Link
"It was on the temporary bridge between the media centre and the Ellis Park Stadium back in June when an expert in African football boldly advised me to have a bet on Ghana to win the 2010 World Cup."
Friday, October 9, 2009
Wednesday, September 30, 2009
Awesomeness
Interesting article on HBR: The Awesomeness Manifesto
- I think he's spot on about the 'Innovation' hype.
- He's also right about Apple. In any Apple store, the breadth of knowledge of the staff and, after you've bought it, the sheer superiority of the product to older editions and competing products is palpable.
- I'm not entirely sure of this 'Awesomeness' that the author is selling. Yes, real innovation must yield superior benefits to the customer but much of innovation is only so from the producer's point of view. However, if a producer is not so convinced to create and put the product out there for customer validation, how would we know what is real innovation? If all innovation turned out to be genuinely so, there would be no risk in entrepreneurship. In my opinion, we'll continue to have fads. Depending on how pervasive the fads are before they fail, we'll have recessions hence business cycles will continue to be a fact of our lives. Those 'innovations' that survive will drive us forward. Recessions (and the 'value' destroyed) are simply the price we pay for development. Development is an iterative process.
Saturday, September 5, 2009
Kwaku Kufuor
www.kwakukufuor.net
The link is to a friend's website. I think he's great. If anyone in the North-East (USA) has need for some serious photography, drop him an email at kwaku.kufuor@gmail.com.
Great pictures!
The link is to a friend's website. I think he's great. If anyone in the North-East (USA) has need for some serious photography, drop him an email at kwaku.kufuor@gmail.com.
Great pictures!
Friday, September 4, 2009
Another useful link
For Microsoft Excel users. There may be little here for advanced users but a great link all the same.
http://spreadsheets.about.com/od/excelformulas/Excel_Formulas_How_to_Create_Excel_Formulas.htm
Yaw
http://spreadsheets.about.com/od/excelformulas/Excel_Formulas_How_to_Create_Excel_Formulas.htm
Yaw
Friday, August 28, 2009
A very useful link for entrepreneurs
http://www.smetoolkit.org/smetoolkit/en
"The SME Toolkit offers software, business forms, training, and more to help small businesses in emerging markets grow and succeed."
"The SME Toolkit offers software, business forms, training, and more to help small businesses in emerging markets grow and succeed."
Tuesday, August 25, 2009
Say what you know!
If you are engaged in an argument today and you find yourself in the minority, think of this man. About this time, 400 years ago, he relentlessly insisted on a minority opinion and risked harm to himself.My concern is not really how we (Ghanaians) have benefited from his courage and knowledge but that too many of us are merely concerned with fitting in. We often lack the courage or can't be bothered to say what we think.
Too many people hide on internet fora and say nothing because they can't be bothered to argue a point publicly or lack the courage to do so. No society ever developed this way. Lay your convictions (if rooted in fact) on the table for examination and, who knows, you may be celebrated 400 years hence.
- “The feeble beginnings of whatever afterwards becomes great or eminent are interesting to mankind.” - Charles Burney
- "Every opinion at it's starting is precisely a minority of one" - Thomas Carlyle
- "Every noble work is at first impossible" - Thomas Carlyle
- "The reasonable man adapts himself to the world; the unreasonable one persists in trying to adapt the world to himself. Therefore all progress depends on the unreasonable man." - George Bernard Shaw
Thursday, July 30, 2009
An interesting website
Whenever friends complain to me that Western press coverage of Africa is unduly negative, I point out that perhaps that's what the Western journalists see. We all notice what is different about new places that we travel to so, perhaps, that's what the foreign journalists see when they visit us. I further point out that if we want our story to be told from our perspective, we must tell our own story. Al Jazeera has done so for the Middle East and, perhaps, Islam but we don't necessarily need such a network. Cameron Duodu has argued passionately from his perspective as an African in the Western press time and again, and a new generation (eg Komla Dumor) have the opportunity to do same.
In a recent Time article, Andrew Rusigara, a Ugandan coffee exporter compared Bono telling us what to do to Amy Winehouse advising the USA on the credit crunch. Dambisa Moyo suggests that such celebrity Aid champions are detrimental to Africa. It helps that she's quite pretty and telegenic so she gets a lot of airtime to argue her case which she does intelligently. Bill Easterly, who is not an African, suggests that Bono and Geldof are a waste of time.
Bill Easterly brings me to the point. I recently received a book entitled 'Africa - The Good News' (ISBN: 0-620-42379-X). It comprises contributions from 43 different authors; Bill Easterly and Ken Ofori-Atta are 2 of the contributors. It's one of a growing number of publications mostly out of South Africa that seek to counter Afropessimism. To quote the editorial team, their objective is to "present Africa positively without ignoring it's challenges".
At http://www.africagoodnews.com, one can get updated news on Africa in the same vein.
It's one perspective of Africa but a very important and often overlooked one. We mostly get news on our own continent from Western media. They give an outsider's view, which is also important. Our own stories often lack quality so this is an admirable effort. For all of us, wherever resident, this should improve our perspective.
