Accra, 10.11.2011

Switzerland is supporting the upscale and development of an agricultural value chain for fair trade organic cocoa in Ghana. The project aims to enable a significant number of farmers in Ghana to improve their livelihoods in a sustainable way by adopting organic and fair trade standards for cocoa production.

The project will benefit over 7’000 farming households cultivating almost 17’000 hectares of cocoa plantations within an agro-forestry system, by introducing best practices in cocoa production as well as improve their livelihoods.

The Fair Trade Organic Cocoa Project was started in 2007 in the Suhum-Kraboa-Coaltar district of the Eastern Region by Yayra Glover Ltd, a Ghanaian company with partners Pakka AG and Max Felchlin AG of Switzerland. The project is now extending from the Eastern Region where most of the farms are over-aged to the Volta Region to cultivate new cocoa farms.

“The project approaches cocoa farming as an opportunity for profitable business for small scale farmers by providing training and advice to foster entrepreneurship and build family farms as small commercial enterprises” Brigitte Cuendet, Head of Economic Section and Development Cooperation at the Embassy of Switzerland said. “ Since 2010, Switzerland through its State Secretariat for Economic Affairs (SECO) has been supporting the project of the named partners in order to allow a significant up-scaling of produced volumes and enlarge the operations also to the ecologically valuable Volta Region.

Mr. Yayrator Glover, CEO of Yayra Glover Ltd remarked that “the vision is to produce not only high quality tasty cocoa, but utilize profitable cocoa production as agent of change for environmental and social benefits of cocoa small-holders”. His investment partner, Mr. Balz Strasser, CEO of Pakka AG adds that “Pakka’s long-term investment into the project aims at developing a model for the development of agricultural supply chains delivering to the final customer highly sustainable products”.

“We remain in close contact with both the cocoa farmers and our local partners, so we know their production conditions. Together we can work towards high quality cocoa beans. We reward such quality by paying premium prices” Mr. Felix Inderbitzin, Purchase Director of Felchlin AG said.

Organic Cocoa is cocoa produced with high consideration for safety of the consumer and the environment. This means that the cocoa is produced without chemical pesticides, synthetic fertilizers and genetically modified items.

Fair trade organic cocoa goes further by adopting fair trade standards and certification of organic cocoa production. This involves paying living wages and improving farm practices and livelihood of the cocoa farmers. Though the global market for organic cocoa is small (under 0.5%), demand is increasing as more chocolate consumers are becoming increasingly concerned about food safety and the environment.

The project benefits from SECO’s long standing experience in supporting organic and fair trade projects as well as founding and partnering the Organic and Fair trade Competence Centre hosted by the Swiss NGO Helvetas. Switzerland is also a longstanding and active member of the International Cocoa Organisation.

11 April 2011

The Bank of Ghana has received support from the Swiss Government to develop a web-based collateral registry that will facilitate access to credit for small and medium-sized enterprises in Ghana. A USD 350,000 agreement to this effect has been signed between the Bank of Ghana and the Swiss Government at a ceremony in Accra today.

The agreement is part of a USD 1.25 million support from the Swiss Government to the International Finance Corporation (IFC) which is implementing the Secured Transactions Project with the Bank of Ghana to ease access to finance for Small and Medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in Ghana. It also comes on the back of the Borrowers and Lenders Act 773 which was passed in 2008 to establish a collateral registry which is currently being housed at the Bank of Ghana.

Ghana’s credit market is highly competitive, but most banks lend to enterprises that are able to offer immovable assets as collateral; yet even with collateral, banks are unwilling to provide lending due to the risk that collateral may have been used in multiple borrowing. The collateral registry will hold information about creditors’ collateral which they have provided as security for loans. This information will be accessible to other lenders.

Through the support of the Swiss Government - being facilitated by the IFC - the Bank of Ghana will re-design the current registry system to a modern web-based Secure Transactions Registry System and also transfer existing data in the current collateral registry system to the new web-based registry. Registry staff will be given software training to ensure a well-functioning modern collateral registry.

A statement by the Bank of Ghana: “As the regulator and supervisor of the credit market in Ghana, the Bank of Ghana is appreciative of this support from the Swiss Government and considers it timely. At a time when Ghana has been adjudged the best destination for doing business out of 183 countries in terms of easy access to credit in the recently published Doing Business Report launched for 2011, this intervention by the Swiss Government and the IFC is laudable and will complement the effort Government and the Bank of Ghana are making in ensuring easy access to credit in the economy especially by small and medium scale enterprises.”

