
Mövenpick Ambassador Hotel Accra is pleased to announce the appointment of Mr. Adnan Yucel as its new General Manager. Originally from Turkey, Mr. Yucel is an adept hotelier with over twenty-five years of experience, having worked for other properties within the Accor brand, including Fairmont, Raffles, Swissôtel and Sofitel, as well as other multi-national hotel brands such as Intercontinental Hotels Group and Hilton Hotels & Resorts. The Mövenpick Ambassador Hotel Accra, recently adjudged Luxury Business Hotel for West & Central Africa in the World Luxury Hotel Awards, is one of the most established properties in the upscale hotel sector in Ghana and has played host to numerous high level delegations and events in the city. Originally built as the Ambassador Hotel and presented as a gift the the government of Ghana in the late 1950’s, the completely rebuilt hotel begun operations in 2011 and is ideally located downtown the central business district in Accra. About 7km from the Kotoka International Airport, the hotel is surrounded by 16 acres of lush landscaped gardens giving it a resort-like feel in the bustling city of Accra with 260 rooms and suites, 5 ultra-modern meeting rooms and a grand 736 square metre ballroom, leisure facilities including the largest lagoon style pool in the city, 24 hour gym with sauna, 400m jogging trail, Thai massage as well as a spellbinding collection of over 1,500 pieces of African art. With his extensive experience in hotel management, Adnan is well placed to steer the flagship and multiple award winning 5-star hotel to further success. “I am delighted to be a part of this project in Accra and experience first-hand the famed hospitality of Ghanaians”, said Mr. Adnan Yucel on his new appointment. “I see it every day – through the eyes of my team and their warm, genuine smiles. It is no wonder that this hotel has consistently been ranked as one of the best in terms of service quality and guest satisfaction, which is why it is the first choice amongst our highly influential clientele, and I look forward to continuing this tradition of making moments with our guests”. For further information, please contact: Theodora M. Yebuah Asst. Marketing Manager Email: theodora.yebuah@mövenpick.com Tel.: +233 302 611 000 About Mövenpick Hotels & Resorts: Mövenpick Hotels & Resorts makes moments by doing ordinary things in an extraordinary way. Providing an upscale, relaxed and uncomplicated guest experience, Mövenpick recognises that small gestures make a big difference. Whether it is chocolate hour every afternoon, customised sleep technology to ensure a restful night or specially created fun and healthy kids’ menus, Mövenpick creates a human and warm environment for guests, business partners and employees. Committed to sustainable practices and caring for its local communities, Mövenpick is the most Green Globe certified hotel brand in the world. Founded in Switzerland in 1973, but with a heritage of food and beverage excellence stretching back to the 1940s, Mövenpick holds a growing portfolio of more than 80 hotels in 24 countries. Mövenpick is part of AccorHotels, a world-leading travel and lifestyle group which invites travellers to feel welcome at more than 4,500 hotels, resorts and residences, along with some 10,000 of the finest private homes around the globe.
The current health crisis creates new demands in Europe and in developing and emerging countries every day. Companies worldwide are looking for new reliable partners or suppliers in times of crisis. The digital matchmaking platform leverist.de daily connects companies with business opportunities in development cooperation. In order to provide fast and pragmatic solutions for Corona-specific challenges, the offer of leverist.de is now extended to leverist.de/Covid19 with requests and offers from companies - as far as they are relevant to the crisis and development. You as a company can use leverist.de in the following ways: Are you looking for current business opportunities? On leverist.de you will find current business opportunities. If you are interested, please create a company profile, get in direct contact with the experts and thus provide solutions and offers for crisis-relevant needs. Do Business. Do Good. Are you looking for new partners or solutions in times of the Covid19 crisis? Contact your EZ-Scout to post your own requests on leverist.de.
