Wednesday, June 13, 2012
Monday, June 11, 2012
Public vs Private - Songor Salt Project Meeting
In an effort to increase pension scheme returns, the Ghanaian government has recently created a 3 tier pension system. In this system tier 1 is still managed by the government, but tiers 2 and 3 are now privately managed in the hope that this will increase returns for the pensioners. FSL has managed to secure many of these funds and control them with the benchmark of earning 1% above the 91-day T-Bill at the time of purchase.
Songor Salt Project (SSP) is a salt mining company based in Ada, 2 hours outside of Accra owned and controlled by the government. Fidelity Securities Limited (FSL) manages the pension fund of SSP.
I was very curious to see this plant and was not entirely prepared for what I found. On arrival, we were handed off to many different people and lead to multiple locations before settling in to what I'm assuming was the boardroom. The boardroom was an interesting affair with pealing paint covered in the red dust that permeates throughout much of rural Ghana. The long wooden table in the center of the room was in a sorry state, covered in graffiti and half finished sums. It was very reminiscent of a high school common room, perhaps accentuated by the worn-out blackboard at one end of the room. The chairs around the table were even worse with many of the backs missing.
Although having been requested to be on time, Nii, Comfort and I must have waited close to an hour for the relevant members of the company to be present. The company does not have internet access so seemed to rely on word of mouth and the occasional telephone conversation for organization.
The meeting started off with a prayer. Then, began in an almost hyper formal manner which contrasted greatly with the sweaty, disorganized band that had taken so long to gather for our presentation. We went through an agenda slowly since there were many people not very familiar with finance present. The points that were raised by the companies representatives all seemed to focus around each person at that table receiving as much money as possible from the pension scheme. They did not seem to grasp fully how risk-adverse pension funds are supposed to be. They clamored for a performance based model not understanding that if pension fund managers are motivated by a slice of the profits, they will be more likely to take risks thus reducing the security of the pension fund as a whole.
Therefore, having answered the same question in multiple forms multiple times, the time began approaching 1:30pm and with it, the most obvious give-away that these men were government workers. Although we were in the middle of the meeting, many of the men said simply that "it's friday, time to go home." There was no concept of working to finish the task and then return home. Therefore, we were unable to finish our presentation and have been asked to return next week.
In recompense though, we were given a very interesting tour of the saltworks. Pictures will soon follow.
Some interesting facts/turns of phrase from the meeting:
Due to having no internet connection, salary data must be given to Fidelity Bank using a pen-drive every month.
(to be updated this afternoon with full list.)
Article on SSP: http://www.dailyguideghana.com/?p=890
Songor Salt Project (SSP) is a salt mining company based in Ada, 2 hours outside of Accra owned and controlled by the government. Fidelity Securities Limited (FSL) manages the pension fund of SSP.
I was very curious to see this plant and was not entirely prepared for what I found. On arrival, we were handed off to many different people and lead to multiple locations before settling in to what I'm assuming was the boardroom. The boardroom was an interesting affair with pealing paint covered in the red dust that permeates throughout much of rural Ghana. The long wooden table in the center of the room was in a sorry state, covered in graffiti and half finished sums. It was very reminiscent of a high school common room, perhaps accentuated by the worn-out blackboard at one end of the room. The chairs around the table were even worse with many of the backs missing.
Although having been requested to be on time, Nii, Comfort and I must have waited close to an hour for the relevant members of the company to be present. The company does not have internet access so seemed to rely on word of mouth and the occasional telephone conversation for organization.
The meeting started off with a prayer. Then, began in an almost hyper formal manner which contrasted greatly with the sweaty, disorganized band that had taken so long to gather for our presentation. We went through an agenda slowly since there were many people not very familiar with finance present. The points that were raised by the companies representatives all seemed to focus around each person at that table receiving as much money as possible from the pension scheme. They did not seem to grasp fully how risk-adverse pension funds are supposed to be. They clamored for a performance based model not understanding that if pension fund managers are motivated by a slice of the profits, they will be more likely to take risks thus reducing the security of the pension fund as a whole.
Therefore, having answered the same question in multiple forms multiple times, the time began approaching 1:30pm and with it, the most obvious give-away that these men were government workers. Although we were in the middle of the meeting, many of the men said simply that "it's friday, time to go home." There was no concept of working to finish the task and then return home. Therefore, we were unable to finish our presentation and have been asked to return next week.