Mary-Jean Moyo, IFC Ghana Country Manager said, "IFC's partnership with Swiss State Secretariat for Economic Affairs (SECO) on this program has encouraged more robust economic development and opportunities in Ghana. Supporting an improved financial infrastructure is critical to attracting private investment and improving access to finance for a wider range of borrowers."

01 December 2010

The National Task Force on Sustainable Public Procurement has been launched to steer government’s efforts at improving public procurement system in Ghana. The launch follows the signing of an agreement on promoting Sustainable Public Procurement during President John Atta Mills’ visit to Switzerland in August this year.
A more effective procurement system is critical to achieving Ghana’s growth and poverty reduction goals since it is estimated that public procurement expenditure is over 50% of Ghana’s National Budget. This is huge! Even a marginal improvement of the procurement system can be highly beneficial to the economy.

Sustainable Public Procurement considers social and environmental criteria apart from economic requirements in the procurement process for the selection of suppliers. Therefore the introduction of Sustainable Public Procurement in Ghana demonstrates a commitment by both the Government of Ghana and the Government of the Swiss Confederation to sustainable development.

The National Task Force is made up of key stakeholders from Civil Society, the Trades Union Congress, Industry, Commerce, Standard’s Oversight Bodies, Environmental Protection Agency, Local Government, Institutions of Engineers and Architects as well as the Academia. Their mandate is to lead the process of introducing sustainable public procurement in public procurement at all levels of Government- Ministries Departments and Agencies as well as Metropolitan, Municipal and District Assemblies.
The agreement signed between the Republic of Ghana and the Swiss Confederation in August provides approximately USD 2.7 million grant to support the Public Procurement Authority to enhance the principles of transparency, accountability and sustainability in public procurement by strengthening the monitoring and evaluation system used by the Public Procurement Authority and increasing the volumes of sustainable goods and services procured by the Government of Ghana. This is the second phase of Switzerland’s support to PPA.
In the first phase which began in 2003, Switzerland through its State Secretariat for Economic Affairs (SECO) provided technical assistance to the Public Procurement Authority to develop a procurement monitoring and evaluation (M&E) tool, called the Public Procurement Model of Excellence (PPME), which is used by the PPA to collect data and to assess the level of compliance and performance of Ghana’s procurement entities.

28 September 2010

Switzerland and Germany have jointly committed approximately Euros 9 million to support reforms in tax policy and tax administration in Ghana. A memorandum of understanding (MOU) to this effect has been signed between the Ministry of Finance and Economic Planning and the two development partners:the Swiss State Secretariat of Economic Affairs (SECO) and   the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Technische Zusammenarbeit (GTZ).

Over the last decade Ghana's tax policy and administration framework has seen reforms which have come with the introduction of value-added tax and revised income tax scheme. These have led to the doubling of the tax to GDP ratio to 21.38% and a change in tax structure towards taxation of consumption. However, the tax base needs to be widened and the tax net broadened. Additionally Ghana’s tax system must induce investments and improve the business climate while ensuring efficiency in tax collection.

It is these challenges that have led the Government to embark on further reforms to establish the Ghana Revenue Authority (GRA) as a modern and unified revenue authority and the Tax Policy Unit (TPU) at the Ministry of Finance and Economic Planning to provide research and analysis on tax legislation. GTZ and SECO have provided the technical assistance to tackle these challenges.

The support of GTZ and SECO is in its second phase. In the first phase the two development partners jointly supported the establishment of the Tax Policy Unit within the Ministry of Finance and Economic Planning.

The TPU was established to strengthen the capacity of the Ministry of Finance and Economic Planning to advice the Government to pursue accountable, transparent and sustainable tax policies which will contribute to improvements in fiscal performance. The first phase of the joint support helped the TPU to build capacity of staff and also provided office equipment and specialized software for tax analysis and forecasts.

This MoU marks the beginning of the second phase which has the objective to institutionalize the TPU within the Ministry of Finance and Economic Planning and support the integration of the Internal Revenue Service (IRS), Customs Excise and Preventive Service (CEPS) and the Value Added Tax (VAT) Service into a unified tax authority-Ghana Revenue Authority.

30 March 2010

The second phase of a project to improve the livelihoods of Ghanaian farmers while promoting biodiversity has been launched by the Swiss Ambassador to Ghana, H.E. Mr. Nicolas Lang and the Deputy Minister of Land’s and Natural Resources Mr. Henry Ford Kamel.

The project is supporting the development of sustainable value chains through the elaboration of standards for Allanblackia tree. The tree locally known as sonkyi or kusiadwe grows naturally in forests and to some extent on farms and adjoining areas especially in the Western, Central, Ashanti and Eastern Regions. Its commercial potential has recently been discovered by Unilever and other interested commercial actors.