In a recent Time article, Andrew Rusigara, a Ugandan coffee exporter compared Bono telling us what to do to Amy Winehouse advising the USA on the credit crunch. Dambisa Moyo suggests that such celebrity Aid champions are detrimental to Africa. It helps that she's quite pretty and telegenic so she gets a lot of airtime to argue her case which she does intelligently. Bill Easterly, who is not an African, suggests that Bono and Geldof are a waste of time.
Bill Easterly brings me to the point. I recently received a book entitled 'Africa - The Good News' (ISBN: 0-620-42379-X). It comprises contributions from 43 different authors; Bill Easterly and Ken Ofori-Atta are 2 of the contributors. It's one of a growing number of publications mostly out of South Africa that seek to counter Afropessimism. To quote the editorial team, their objective is to "present Africa positively without ignoring it's challenges".
At http://www.africagoodnews.com, one can get updated news on Africa in the same vein.
It's one perspective of Africa but a very important and often overlooked one. We mostly get news on our own continent from Western media. They give an outsider's view, which is also important. Our own stories often lack quality so this is an admirable effort. For all of us, wherever resident, this should improve our perspective.
Saturday, June 20, 2009
Property Rights
Since Hernando de Soto's seminal book "the Mystery of Capital", property rights have come to the fore in development theory. However, what most people seemed concerned with is the documentation problems associated with land. Property rights should, and is, concerned with much more than that. One can only document what exists and then build on that to a desired state. If a society, especially the political leaders, close their eyes to the current state, there is no way they can emplace a realistic property rights regime.
This state of affairs is critical to development because the basis of any economic arrangement is the ability to enter into and perform a legally binding contract. If one does not have a right to what he proposes to exchange, then the transaction runs a risk of nullity.
Ghana has a serious property rights problem, everyone knows this. What our political leadership fail to grasp is the extremely base nature that our problem has regressed to with no bottom in sight. Simply, in Ghana, one is not guaranteed his right to even his most essential property - his life. And when the political leadership, when their own right to life is threatened, think only of their own security and fail to adopt a systems approach. We live in a society that compels investments in measures to guarantee our lives, to a ludicrous extent that is difficult to justify and, yet, we hope to attract 'foreign investment'.
A boundary wall around a home is a silly diversion of resources that could otherwise be profitably invested. A 7-foot high boundary wall around a standard 80ft x 100ftx lot will cost about US$10,000 at current prices, with the various toppings of ugly, electrified barbed wire, etc,. This may not matter to the rich but down the wealth ladder, it makes a huge difference to economic security. And this is just the cost of putting up a wall. It does not factor in costs for maintenance and the extra hindrance it poses to disaster recovery efforts, say in the case of a fire. But then again, one may argue that there is no Fire Service to speak of!
We attempt a second layer of security by barring our doors and windows to make it difficult for robbers to enter. We also make it almost impossible to quickly exit our homes if we need to. Burglar proof, whatever the right spelling is, mars the beauty of our homes and adds to construction costs. We are also advised to have a secure room designed and built into our homes so that when all else fails, we may retire there with our families and give the robbers free rein.
There is an increasing presence of guns in the home despite our security analysts' warnings on proliferation of fire arms. I sometimes get the impression that I'm the only one without a handgun among my friends. Should residents be compelled to self-insure this way?
Of all the various property rights issues, the right to life is paramount not just because we are primarily productive when alive and expensive to self-insure. It is also concerned with that intangible but paramount issue of our lives - dignity. Wole Soyinka expertly discussed the essence of dignity at the BBC's Reith Lectures in 2004. In his fourth lecture titled "The Quest for Dignity", he says:
"Dignity in the management of Community lies at the heart of our preoccupation. The global climate of fear owes much to the devaluation or denial of dignity in the intersection of Communities, most notably between the stronger and weaker ones, an avoidance of the recognition of this very entitlement, this craving, this inbred addiction if you prefer..."
We live in a climate of fear right now. I see it in my wife's eyes every time I tell her I have to drive to some work site outside Accra. I hear it in her voice as she goes around each night and checks if every member of the household is locked in and various accesses secured. I see it in her beahviour as she drives home, frantically checking if she's being followed. There is something particular obnoxious and sad when you know your right to life is merely at some thug's discretion; when people die in dirty, ill-equiped hospitals from easily curable diseases; when dodging a pothole in a road leads to 20 people lain by the side of the road.
An Italian builder that I worked with was shot dead in Tema last Thursday. To Massimilliano Colleta, I say Rest in Peace. To our security agencies and those in charge, the Ibos say "a man who is trampled to death by an elephant is a man who is blind and deaf". Do you see or hear the elephant in the room?
This state of affairs is critical to development because the basis of any economic arrangement is the ability to enter into and perform a legally binding contract. If one does not have a right to what he proposes to exchange, then the transaction runs a risk of nullity.
Ghana has a serious property rights problem, everyone knows this. What our political leadership fail to grasp is the extremely base nature that our problem has regressed to with no bottom in sight. Simply, in Ghana, one is not guaranteed his right to even his most essential property - his life. And when the political leadership, when their own right to life is threatened, think only of their own security and fail to adopt a systems approach. We live in a society that compels investments in measures to guarantee our lives, to a ludicrous extent that is difficult to justify and, yet, we hope to attract 'foreign investment'.
