Bussiness
Ghana Tertiary Education Commission collating proposals for new fees
Professor Mohammed Salifu, Director-General, Ghana Tertiary Education Commission (GTEC), says the Commission is putting together proposals to be presented to Parliament for the review of fees for tertiary educational institutions for the next academic year.
Speaking at the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) of Parliament sitting in Accra, Prof Salifu said the review had become necessary because the pricing and fees schedules and regimes had changed.
The Director-General was at PAC to respond to issues raised in the 2019 Auditor-General’s Report concerning the commission.
The GTEC is the successor organisation to both the National Accreditation Board and the National Council for Tertiary Education.
The Report indicated that the National Accreditation Board in 2015/2016, contrary to Regulations 2(b), 5(4), 22(2) and 23(4) of LI 1984 (2010) of the National Accreditation Board Regulations, the Board reviewed its service charges at the 92nd Board meeting without parliamentary approval.
The Auditors recommended that Management should take steps to get parliamentary approval in order to avoid any legal challenges.
It said the auditors observed that the Board did not take any action on those who flouted the law by advertising, operating and running unaccredited institutions and programmes.
It also recommended that the Board should ensure compliance with the Act and persons found culpable should be dealt with in accordance with the law.
Dr James Klutse Avedzi, the Chairman of PAC, asked Professor Salifu why GTEC was charging fees without Parliamentary approval.
The chairman wanted to know also what action had been taken so far against unaccredited institutions.
Prof Salifu said GTEC inherited the assets and liabilities of both the National Accreditation Board, as well as that of the National Council for Tertiary Education.
He explained that following the recommendation of the Auditors, the then National Accreditation Board took steps to address the issue.
“Because we provide oversight for the sector, we are aware that this problem was even beyond the National Accreditation Board, there was a lot of sensitizations about the implications of the Fees and Charges Act for the entire Tertiary sector,” he said.
“Previously, what happened was that even at the university level once the Board/Council approves the fees it was going to be effected, and our attention was drawn to the fact that there was the Fees and Charges Act that all of us have to oblige.”
He said subsequently, what GTEC had being doing was collate all the inputs, before presenting the joint Finance Committee and Legal Committee of Parliament for them to consider it; saying “the fees that are being charged now are fees that have been approved by the Joint Committee”.
Dr Avedzi: “Are you reviewing your fees again?”
Prof Salifu: “We have collated this for this current year for the entire sector and we were supposed to go through the same process but until we have had it reviewed, we are applying the fees that were last approved.”
Dr Avedzi asked Prof Salifu whether he was aware of the Parliament had passed the Fees and Charges Amendment Act, 2022, to which Prof Salifu replied that the entire Tertiary sector, including the regulatory bodies were part of the Fees and Charges Amendment Act, 2022.
Source: 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