Traditionally oil derived from Allanblackia seed is used for cooking, preparing medicines and making soap. Allanblackia oil is considered as a substitute to palm oil in the manufacture of margarine, cosmetics and soap. It can also be used in preparing ice-cream, coatings, cake and cookie baking and spreads.

Current global demand for Allanblackia stands at about 40’000MT per year, Allanblackia collection has become lucrative as there is market offered by multinationals like Unilever for seeds. This project will improve livelihoods and reduce poverty since mostly women have been collecting Allanblackia seeds

Over the past four years, supply chains based on wild harvesting of Allanblackia have been established in Ghana, Tanzania and Nigeria. At present production levels, approximately 10,000 small-scale farmers and collectors earn a total of about US$ 250,000 per year for two months of occasional work in the off-season. It is expected that increasing financial benefit from Allanblackia would motivate farmers and communities to protect the tree. One of the project's aim is to promote the planting of new Allanblackia trees on farms and also for rehabilitation of degraded landscape contributing to environmental conservation.

Good practices guidelines which have been developed during the first phase of the project are a key reference for the elaboration of standards that would promote sustainable production and trade of Allanblackia and faciliate market access through an open multi-stakeholder platform in cooperation with the Union for Ethical Bio Trade (UEBT) - a Geneva based non-profit organization promoting conservation of biodiversity, respect traditional knowledge and equitable sharing of benefits along the supply chain.

The second phase of the project has the objective to promote the scaling up of sustainable production and trade of Allanblackia; develop a market differentiation system; facilitate benefits sharing among stake holders and build capacity of small producers and community enterprises on good agricultural practices.

The project is a public-private partnership worth $ 6 million with the Swiss government contributing $ 1.9 million. Other partners contributing to the project are: Unilever, The World Agroforestry Centre (ICRAF), The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), SNV, IUCN and a number of governmental agencies and CSOs in Africa. The project is managed by IUCN – the International Union for Conservation of Nature, which is implementing through key partners: Forestry Research Institute of Ghana, the Institute of Cultural Affairs, Technoserve, Union for Ethical Bio Trade and Unilever.

02 March 2010

The Swiss Government and the Government of Ghana have completed procedures for the implementation of a US$12 million  Electricity Sector Reform and Extension Programme signed in 2008.

The programme, which is being implemented in collaboration with the Ministry of Energy, will support Ghana to achieve a high-performing electricity sector through the implementation of structural reforms.

The US$12 million  grant is Switzerland’s contribution to the implementation of the Ghana Energy Development and Access Project (GEDAP) which aims to improve operational efficiency of the electricity distribution system and increase access to electricity.

The Electricity Sector Reform and Extension Programme is made up of three components:
- technical assistance to the Public Utilities Regulatory Commission (PURC);
- support to the electricity distribution sector;
- poverty oriented grid expansion.

When the agreement was signed in 2008, it was decided that the technical scope of the programme will be defined at a later stage.

The technical assistance programme with the PURC is currently underway: developing capacity of PURC to better monitor the standards of provision of utility services; set tariffs; and protect interest of consumers.

Switzerland’s support to the electricity sector will assist the Electricity Company of Ghana (ECG) and the Northern Electricity Department of the VRA to conduct a technical assessment of the levels and types of electricity losses that they are experiencing as well as assist them to improve operational efficiency.

The third component of the Electricity Sector Reform and Extension Programme supports the governments’ goal of extending electricity to rural Ghana. Currently only 65% of Ghanaians have access to electricity. The Government aims to increase the access to 85% by the year 2015. Switzerland is supporting this goal with poverty oriented grid expansion in selected rural communities.

04 January 2010

Effective 1 January 2010, an agreement between Ghana and Switzerland for the prevention of double taxation comes into force.

The agreement, signed in July 2008 and ratified by the Ghanaian and Swiss Parliament in 2009, protects investors from the two countries from double taxation on income, wealth and capital gains. Specifically, Swiss direct investment in Ghana and Ghanaian direct investments in Switzerland will be encouraged and withholding tax on dividends, interest, licence royalties and service fees will be limited.

Statistics from Ghana Investment Promotion Council (GIPC) as per end of June 2009, ranked Switzerland 14th among foreign investors in Ghana. This agreement will therefore promote favourable bilateral economic relations and further encourage Swiss direct investment in Ghana.

A number of Swiss companies are present in Ghana, and are major players especially in the food and services industry.

24 December 2009

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) with donors and recipient countries on 11th December 2009 concluded a successful pledging session in Tunis that raised US$130 million to finance two existing and two new African Regional Technical Assistance Centers (AFRITACs) in Ghana and Mauritius. The four AFRITACs will require funding of about US$200 million over five years.