A boundary wall around a home is a silly diversion of resources that could otherwise be profitably invested. A 7-foot high boundary wall around a standard 80ft x 100ftx lot will cost about US$10,000 at current prices, with the various toppings of ugly, electrified barbed wire, etc,. This may not matter to the rich but down the wealth ladder, it makes a huge difference to economic security. And this is just the cost of putting up a wall. It does not factor in costs for maintenance and the extra hindrance it poses to disaster recovery efforts, say in the case of a fire. But then again, one may argue that there is no Fire Service to speak of!
We attempt a second layer of security by barring our doors and windows to make it difficult for robbers to enter. We also make it almost impossible to quickly exit our homes if we need to. Burglar proof, whatever the right spelling is, mars the beauty of our homes and adds to construction costs. We are also advised to have a secure room designed and built into our homes so that when all else fails, we may retire there with our families and give the robbers free rein.
There is an increasing presence of guns in the home despite our security analysts' warnings on proliferation of fire arms. I sometimes get the impression that I'm the only one without a handgun among my friends. Should residents be compelled to self-insure this way?
Of all the various property rights issues, the right to life is paramount not just because we are primarily productive when alive and expensive to self-insure. It is also concerned with that intangible but paramount issue of our lives - dignity. Wole Soyinka expertly discussed the essence of dignity at the BBC's Reith Lectures in 2004. In his fourth lecture titled "The Quest for Dignity", he says:
"Dignity in the management of Community lies at the heart of our preoccupation. The global climate of fear owes much to the devaluation or denial of dignity in the intersection of Communities, most notably between the stronger and weaker ones, an avoidance of the recognition of this very entitlement, this craving, this inbred addiction if you prefer..."
We live in a climate of fear right now. I see it in my wife's eyes every time I tell her I have to drive to some work site outside Accra. I hear it in her voice as she goes around each night and checks if every member of the household is locked in and various accesses secured. I see it in her beahviour as she drives home, frantically checking if she's being followed. There is something particular obnoxious and sad when you know your right to life is merely at some thug's discretion; when people die in dirty, ill-equiped hospitals from easily curable diseases; when dodging a pothole in a road leads to 20 people lain by the side of the road.
An Italian builder that I worked with was shot dead in Tema last Thursday. To Massimilliano Colleta, I say Rest in Peace. To our security agencies and those in charge, the Ibos say "a man who is trampled to death by an elephant is a man who is blind and deaf". Do you see or hear the elephant in the room?
Thursday, May 7, 2009
They saw Canaan...
I've been looking at player ratings on the English newspaper websites. All the Chelsea players are rated very highly, 7s & 8s, with glowing comments. The Barca players are lowly rated for the match with Eto'o's 4 on Timesonline.co.uk/sport being the lowest. Here, Ashley Cole gets an 8 while Messi gets a 5. I suspect if Chelsea had qualified in a similar situation as last, they would still have been rated highly and Barca very low. It's just emotional.
All night, the ball was like Canaan to Cole, he could see it but couldn't touch it. Messi skipped past him at will, including one ridiculous body swerve in the second half when Messi didn't even touch the ball until Cole was chasing rabbits in the other direction. Even 3, 4 defenders could not take the ball off Messi, they merely forced him to pass and yet the raters think the massed defenders played him off the park? Nonsense. And we've not even mentioned his significant assist on the goal yet. It was the concentration of defenders on the man with the ball that created open spaces for barca elsewhere and allowed the goal. All night, Barca had opportunities for shots but opted to pass. I guess that's why Prof Mills used to say that questions that students answered last were the best; they did not have enough time so they went straight to the point. For me, Barca's game is always like an thorough investigation, they probe you down the left, then the right, and the middle, and eventually, a breakthrough.
Those Chelsea fans crying penalty seem to have forgotten getting away with Bosingwa's manhandling of Henry in the box in the first leg. Only Dani Alves' foul on Malouda in the first half was a clear penalty. The rest, I've seen them NOT given either because the defending player was turned away from the ball or the distance was too short for him to react. As Alex Ferguson says all the time, these things even themselves out over a season. Unfortunately for Chelsea, they evened themselves out over 2 legs.
When Reading was last in the EPL, Steve Coppel noted that the best way to play much better teams is to take the fight to them vigourously. Unfortunately, that's the also the way to get yourself a thrashing. If Chelsea wanted to win badly enough, they should have taken the risk and attacked instead of constantly keeping 9 men in their box. They have a right to do that but the ref also has a right to exercise his discretion as granted by the rules. Except for the foul on Malouda, I would have ignored all the other shouts too.
Chelsea, sorry oh!
All night, the ball was like Canaan to Cole, he could see it but couldn't touch it. Messi skipped past him at will, including one ridiculous body swerve in the second half when Messi didn't even touch the ball until Cole was chasing rabbits in the other direction. Even 3, 4 defenders could not take the ball off Messi, they merely forced him to pass and yet the raters think the massed defenders played him off the park? Nonsense. And we've not even mentioned his significant assist on the goal yet. It was the concentration of defenders on the man with the ball that created open spaces for barca elsewhere and allowed the goal. All night, Barca had opportunities for shots but opted to pass. I guess that's why Prof Mills used to say that questions that students answered last were the best; they did not have enough time so they went straight to the point. For me, Barca's game is always like an thorough investigation, they probe you down the left, then the right, and the middle, and eventually, a breakthrough.
