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if you like to present a different perspective to a paticular topic or issue. send it to royaljbk@gmail.com or gabrielattamy@hotmail.com

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What is happening to the Ghanaian banking sector? Part 1

Today, October 21, 2018, I wrote on my Facebook wall about the trouble many Ghanaian savers have gone through between August 2017 and October 2018. Some members of my year group from Opoku Ware School also asked the question in the title on our WhatsApp page today. The highpoint is that they have struggled to get access to their savings at the time they needed it and some of them may only get part of their savings if they get it at all. A number of financial institutions have failed  and others too may go down. I got people liking the Facebook post and others sending me private messages about whether their savings were safe. I believe many of them have seen similar posts I made earlier and they think I may have some expertise or knowledge about the financial system. I won’t accept the tag of “expert” but I will admit that I have some knowledge on the financial system of Ghana and sub-Sahara Africa. I admit to have some knowledge of the financial system firstly because I hav...
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ARE TRAFFIC JAMS IN ACCRA BAD?; AN INFORMAL COST AND BENEFIT ANALYSIS

I recently traveled to Awutu Breku in the Central Region and on my way back I observed something that took my mind to my economics classroom. What I observed was the traffic jam on the Kasoa to Accra stretch of the road. The traffic jam as most people will attest to is not unusual, especially in Accra and its surrounding suburbs. Also, I observed the activities of hawkers who were obviously doing well with their trade. This second observation too is not new for I have observed it for the past four years of my stay in Accra. The only difference this time round was that these observations got me thinking like the economist-in-progress that I am. Have you not heard severally how people have spoken adversely of the usual traffic jam situation in Accra and how it leads to a decline or better put, a slowdown in the potential growth of GDP? The argument has been that people spend so much time in traffic jam so they are unable to work optimally hence a slowdown in the potential growth rat...
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What is happening to the Ghanaian banking sector? Part 2

In this second part I propose a rough guide to determine where to take your deposits or savings. It won’t make you an expert but it would be a fine starting point. I stated e arlier  that banks lend to businesses who in turn pay interest. The stock exchange is a market where companies sell shares. That market reflects (or it is expected to reflect) what is happening to businesses in general. You have to watch that market as an investor even if you don’t hold any shares (the Composite Index). On a daily bases, the stock exchange reports the performance of the firms listed on the exchange. You should look out for the overall performance of the stock exchange as a signal of what kind of interest you should expect to receive on your deposit. The Ghana stock exchange rarely crosses 30% (per annum). This means that the guys who actually do “real work” don’t even get more than 30% in 12months. So if the bank or savings and loans company or pyramid scheme tells you they can pay you 3...
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