“The AFRITACs assist countries in designing and implementing sound macroeconomic policy, which is key to their development and all the more important in light of the financial crisis. They provide a platform for donor coordination as called for in the Paris Declaration on Aid Effectiveness“ Mr. Portugal, IMF Deputy Managing Director said at the conclusion of the pledging conference.

Ghana was selected as the site for AFRITAC West II, which will serve six countries (Cape Verde, The Gambia, Ghana, Nigeria, Liberia, and Sierra Leone) and could provide technical assistance on tax and customs policy and administration, public financial management, financial sector regulation and supervision, public debt markets, and macroeconomic statistics.

Switzerland, one of the largest donors to the IMF’s capacity building program and existing AFRITACs, has firmed up its pledge by signing an agreement with the IMF to contribute US$10 million; out of this, US$ 5 million will support the AFRITAC West II to be set-up in Ghana.

12 November 2009, Accra

Two state-of-the-art laboratories that will be used to test Ghana’s food exports have been officially opened at the Ghana Standards Board. The official launch was done jointly by the Swiss Ambassador to Ghana, Mr. Nicolas Lang and the Minister of Trade and Industry, Ms. Hanna Tetteh.

The laboratories which have been upgraded and internationally accredited were sponsored by the Swiss Government through the UNIDO Trade Capacity Building Project. The accredited testing laboratories at GSB are in the fields of Microbiology and Pesticide Residue.

The Trade Capacity Building Project worth USD 2.7million began in 2007 and aims to improve export capacity of Ghana to produce acceptable products, develop standards and conformity assessment infrastructure that would prove Ghanaian products in export markets and to better integrate Ghana into the multilateral trading system.

The laboratories will assist Ghanaian exporters to ensure food safety, timely detection of pesticide residue in local and exported food and reduced cost of testing in destination countries. Furthermore Ghanaian exports will enjoy more acceptance because data generated by the accredited laboratories are internationally recognized and finally the exports will enjoy consumer confidence.

In his speech during the launch, the Swiss Ambassador, Mr. Nicolas Lang, highlighted the benefit of laboratories to Ghana and expressed expectation that the Ghana Standards Board will maintain higher standards for Ghana’s exports.

21 October 2009

The Ghana Investment Promotion Centre (GIPC) has embarked on capacity building programme which is part of an initiative of Switzerland through Osec Swiss Business Network to enhance the capacity of the GIPC to induce concrete foreign direct investments into Ghana through the organization of matchmaking events in Switzerland and Ghana.

In a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) signed in August 2009, Switzerland through the Investment Promotion in Sub-Saharan Africa (IPSSA) initiative will enhance the capacity of GIPC to identify and appraise viable investment projects as well as sensitize Ghanaian companies to detect investment projects. The initiative will provide the platform to market these investment opportunities internationally during the Ghana Investment Forum 2010 scheduled for January 2010.

“The unique thing about the IPSSA initiative is that GIPC is supported to identify, package and market specific investments opportunities” commented Felix Quansar, IPSSA Project Manager Ghana. The identifiable opportunities will be in agribusiness where Ghana has comparative advantage.

6 April 2009

Switzerland will provide USD 25 million to Ghana in general budget support from 2009 to 2011. The Swiss Ambassador to Ghana, H.E. Mr. Nicolas Lang, and the Minister of Finance and Economic Planning of Ghana, Dr. Kwabena Duffour, have signed a new bilateral agreement to this effect.

Switzerland is providing general budget support through the Multi-Donor Budget Support (MDBS) group-a group of 11 development partners providing budget support to the Governement of Ghana. The group is chaired by Switzerland from June 2009 to June 2010. 

The signing of this agreement is part of the Swiss economic development assistance to Ghana. Ghana is already a very important focus of Switzerland’s development assistance and is considered one of its seven world-wide priority countries in terms of economic development cooperation, which is administered through the Swiss State Secretariat for Economic Affairs (SECO). Other SECO priority countries in Africa are South Africa and Egypt.

This Swiss budget support of US$ 25 million will be contributed directly to the Government of Ghana’s budget and aims to help increase spending in areas which will reduce poverty such as health, education, private sector development and improving good governance.

In March 2009, the Governments of Switzerland and Ghana agreed on a new four-year country assistance strategy for Switzerland’s economic development assistance. In line with this strategy, which includes MDBS, Switzerland will support Ghana in the four main areas: sound macroeconomic policies and transparent public finances; financial sector development and strengthening; trade, competition and investment climate; and basic infrastructure regulation and public utilities in energy.