Those Chelsea fans crying penalty seem to have forgotten getting away with Bosingwa's manhandling of Henry in the box in the first leg. Only Dani Alves' foul on Malouda in the first half was a clear penalty. The rest, I've seen them NOT given either because the defending player was turned away from the ball or the distance was too short for him to react. As Alex Ferguson says all the time, these things even themselves out over a season. Unfortunately for Chelsea, they evened themselves out over 2 legs.
When Reading was last in the EPL, Steve Coppel noted that the best way to play much better teams is to take the fight to them vigourously. Unfortunately, that's the also the way to get yourself a thrashing. If Chelsea wanted to win badly enough, they should have taken the risk and attacked instead of constantly keeping 9 men in their box. They have a right to do that but the ref also has a right to exercise his discretion as granted by the rules. Except for the foul on Malouda, I would have ignored all the other shouts too.
Chelsea, sorry oh!
It's 5yrs and the future still hasn't arrived?
Wenger, win something next season with your "maturing kids" or butt out!
Sunday, May 3, 2009
A favourite passage...
Many people concerned with economic development consider Singapore a good example to learn from. There may be a few lessons to learn from my favourite passage, on p381 of Lee Kuan Yew's From Third World to First:
"For nearly four decades since the war, successive British governments seemed to assume that the creation of wealth came about automatically, and that what needed government attention and ingenuity was the redistribution of wealth. So governments devised ingenious ways to transfer incomes from the successful to the less successful. In this climate, it requires a prime minister with very strong nerves to tell voters the truth, that creators of wealth are precious members of a society who deserve honour plus a right to keep the better part of their rewards...We have used to advantage what Britain left behind: the English language, the legal system, parliamentary government and impartial administration. However, we have studiously avoided the practices of the welfare state. We have seen how a great people reduced themselves to mediocrity by leveling down."
This is to all those who are only concerned with "sharing the national cake". The cake must first be baked and the baker must have his reward recognised, ensured and protected!
"For nearly four decades since the war, successive British governments seemed to assume that the creation of wealth came about automatically, and that what needed government attention and ingenuity was the redistribution of wealth. So governments devised ingenious ways to transfer incomes from the successful to the less successful. In this climate, it requires a prime minister with very strong nerves to tell voters the truth, that creators of wealth are precious members of a society who deserve honour plus a right to keep the better part of their rewards...We have used to advantage what Britain left behind: the English language, the legal system, parliamentary government and impartial administration. However, we have studiously avoided the practices of the welfare state. We have seen how a great people reduced themselves to mediocrity by leveling down."
This is to all those who are only concerned with "sharing the national cake". The cake must first be baked and the baker must have his reward recognised, ensured and protected!
Friday, March 27, 2009
Sunday, March 15, 2009
Sunday, March 8, 2009
Collateral damage
Seems like we may see the return of many Ghanaian professionals from the diaspora.
From http://www.thecrimson.com/article.aspx?ref=526932:
"Troubled financial institutions that recruit heavily from Harvard may soon face restrictions on hiring international students if they accepted federal bailout funding. Under a recently passed amendment to the federal stimulus bill, companies participating in the Troubled Assets Relief Program—a government financial-rescue plan implemented last fall—will face more restrictions in hiring H-1B visa holders, foreigners with at least a bachelor’s degree and “highly specialized knowledge” in a particular field. Firms affected by the amendment—including nearly all large investment banks—have consistently hired from Harvard Business School and Harvard Law School in past years, prompting Harvard’s lobbyists to push for a loose interpretation of the restrictions. Firms that have accepted TARP funds would be required to demonstrate that they have made concerted efforts to employ and avoid laying off U.S. citizens before hiring H-1B visa holders, said Kevin Casey, the University’s chief lobbyist."
I was first alerted to this when a good friend of mine, a Ghanaian, called me to say he had lost his job because his H1-B visa had been revoked. This does not affect only fresh graduates but those currently employed too. I followed discussions of protectionism in Obama's stimulus bill in the blogosphere but the probable effect on labour escaped me. American jobs for Americans then?
My sympathies to anyone out there who has fallen victim to this development. I hope the consequent personal financial difficulties are manageable. In the short term, it's bound to exacerbate the decline in remittances and investment to some degree so this is a challenge for Ghana's macroeconomic situation. However, opportunities and threats are always 2 sides of the same coin. Is the Ministry of Employment and Social Welfare aware of this development and is it worthy of a strategic response? This is an opportunity for the Ghanaian government and businesses to attract sorely-needed skilled labour back to Ghana. The increased competition should also mean that skilled labour in Ghana must up our game and be more productive.
I can't help thinking that the USA is weakening it's long term future though. It's spending an awful lot of money that it cannot afford to entice demand back up to pre-crunch level, a level that many experts seem to agree was only maintained by unsustainable levels of debt; it's becoming more protectionist by the day; and now, for a country that's gained so much from immigration, it's driving out some of the most productive people that its trained, many of them on scholarships.
Interesting times!