In recompense though, we were given a very interesting tour of the saltworks. Pictures will soon follow.
Some interesting facts/turns of phrase from the meeting:
Due to having no internet connection, salary data must be given to Fidelity Bank using a pen-drive every month.
(to be updated this afternoon with full list.)
Article on SSP: http://www.dailyguideghana.com/?p=890
Friday, June 8, 2012
Ghana 2012!
I'm Back in Ghana! Me Do Ghana! (Translation from Twi I think: I love Ghana!)
After last year's successful adventure, I have returned to Ghana to complete a 10 week internship at Fidelity Bank. When I first arrived at the office, the initial reaction was surprisingly, surprise. The flailing of arms accompanied cries of innocence. "Welcome back my brother!" "We did not know when you would come!" "Have you said hello to ... ?" "Where did you say you wanted to work again?" Shocking after the multitude of emails I sent, yet in hindsight, I was home. This was typical Ghanaian efficiency.
After the initial shock of my arrival, I was quickly introduced to the team of "Fidelity Securities Limited" which is the investment banking and wholly owned subsidiary of Fidelity Bank and a member of the Fidelity Group. The team consisted of Nana, Nii, Nii, Salase, Liana, Alfred, Comfort, John, Sara, Akwasi, and Tom T. I have grown to be part of the FSL family in no time.
Rather than discuss the workings and basic structure of FSL which can be found on the website being launched soon that I had a small part in helping along. I thought I would showcase the bizarre and wonderful aspects of Finance in Ghana which distinguishes Ghana from the western cultures we are so used to and makes my time here a very unique experience.
On my first day in the office among many other introductions and pep talks, Nii Okai, the client relationship manager, took time out to try and prepare me for what was to come. "Alex, if a company gets rid of its entire board, what do you think will happen to the stock price?" without hesitating I replied, "It will plummet". (Obviously thinking that this indicates risk thus resulting in decreased investor confidence resulting in a drop in price.) "In the west, I would agree, in Ghana, the stock price goes up." Nii then proceeded to tell me how textbooks have been produced through the observations on developed markets and how smaller markets such as Ghana have very specific quirks that can seem very illogical to students of finance. In Ghana, there can be a large deviation between theory and reality as I would come to learn.
Therefore, although the systems in place may look simple from afar. (for example there is almost no derivatives market) The culture in Ghana is what makes this market and my experience so exciting.
Picture of me diligently looking over
the financial statements of Pro Credit
After last year's successful adventure, I have returned to Ghana to complete a 10 week internship at Fidelity Bank. When I first arrived at the office, the initial reaction was surprisingly, surprise. The flailing of arms accompanied cries of innocence. "Welcome back my brother!" "We did not know when you would come!" "Have you said hello to ... ?" "Where did you say you wanted to work again?" Shocking after the multitude of emails I sent, yet in hindsight, I was home. This was typical Ghanaian efficiency.
After the initial shock of my arrival, I was quickly introduced to the team of "Fidelity Securities Limited" which is the investment banking and wholly owned subsidiary of Fidelity Bank and a member of the Fidelity Group. The team consisted of Nana, Nii, Nii, Salase, Liana, Alfred, Comfort, John, Sara, Akwasi, and Tom T. I have grown to be part of the FSL family in no time.
Rather than discuss the workings and basic structure of FSL which can be found on the website being launched soon that I had a small part in helping along. I thought I would showcase the bizarre and wonderful aspects of Finance in Ghana which distinguishes Ghana from the western cultures we are so used to and makes my time here a very unique experience.
On my first day in the office among many other introductions and pep talks, Nii Okai, the client relationship manager, took time out to try and prepare me for what was to come. "Alex, if a company gets rid of its entire board, what do you think will happen to the stock price?" without hesitating I replied, "It will plummet". (Obviously thinking that this indicates risk thus resulting in decreased investor confidence resulting in a drop in price.) "In the west, I would agree, in Ghana, the stock price goes up." Nii then proceeded to tell me how textbooks have been produced through the observations on developed markets and how smaller markets such as Ghana have very specific quirks that can seem very illogical to students of finance. In Ghana, there can be a large deviation between theory and reality as I would come to learn.
Therefore, although the systems in place may look simple from afar. (for example there is almost no derivatives market) The culture in Ghana is what makes this market and my experience so exciting.