COVID-19 has disrupted African businesses significantly. In this challenging time, REDAVIA enables sound businesses to reduce their operating costs with a free solar plant leasing service. REDAVIA has introduced the COVID-19 Resilience Lease, which provides solar power plants to business customers for six months, completely for free. After these six months, customers can choose to roll-over this Lease into a regular REDAVIA solar plant lease or request REDAVIA to re-deploy the plant. This offer is available to selected long-term sustainable Ghanaian and Kenyan companies on a first-come, first-served basis, while supplies last. Mankoadze Fisheries Limited in Tema, Ghana, was first to sign on to the REDAVIA COVID-19 Resilience Lease. Godfried Kwame Anafi, Director of Mankoadze Fisheries Limited (MFL), is eager to see the restart of his company’s cold store and resumption of service to the corporate and independent fishing customers as soon as possible. REDAVIA will lease MFL the solar plant six months for free, so MFL’s system-critical business gets through the crisis successfully. The Royal Senchi Hotel & Resort has also joined this unique REDAVIA program. The hotel has been especially hard hit by the pandemic and saw its occupancy rates drop precipitously. Big losses in revenue made lowering utility costs a top priority for hotel management. Gerard Schraven, General Manager, said, “REDAVIA’s solar plant will enable us to keep our energy cost as low as possible when the hotel re-opens after this global health crisis.” Erwin Spolders, CEO & founder of REDAVIA, confirmed, “REDAVIA understands the economic implications of this pandemic, and we pledge to be a true friend to our business partners in this time of need.” About The Royal Senchi Hotel and Resort The Royal Senchi Hotel and Resort is the first 4-star luxury resort in Ghana. It stands on 35 acres of lush greenery with a magnificent view of the Volta River. It offers a unique blend of fauna, flora, traditional architecture, and modernity of the highest standards. About Mankoadze Fisheries Limited Mankoadze Fisheries Ltd. is a Ghanaian-owned business. The company owns and operates, among others, a 3000 tonne cold storage facility off Harbor Road in Tema. It provides cold-storage services to the Tema-based fishing fleet and to corporate fish importers and canneries. As such, Mankoadze is a system-critical link in the fish cold-chain to Ghanaian and West-African consumers. About REDAVIA REDAVIA offers solar power for businesses in sub-Saharan Africa. The REDAVIA system is based on a pre-configured model, including high-performance solar modules and electrical components. It is easy to ship, set up, scale, and redeploy. Businesses benefit from a cost-effective, reliable, clean energy solution with minimal upfront investment. Press contact Gabriella Zeugin REDAVIA +49 89 2426 8869 Write an e-mail
He stated that the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund (IMF), as well as the international community, must quickly address issues of economic revival, the global supply chain as well as healthcare systems in poorer nations, as a result of the overwhelming impact of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19). “We must recognise that this economic crisis will last much longer and have a greater impact on the developing world and we must quickly address the issues of economic revival and global supply chains and our healthcare systems. And this will require additional funds,” he stated. In his address from his office in Accra last Friday to the just-ended virtual Spring Meetings of the World Bank and IMF, which spanned April 13-19, this year, Mr Ofori-Atta said the two institutions must recognise that the economic crisis triggered by the pandemic would last much longer and have a greater impact on the developing world. The Finance Minister, therefore, proposed to the World Bank and IMF to establish an inclusive team of willing collaborators and private sector to create a new era that would “make our future greater than the past”. Humanity at stake Mr Ofori-Atta said: “All of these need to be soberly considered because a large part of humanity is at stake.” He said the world today was experiencing extraordinary times which required extraordinary measures because almost all humanity and economies had come under severe pressure due to the impact of the deadly contagious disease. “I chaired the G-24 meetings on Tuesday last week and co-chaired African Finance Ministers meetings in the past few months and the outcry is the same; the need for liquidity, fiscal space, fresh capital, debt relief, the need for stronger health systems, the need to work with the rating agencies and private creditors,” he