From http://www.thecrimson.com/article.aspx?ref=526932:
"Troubled financial institutions that recruit heavily from Harvard may soon face restrictions on hiring international students if they accepted federal bailout funding. Under a recently passed amendment to the federal stimulus bill, companies participating in the Troubled Assets Relief Program—a government financial-rescue plan implemented last fall—will face more restrictions in hiring H-1B visa holders, foreigners with at least a bachelor’s degree and “highly specialized knowledge” in a particular field. Firms affected by the amendment—including nearly all large investment banks—have consistently hired from Harvard Business School and Harvard Law School in past years, prompting Harvard’s lobbyists to push for a loose interpretation of the restrictions. Firms that have accepted TARP funds would be required to demonstrate that they have made concerted efforts to employ and avoid laying off U.S. citizens before hiring H-1B visa holders, said Kevin Casey, the University’s chief lobbyist."
I was first alerted to this when a good friend of mine, a Ghanaian, called me to say he had lost his job because his H1-B visa had been revoked. This does not affect only fresh graduates but those currently employed too. I followed discussions of protectionism in Obama's stimulus bill in the blogosphere but the probable effect on labour escaped me. American jobs for Americans then?
My sympathies to anyone out there who has fallen victim to this development. I hope the consequent personal financial difficulties are manageable. In the short term, it's bound to exacerbate the decline in remittances and investment to some degree so this is a challenge for Ghana's macroeconomic situation. However, opportunities and threats are always 2 sides of the same coin. Is the Ministry of Employment and Social Welfare aware of this development and is it worthy of a strategic response? This is an opportunity for the Ghanaian government and businesses to attract sorely-needed skilled labour back to Ghana. The increased competition should also mean that skilled labour in Ghana must up our game and be more productive.
I can't help thinking that the USA is weakening it's long term future though. It's spending an awful lot of money that it cannot afford to entice demand back up to pre-crunch level, a level that many experts seem to agree was only maintained by unsustainable levels of debt; it's becoming more protectionist by the day; and now, for a country that's gained so much from immigration, it's driving out some of the most productive people that its trained, many of them on scholarships.
Interesting times!
Sunday, February 22, 2009
Waiting to be crunched?
In various economic commentaries on the Ghanaian economy that I've read, the effects of the credit crunch is discussed in the future tense, as something yet to manifest. But there are signs all around us that we are in the midst of a crisis.
- About 5 of our 'big' banks, including the biggest mortgage lender, have frozen lending for lack of liquidity, and those are just the ones I know about. Loan applicants are told various stories but the cash is simply not there. A few more are lending very selectively.
- Gold exploration activity is down about 70%. My former employer has only about 3 out of 9 drill rigs working and their main competitors have 100% idle capacity. One of the mines could not raise new funding and has been foreclosed by it's main creditor, a South African bank. There will be no mining and export of gold from that mine for, at least, the first half of this year.
- Remittances are estimated to be down by about 28% so far.
- The UT Financial Services (late '08) IPO set a record as the first to attract zilch foreign participation. Ecobank raised $500m in rights and IPO when it sought $2.5bn. Except for a block trade in CAL shares last Friday, there's been almost 2 weeks of no trade (hence no price movement) on the Ghana Stock Exchange.
Tuesday, February 10, 2009
Avoiding defeat
It's just as well the Black Stars are not playing their WC qualifiers at the moment. Not that they've done well in their friendlies so far. All my favourites seem to be doing badly this year.
Jelena Jankovic got bounced from the Aus Open, Federer was reduced to tears, Kotoko seem to have lost their way. As for Arsenal, I don't know what to say anymore. I fear we are suffering diminishing returns with Wenger. Many things seem lost on him at the moment so he may not have noticed the irony last Sunday; he recommended Palacios to Wigan who bought him for 1m, sold him to Spurs for 14m 12 months later, and there he was in all his pomp bossing the game against us!
Even in our local league, Berekum Arsenal is one place below Bechem Chelsea albeit both in mid-table as expected. Haba!!!
Jelena Jankovic got bounced from the Aus Open, Federer was reduced to tears, Kotoko seem to have lost their way. As for Arsenal, I don't know what to say anymore. I fear we are suffering diminishing returns with Wenger. Many things seem lost on him at the moment so he may not have noticed the irony last Sunday; he recommended Palacios to Wigan who bought him for 1m, sold him to Spurs for 14m 12 months later, and there he was in all his pomp bossing the game against us!
Even in our local league, Berekum Arsenal is one place below Bechem Chelsea albeit both in mid-table as expected. Haba!!!
Tuesday, January 20, 2009
The Last of the Trilogy
President Mills,
I know it's been a while. Finding the time has been a challenge but I promised 3 letters, so 3 letters it is; here is my last letter to you. Sir, this letter will concentrate on infrastructure, specifically on transport infrastructure.
In 2007, an agreement was signed with Kampac to develop parts of the existing system and to lay down some new tracks as well. I'm unqualified to comment on the technical aspects of the agreement, and I've not taken much interest in that. What bothers me is that we do not seem to have an integrated transport strategy which this railway project would dovetail into.
I urge you to:
I digress a bit at this point. I believe the planning for the Inland Ports initiative (Boankra) started when you were Vice President. Since then, we've built a shiny, modernist administrative office at Boankra. That part of the land where we were supposed to build the port facilities remain verdant, the envy of native herds of goats. As I understand it, this facility was supposed to serve importers and exporters in the Kumasi and beyond, so that they would not have to come to Tema and Takoradi to transact business. Customs would transport the goods to and from Boankra and hence offer a convenient service to traders in Kumasi and beyond. We know that since the Ivorian civil war, we have captured a significant portion of the import trade for Mali and Burkina Faso.