Picture of me diligently looking over
the financial statements of Pro Credit
Sunday, June 26, 2011
Wednesday, June 15, 2011
Living at Twindrase
I have decided to write about individual experiences and observations I have rather than write this blog chronologically. To begin with let me paint a picture of my lifestyle out here in the countryside:
I live with 30 other volunteers at one of three volunteer houses in Ghana. Mine is in Twindrase. The many amenities include no running water, no air-conditioning, electricity which is iffy at best, 3 inches of nasty foam to act as a mattress, and bizarrely, satellite tv (although it is very weather dependant.) I have 3 other sweaty grown men in my room who also share the burden of not having a washing machine or shower.
You may be asking yourselves, how do I keep clean and wash my clothes then? My initial answer would be with great difficulty. There is one tap where we get dirty water from a water tank. (Leaves and bugs are common sights in the water) Using this dirty water, a combination of buckets and whatever soap is on hand, we manage to have cold showers and wash our clothes. I must admit that I have yet to wash my clothes. When looking at the veterans who’ve been here a while, you can tell washing your clothes hardly makes a difference. Our greatest ally against smelling completely savage is deodorant at the moment.
Every morning we are supposed to leave the house at 8:00am and head off to our projects in multiple Tro-tro’s or taxi’s depending on the number of people. (A post will deal with transport in Ghana – it’s crazy) However due to Ghanaian efficiency we tend to leave between 8:15 and 8:45. Ghana runs by GMT. However, unlike in England where this means Greenwich Mean Time, in Ghana, this acronym stands for Ghana Maybe Time. Similarly, my phone network MTN is really an acronym for “Most Terrible Network” offering coverage only in very specific and hard to find spots around Ghana.
After our projects, we tend to arrive back to the house by 3:30. Washing, napping, cooking, the occasional film then lead us to bed after what always ends up being an exhausting day.
I live with 30 other volunteers at one of three volunteer houses in Ghana. Mine is in Twindrase. The many amenities include no running water, no air-conditioning, electricity which is iffy at best, 3 inches of nasty foam to act as a mattress, and bizarrely, satellite tv (although it is very weather dependant.) I have 3 other sweaty grown men in my room who also share the burden of not having a washing machine or shower.
You may be asking yourselves, how do I keep clean and wash my clothes then? My initial answer would be with great difficulty. There is one tap where we get dirty water from a water tank. (Leaves and bugs are common sights in the water) Using this dirty water, a combination of buckets and whatever soap is on hand, we manage to have cold showers and wash our clothes. I must admit that I have yet to wash my clothes. When looking at the veterans who’ve been here a while, you can tell washing your clothes hardly makes a difference. Our greatest ally against smelling completely savage is deodorant at the moment.
Every morning we are supposed to leave the house at 8:00am and head off to our projects in multiple Tro-tro’s or taxi’s depending on the number of people. (A post will deal with transport in Ghana – it’s crazy) However due to Ghanaian efficiency we tend to leave between 8:15 and 8:45. Ghana runs by GMT. However, unlike in England where this means Greenwich Mean Time, in Ghana, this acronym stands for Ghana Maybe Time. Similarly, my phone network MTN is really an acronym for “Most Terrible Network” offering coverage only in very specific and hard to find spots around Ghana.
After our projects, we tend to arrive back to the house by 3:30. Washing, napping, cooking, the occasional film then lead us to bed after what always ends up being an exhausting day.
Friday, May 27, 2011
Mpraeso - Rural Ghana the BBQ kids
I've managed to find a little dinky internet cafe in town over from Mpraeso (a 20 min drive and a $1.50 taxi ride) I'm not gonna comment on the speed of the internet but i think a suitable metaphor would be a dead animal.
I've been taking notes on my laptop so I can recount what has been going on. Since I do not have these notes (or the pictures) I will make this short and only give you one story.
We had a barbecue last night to celebrate peoples last night before leaving back to civilization. We had "Rasta" catering the BBQ (at a total cost of $3 each) with this came a huge set of speakers. The Ghanaian children flocked.
Ghanaian children are innately the most amazing dancers. They all seem to naturally be able to move their bodies to the beat. Not a single Obrouni (White person) could compare. The kids were mainly ages between 2 and 5 and had no stage fright whatsoever. My favorite part in Ghana so far has been interacting with these cute little buggers.
On Monday I start teaching properly. I have a class with students between the ages 12 and 15. We shall see how it goes. I taught 10yr olds today and found it so rewarding. I hope these older chaps are equally fun.
