Bussiness
Govt releases 68 million euros for works on Manso-Huni Valley railway – Amewu
the Minister of Railways Development, on Wednesday, announced that government has paid 68 million euros to Amandi Holdings Limited to begin construction works on the Manso-Huni Valley rail line in the Western Region.
Mr Amewu said this at a media briefing on the Government’s strategy to mobilise funds for its railway projects.
The project forms part of a standard gauge rail line between Takoradi Harbour and Huni Valley.
It will provide 60km of single track lines, eight basic stations along the existing line from Amantin to Huni Valley.
There will also be access roads, CCTV and access control, backup generator and water tanks
.
The project will also include 10km of loop lines and stations’ double lines to improve availability of the line for express trains.
Mr Amewu, however, reiterated that the government could not fund the construction of a 12-billion-dollar sky-train project in the next three years because its balance sheet could not support that.
He said constructing a sky-train could cost between 11 and 12 million dollars per kilometre, noting that considering the government’s current balance sheet and fiscal space, it would be impossible to undertake such a project.
“Constructing a sky-train is not like building a road so, if we consider a period of three years, it is impossible. Sometimes, we have to be honest and objective and that’s why I said for the period of three years, it is not possible,” the Minister emphasised.
The Minister refuted claims that the government had signed a concessionaire agreement with a South African company to build a sky-train in Ghana, and explained that, it was rather a Memorandum of Understanding, which is not binding.
He also updated the public on the various ongoing railway projects across the country including, the 670-kilometre Central Spine Railway Line from Kumasi to Paga estimated at three billion dollars; Trans-ECOWAS Railway line from Afloa to Elubo, and the 1,100-kilometre Ghana-Burkina Faso Railway Interconnectivity Project.
The Minister stated that the rehabilitation of the section of Accra to Tema rail line was completed in December 2018 and provided shuttle services while the Achimota to Nsawam railway line was completed in December 2019.
He indicated that the 97.7-kilometre Tema to Mpakadan section, which falls under the Mpakadan-Ouagadougou rail line project, was 90 per cent complete.
As part of government’s efforts of building human capacity to maintain the railway infrastructure, Mr Amewu said, the Old Railway Training Institute in Sekondi was rehabilitated and upgraded to award degrees in Engineering.
Additionally, two out of the seven Railway Location Workshop Complex for maintenance of locomotives, wagons, and coaches had been refurbished while the remaining five workshops were ongoing refurbishment, the Minister stated.
Mr Amewu reiterated government’s commitment to revamping the country’s railway infrastructure to create jobs and transform the economy.
Mr Amewu added that sources for funding railway infrastructure had become very difficult due to the global Covid-19 pandemic, therefore, the only way Ghana could fund its railway projects was through payment of levies and taxes by the citizens.
“Infrastructure projects all over the world are funded by the citizens and so, if we, the citizens, decide to build our infrastructure projects, we can do it.
“We, the citizens, are the development agents and the only way we can fund such projects is through internally-generated funds by paying our levies and taxes,” the Minister added. -GNA
Bussiness
Ghana’s GDP shows economy is fast recovering despite DDEP – Finance Ministry
Ghana’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) indicates a rapid economic recovery despite global challenges and ongoing debt restructuring, according to the Ministry of Finance (MoF).
The Ministry in a statement today indicated that latest data from the Ghana Statistical Service (GSS), cumulative economic growth for the second quarter (Q2) of 2024 reached 6.9%, a notable increase from the 4.7% recorded in the first quarter of 2024.
The MoF statement further noted that, “The economy’s robust recovery is in response to the macroeconomic stability and growth interventions that government is pursuing under our IMF-supported Post Covid-19 Programme for Economic Growth (PC-PEG).”
According to them, the overall real GDP growth for the first half of 2024 rebounded strongly, with year-on-year GDP growth averaging 5.8% for the period, significantly higher than the 2.9% recorded in the same period in 2023.
By Edem Mensah-Tsotorme
Read full statement below
Bussiness
Facebook, Youtube, online trading companies must be taxed – Deputy Finance Minister
The Deputy Finance Minister Dr Alex Ampaabeng, has proposed that online trading companies should be taxed to bolster the economy.
He noted that these companies, both local and international, generate significant revenue from their Ghanaian clients, which underscores the necessity for taxation.
In an interview with Bernard Avle on Channel One TV’s The Point of View, Dr Ampaabeng pointed out various potential revenue sources for Ghana, including online businesses and content creation companies.
He questioned why other national companies operating in Ghana are taxed, but social media platforms like Youtube and Facebook, which run numerous advertisements, are not included in the Ghanaian tax system.
According to him, these social media companies earn profits from the advertisements they display, and online trading companies also generate income from the sale of their products and services.
He mentioned online trading companies such as Jiji, Jumia, and Tonaton, which he believes surpass all physical marketplaces in Ghana in size.
According to him, “I can’t think of a country which has not gotten a digital service tax system of some sort, so Ghana is long overdue. Just to make an example so that people will appreciate where I’m coming from. Go to Youtube and play a video, within one or two minutes, you are going to watch about two, or three adverts.”
“What it tells you is that Facebook or Youtube is making profits right here in Ghana. Go to your Facebook account, and you are going to see a number of adverts on your right, left. What it is telling you is that Facebook is making profits right here in Ghana and not being taxed. Meanwhile, there are companies operating in Ghana, for jurisdiction reasons, of course, that are being taxed,” he said.
The Deputy Minister added that “So then, it comes to the question of the application of our tax laws. Revenues generated in Ghana are subject to taxes. We have Facebook, TikTok and all those players, these are digital platform owners.”
He stressed, “Then we have the digital or market players, here we are talking about individuals who are using the digital platforms. We have Jiji, Jumia, Tonaton, these combined, are bigger than all physical marketplaces in Ghana. And it tells you the volume of transactions, that are going on there.”
He expressed his hope that individuals earning online profits from Ghanaian residents would be taxed.
“There are conversations ongoing, I wouldn’t want to pre-empt anything, maybe in the future, it might not be anytime soon, what I would like to see, is a Ghana where people who are earning all forms of profits in the country are subject to taxes. People who are trading online to Ghanaian residents, people who are generating revenue from Ghana are allowed to pay taxes,” he noted.
Additionally, he proposed a collaboration with the government to curb cybercrime by registering and verifying these online trading companies.
“We can have a system where the government engages these operators, so individuals will submit their Ghana Card and are registered and verified,”he concluded.
Source: Citinewsroom.com