What if we really developed our rail system from T'di and Tema, through Boankra to Hamile on the Burkina border (as 'intended' by Kampac) to facilitate this inland port system and keep the trucks off our roads? You could throw in 2 more ports at Tamale and Hamile. I suspect Ghana would secure a lot more of the landlocked West African trade if Malian and Burkina truckers didn't have to drive the entire length of Ghana, less accidents and longer-lasting roads.
If we are really ambitious, we could let that Western line go up through Sunyani and Techiman, through Bamboi up to Wa and Tumu. We would then complement this with an eastern corridor from Tema to Akosombo, by river to Kete Krachi and again by rail to Yendi, Tamale and Bolgatanga. You could build some redundancy into the system by linking the two corridors at Tamale and Bamboi and then again at Bolga and Tumu. The southern system already has some linkages. Regarding the river transport, if my understanding is correct, the major obstacle is submerged trees. Instead of having commercial considerations as the overriding purpose of the harvesting of these trees, can we also clear 2 corridors, one northbound and the other southbound? We could build mini harbours en route.
We could derive revenue from passenger traffic and freight. Task your economists to estimate the multiplier effect as transportation eases and the likely effect on economic activity. This almost door-to-door delivery/pick-up of imports/exports by Customs should be great for trade. Then there is internal trade! We could open the rail network to entities willing to run railcars of their own for passenger or freight, and pay rent for the access.
These are suggestions only, they require study but I'm confident that there is some merit in these suggestions.
2 suggestions regarding roads:
President Mills, your presidency is not a destination, it is an avenue to performance. Godspeed to you.
Your ex-student,
Yaw
I know it's been a while. Finding the time has been a challenge but I promised 3 letters, so 3 letters it is; here is my last letter to you. Sir, this letter will concentrate on infrastructure, specifically on transport infrastructure.
In 2007, an agreement was signed with Kampac to develop parts of the existing system and to lay down some new tracks as well. I'm unqualified to comment on the technical aspects of the agreement, and I've not taken much interest in that. What bothers me is that we do not seem to have an integrated transport strategy which this railway project would dovetail into.
I urge you to:
- Read the Ghana Poverty Reduction Strategy II paper if you've not read it, and I mean read the document yourself. There are some good things in there. In truth, it is an overgrown version of the business plans that our entrepreneurs (I prefer this word to the usual "businessman") prepare just to acquire bank loans. I doubt we ever intended to implement most of it. I may be wrong but I doubt that you will find sector-specific implementation documents that would make real the intentions recorded in the GPRS, including that on transport infrastructure (page 143).
- Review the specific objectives of our transport strategy, if we have one. Presumably, how the transport sector facilitates economic activity and the nation's territorial integrity will be in there somewhere;
- How those objectives will be achieved especially the principal implementors (identity, capabilities and structure), timelines, routes and ease of transition from one transport mode to another (hubs?).
- Give some thought to financing of capital and recurrent expenditures.
I digress a bit at this point. I believe the planning for the Inland Ports initiative (Boankra) started when you were Vice President. Since then, we've built a shiny, modernist administrative office at Boankra. That part of the land where we were supposed to build the port facilities remain verdant, the envy of native herds of goats. As I understand it, this facility was supposed to serve importers and exporters in the Kumasi and beyond, so that they would not have to come to Tema and Takoradi to transact business. Customs would transport the goods to and from Boankra and hence offer a convenient service to traders in Kumasi and beyond. We know that since the Ivorian civil war, we have captured a significant portion of the import trade for Mali and Burkina Faso.
What if we really developed our rail system from T'di and Tema, through Boankra to Hamile on the Burkina border (as 'intended' by Kampac) to facilitate this inland port system and keep the trucks off our roads? You could throw in 2 more ports at Tamale and Hamile. I suspect Ghana would secure a lot more of the landlocked West African trade if Malian and Burkina truckers didn't have to drive the entire length of Ghana, less accidents and longer-lasting roads.
If we are really ambitious, we could let that Western line go up through Sunyani and Techiman, through Bamboi up to Wa and Tumu. We would then complement this with an eastern corridor from Tema to Akosombo, by river to Kete Krachi and again by rail to Yendi, Tamale and Bolgatanga. You could build some redundancy into the system by linking the two corridors at Tamale and Bamboi and then again at Bolga and Tumu. The southern system already has some linkages. Regarding the river transport, if my understanding is correct, the major obstacle is submerged trees. Instead of having commercial considerations as the overriding purpose of the harvesting of these trees, can we also clear 2 corridors, one northbound and the other southbound? We could build mini harbours en route.
We could derive revenue from passenger traffic and freight. Task your economists to estimate the multiplier effect as transportation eases and the likely effect on economic activity. This almost door-to-door delivery/pick-up of imports/exports by Customs should be great for trade. Then there is internal trade! We could open the rail network to entities willing to run railcars of their own for passenger or freight, and pay rent for the access.
These are suggestions only, they require study but I'm confident that there is some merit in these suggestions.