said. Mr Ofori-Atta expressed appreciation to the leadership of the World Bank and the IMF for demonstrating incredible energy, proactiveness and creativity for tackling the coronavirus pandemic. “We should also congratulate the G-20 on prescribing a solution to the debt crisis looming amongst the International Development Association (IDA) countries,” he said. Africa Mr Ofori-Atta said, however, that such commitment would not suffice to avert countries in the emerging markets in Africa from going into an insolvency crisis and receding into a depression. “We have to solve the liquidity crisis, we have to solve the fresh capital crisis, we have to solve the health crisis. And we have to work fast,” he stated. The Finance Minister said he got the chills last night when he heard the EU President apologising to Italy for the belated support of €500 billion. “The consequences have been about 170, 000 cases, the loss of 22, 000 lives and an economic intervention of €750 million by the Italian Central Bank. That is 30 per cent of Italy’s Gross Domestic Product,” he said. Set up a team of collaborators Recalling the impact of the 1918 Spanish Influenza which wiped out 650,000 lives in the US and claimed the lives of many in the then Gold Coast, Mr Ofori-Atta described the world’s response to the pandemic then as being slow. He stated that during the outbreak of the diseases even neighbours did not care for one another, leaving in its wake a spiritual stupor which haunted everyone’s humanity. “One hundred and two years later, the EU Commissioner has to remind us that “we must protect each other to protect ourselves”. Source: Daily Graphic
The stamp created by the WTTC in May this year, allows travellers to identify destinations and businesses around the world which have adopted the global standardised health and hygiene protocols. A statement issued by the WTTC which represents the global Travel & Tourism private sector said the United Nations World Tourism Organisation (UNWTO) has welcomed the Safe Travels Stamp, which places the safety and hygiene of travellers as a top priority. The WTTC President & CEO, Gloria Guevara said: “Our Safe Travels Stamp continues to go from strength to strength and we are delighted to see even more popular countries and destinations from all corners of the world adopt our global health and hygiene protocols. “The stamp also recognises the introduction of new measures by governments around the world which positively impact the Travel & Tourism sector, and to that end, we applaud the government of Ecuador for implementing new measures at Quito airport. “The continued success of the WTTC Safe Travels Stamp demonstrates its importance not only to countries, destinations and businesses around the world, but crucially travellers, and the millions of people around the world who work in and depend on, a thriving Travel & Tourism sector. “The stamp is critical to re-establish consumer confidence in our sector and ensure travellers can rest assured that enhanced standards of hygiene are in place and they can once again experience ‘Safe Travels’.” Ghana's Minister of Tourism, Arts and Culture, Hon Barbara Oteng-Gyasi said: “We are delighted with this milestone of a Safe Travels Stamp for Ghana. Since March 21, 2020, when our borders were closed, we have worked on creating a safe environment for our Tourism and Travel practitioners. The protocols we have put in place are borne out of a shared responsibility to create a hygienic and safe destination. “With the gradual easing of restrictions, we believe these measures will boost confidence in our tourism and hospitality sector. We congratulate the WTTC for instituting these Safe Travels protocols which is a welcome addition to the tourism industry.” Since the launch of the WTTC Safe Travels Stamp, destination countries and cities, around the world have now adopted WTTC’s new protocols, including holiday heavyweights such as Tunisia, Indonesia, Egypt, Turkey, Portugal, Kenya, Mauritius and Dubai. As part of its Safe Travels protocols, the worldwide measures provide consistency and guidance to travel providers and travellers about the new approach to health, hygiene, deep cleansing and physical distancing, in the ‘new normal’ of COVID-19 world. The protocols were devised following the experience of WTTC members dealing with COVID-19 and based on guidelines from the World Health Organisation (WHO) and the Centre for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). According to WTTC’s 2020 Economic Impact Report, during 2019, Travel & Tourism was responsible for one in 10 jobs (330 million total), making a 10.3% contribution to global GDP and generating one in four of all new jobs. Source: Graphic Online