2 suggestions regarding roads:
- The most important highway in Ghana, the Accra - Kumasi road is a disgrace! Let's get a dual carriage highway, 4 or 6 lanes in either direction. Segregate the inner 2 or 3 lanes in either direction as Express lanes, with concrete walls sufficiently high to discourage climbing. It may have 3 mid-journey exits only - Apedwa, Nkawkaw and Konongo. Ban trucks from the express lanes. Any allowed vehicle would have to pay GHC20.00 minimum and maintain speed between 100kmph and 150kmph. Trucks and others who prefer may use the outer lanes, pay much less in tolls and stop where ever they please (except on the road).
- We must eliminate concrete islands in the middle of dual carriage avenues (in town) and redesign intersections for more intelligent traffic management. The number of lanes dedicated to opposite directions must not necessarily be symmetrical every hour of the day, or? On a 6-lane dual carriageway, 4 lanes could be dedicated to heavy traffic at rush hour in the morning in the required direction and 2 lanes for light traffic. This would then be reversed in the evening. Imagine Independence Avenue with only double solid white lines down the middle. In the mornings, when the heavy traffic is towards Liberation Circle, we could use plastic cones to co-opt one lane on the Tetteh Quashie-bound side for the heavy traffic. In the evening rush hour, vice versa. So the direction of traffic on 2 inner lanes would be determined by the need for additonal capacity in either direction.
President Mills, your presidency is not a destination, it is an avenue to performance. Godspeed to you.
Your ex-student,
Yaw
Sunday, January 4, 2009
Letter to the President-Elect II
Preso-Elect,
I’m very happy to write you my second letter. I’m fine. I hope you are fine too. I forgot to volunteer as one of your Mystery Shoppers in my first letter. I’ll bear my own costs. I don’t intend to do it entirely free though; please honour me with one of the left over JAK medals at the next awards ceremony, and I mean one of the £30k medals. We ask for the star so I may inherit the clouds, no? So I ask for the best medal but any of the (slightly lesser) ones will do.
On medals for yourself, I give you the words of Cato the Elder: “After I’m dead, I’d rather have men ask why I have no monument than why I have one”. ‘Nuff said!
But let me move on. I realize that this business of advising you is a growth industry with very low barriers to entry. You’ve only seen a trickle so far, expect a deluge. Much of the advice will recommend spending on education, health, infrastructure, etc. Today, I intend to comment briefly on taxes.
“Widening the tax net” is a perennial preoccupation of our revenue agencies, in word but not in deed. The excuse is that our poor address system makes it difficult to find economic agents with chargeable income. This must be very familiar to you as an ex-commish. It is strange, though, that when these good taxmen need to find these phantom entities for some personal end, then, it’s duck soup, simple! Ever heard of a taxman who couldn’t find a good mechanic for his car when he needs one? How does he do it? He asks those who know where to find the mechanic.
The reality is that our formal and informal economies do not exist separately, mutually exclusively. They transact business together daily and the formal economy keeps records. If we are willing to use what we have to get what we want, then we must use information available in the formal sector to track tax evaders hiding in the informal labyrinth.
I know I’ve already asked for a medal as reward for my earlier ideas but here I go again. I’ve filed my tax returns religiously for the past 10yrs. If you offer me a 5% rebate on my tax and guarantee that the cheque will be in the post, I’ll give you up-to-date details of the top 10 suppliers to my household. Fair deal? If you require the same of other households and businesses (no rebate for them), you’ll have all the info you need to track down tax evaders. The only problem then becomes your ability to process the info and track them down.
Your government will also be in the money if you insist that importers show tax clearance certificates every time. Currently, they can get away with payment of 1% of the CIF value, presumably as a deposit on their taxes. They then vanish into the informal warren till the next consignment arrives.
Prof, you know, much better than most that we must begin to wean ourselves off foreign aid. Ghanaians must begin to pay our way through life, to assess our choices in terms of affordability. The nation can afford more when it collects all that it’s owed, no?
Yours sincerely,
Yaw
I’m very happy to write you my second letter. I’m fine. I hope you are fine too. I forgot to volunteer as one of your Mystery Shoppers in my first letter. I’ll bear my own costs. I don’t intend to do it entirely free though; please honour me with one of the left over JAK medals at the next awards ceremony, and I mean one of the £30k medals. We ask for the star so I may inherit the clouds, no? So I ask for the best medal but any of the (slightly lesser) ones will do.
On medals for yourself, I give you the words of Cato the Elder: “After I’m dead, I’d rather have men ask why I have no monument than why I have one”. ‘Nuff said!
But let me move on. I realize that this business of advising you is a growth industry with very low barriers to entry. You’ve only seen a trickle so far, expect a deluge. Much of the advice will recommend spending on education, health, infrastructure, etc. Today, I intend to comment briefly on taxes.
“Widening the tax net” is a perennial preoccupation of our revenue agencies, in word but not in deed. The excuse is that our poor address system makes it difficult to find economic agents with chargeable income. This must be very familiar to you as an ex-commish. It is strange, though, that when these good taxmen need to find these phantom entities for some personal end, then, it’s duck soup, simple! Ever heard of a taxman who couldn’t find a good mechanic for his car when he needs one? How does he do it? He asks those who know where to find the mechanic.
The reality is that our formal and informal economies do not exist separately, mutually exclusively. They transact business together daily and the formal economy keeps records. If we are willing to use what we have to get what we want, then we must use information available in the formal sector to track tax evaders hiding in the informal labyrinth.
I know I’ve already asked for a medal as reward for my earlier ideas but here I go again. I’ve filed my tax returns religiously for the past 10yrs. If you offer me a 5% rebate on my tax and guarantee that the cheque will be in the post, I’ll give you up-to-date details of the top 10 suppliers to my household. Fair deal? If you require the same of other households and businesses (no rebate for them), you’ll have all the info you need to track down tax evaders. The only problem then becomes your ability to process the info and track them down.
Your government will also be in the money if you insist that importers show tax clearance certificates every time. Currently, they can get away with payment of 1% of the CIF value, presumably as a deposit on their taxes. They then vanish into the informal warren till the next consignment arrives.
Prof, you know, much better than most that we must begin to wean ourselves off foreign aid. Ghanaians must begin to pay our way through life, to assess our choices in terms of affordability. The nation can afford more when it collects all that it’s owed, no?
Yours sincerely,
Yaw
Letter to the President-Elect I
Dear Prof Mills,
I'd be most surprised if you remember me from your Company Law class of 1996 at the UGBS. I, on the other hand, remember you well; I even remember your promise to continue teaching after your NDC won the 1996 election. It is said that you were assigned a lot of responsibility so that may be why you couldn't remain a teacher as you intended. Anyway, I dropped the course after you left for some reason I can't remember now.
Your former student would like to share a few ideas with you in 3 short letters, including this one, if you don't mind. These won’t be lengthy reads and you probably know about all the stuff that I intend to write about anyway. You may consider these letters as reminders from your P.A., if you will.
I start with a very simple request: verify what you hear. You have been chosen to provide a service to the people of Ghana, the service of leadership. Your success should go beyond statistics and reflect in the lives of your customers (aka Ghanaians). Your success should be both discernible and measurable. If you attempt to pass off mediocre performance as success too advanced for the ordinary man to comprehend or feel, you’ll guarantee yourself a painful arse-kicking out of the Jubilee House in 4 yrs.
Those selected to help you serve at your pleasure. It may be in their interests to keep that fragile pleasure alive by constant drips of good news from time to time. Never forget those words made famous by your mentor, JJ, at his handover to your predecessor: “beware of fan-fool respect”. When reports of success flow your way like Madoff’s annual 15% return to investors, without fail, verify!
With your permission, I’d like to suggest one way to verify what you hear.
Market researchers have used a particular tool to good effect. It’s called Mystery Shopping. You may read about this tool here. I suggest that you recruit 3 or so associates, either secretly or with the help of your Chief of Staff.
When you are told that the number of days to register a business has been reduced from 120 days to 80, send them to register businesses and report the experiences to you. When the Ghana Free Zones Board say they assess applications in 2 weeks, send your secret corps to verify. I firmly believe you can keep them occupied for the whole of your 4 years in office. This is akin to a manager using the grapevine in his organisation to keep himself informed, as you must have done in your several years at the IRS.
The benefits are self-evident. An informed President can better evaluate his government’s performance and do what he has to do. And Prof, you have a lot to do!
Yours sincerely,
Yaw
I'd be most surprised if you remember me from your Company Law class of 1996 at the UGBS. I, on the other hand, remember you well; I even remember your promise to continue teaching after your NDC won the 1996 election. It is said that you were assigned a lot of responsibility so that may be why you couldn't remain a teacher as you intended. Anyway, I dropped the course after you left for some reason I can't remember now.
Your former student would like to share a few ideas with you in 3 short letters, including this one, if you don't mind. These won’t be lengthy reads and you probably know about all the stuff that I intend to write about anyway. You may consider these letters as reminders from your P.A., if you will.
I start with a very simple request: verify what you hear. You have been chosen to provide a service to the people of Ghana, the service of leadership. Your success should go beyond statistics and reflect in the lives of your customers (aka Ghanaians). Your success should be both discernible and measurable. If you attempt to pass off mediocre performance as success too advanced for the ordinary man to comprehend or feel, you’ll guarantee yourself a painful arse-kicking out of the Jubilee House in 4 yrs.
Those selected to help you serve at your pleasure. It may be in their interests to keep that fragile pleasure alive by constant drips of good news from time to time. Never forget those words made famous by your mentor, JJ, at his handover to your predecessor: “beware of fan-fool respect”. When reports of success flow your way like Madoff’s annual 15% return to investors, without fail, verify!
With your permission, I’d like to suggest one way to verify what you hear.
Market researchers have used a particular tool to good effect. It’s called Mystery Shopping. You may read about this tool here. I suggest that you recruit 3 or so associates, either secretly or with the help of your Chief of Staff.
When you are told that the number of days to register a business has been reduced from 120 days to 80, send them to register businesses and report the experiences to you. When the Ghana Free Zones Board say they assess applications in 2 weeks, send your secret corps to verify. I firmly believe you can keep them occupied for the whole of your 4 years in office. This is akin to a manager using the grapevine in his organisation to keep himself informed, as you must have done in your several years at the IRS.
The benefits are self-evident. An informed President can better evaluate his government’s performance and do what he has to do. And Prof, you have a lot to do!
Yours sincerely,
Yaw
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