I've been taking notes on my laptop so I can recount what has been going on. Since I do not have these notes (or the pictures) I will make this short and only give you one story.
We had a barbecue last night to celebrate peoples last night before leaving back to civilization. We had "Rasta" catering the BBQ (at a total cost of $3 each) with this came a huge set of speakers. The Ghanaian children flocked.
Ghanaian children are innately the most amazing dancers. They all seem to naturally be able to move their bodies to the beat. Not a single Obrouni (White person) could compare. The kids were mainly ages between 2 and 5 and had no stage fright whatsoever. My favorite part in Ghana so far has been interacting with these cute little buggers.
On Monday I start teaching properly. I have a class with students between the ages 12 and 15. We shall see how it goes. I taught 10yr olds today and found it so rewarding. I hope these older chaps are equally fun.
Sunday, May 22, 2011
Ghana Day 1 - everyone is related?
After breakfast, I was then taken on a tour of the estate by the two most mischievous 13 year old boys I've ever met. Aaron and Jasper. They are fraternal twins. At one point on our walk Aaron hopped onto the back of a passing truck driving by to get a lift in a very street urchin like manner. However after Jasper and I didn't follow suit, he hopped off again 30 yards down the road only to realise he now had grime all over his hands. (i suppose there is a moral in there somewhere) After the tour, I ended up spending the whole day with this boys and began wondering if they were related to everyone in Accra. Together we went in an almost futile search for a sim card for my phone. Every store we went to, the boys would say "Auntie, can we register a sim card here?" and then after some benign chatter, we'd be assured the next place would have them. 30 years and 400 shops later, we finally managed to procure and register a sim card although by now I thought Jasper and Aaron had at least 50 aunts and uncles.
Earlier in the morning, I was introduced to "Auntie Leonora" who was a lovely Ghanian lady. Perplexed, I began asking questions. From what I understand so far, that instead of being called Mr or Mrs, Ghanians are called Auntie and Uncle. As well as that, Lesley said that "Mommy" was becoming fashionable too. I'm still unsure what all these things mean but i've also heard "cousin" and "brother" used when referring to people who are not even remotely related by blood. (Aaron and Jasper referred to an "Uncle Hanz" who it turns out is german for example and defiantly not related.)
After securing our sim card, Aaron spotted a group of boys dancing so promptly, in a very cocky 13 year old manner, said he will go challenge them to a dance off. Sadly on arrival, they refused. It turns out these boys were refugees from Cote D'Ivore and had arrived last month due to the unrest. My french came in handy since only one of them spoke english. They were 3 brothers. 18, 17 and 15. I am so glad my Middlebury education is coming in handy.
On arriving back to the house, we played with the cutest five year old boy called Emmanuel. Emmanuel speaks only a dialect called Ewe which no-one but his father understands. I am told his only words in English are "I'm fine, thank you" although he decided to only spoke Ewe to me. Interacting with him has made me really look forward to the teaching i'm going to be doing out in the rural areas starting wednesday or thursday.
Things I learnt/did otherwise:
1. The colours in the flag: Red for the blood spilt to gain independence, Yellow for the gold, Green for the vegetation, and the black star for the colour of their skin.
2. Went to Accra's "Oxford Street"
3. Lots of small things which I can't begin to explain.
Earlier in the morning, I was introduced to "Auntie Leonora" who was a lovely Ghanian lady. Perplexed, I began asking questions. From what I understand so far, that instead of being called Mr or Mrs, Ghanians are called Auntie and Uncle. As well as that, Lesley said that "Mommy" was becoming fashionable too. I'm still unsure what all these things mean but i've also heard "cousin" and "brother" used when referring to people who are not even remotely related by blood. (Aaron and Jasper referred to an "Uncle Hanz" who it turns out is german for example and defiantly not related.)
After securing our sim card, Aaron spotted a group of boys dancing so promptly, in a very cocky 13 year old manner, said he will go challenge them to a dance off. Sadly on arrival, they refused. It turns out these boys were refugees from Cote D'Ivore and had arrived last month due to the unrest. My french came in handy since only one of them spoke english. They were 3 brothers. 18, 17 and 15. I am so glad my Middlebury education is coming in handy.
On arriving back to the house, we played with the cutest five year old boy called Emmanuel. Emmanuel speaks only a dialect called Ewe which no-one but his father understands. I am told his only words in English are "I'm fine, thank you" although he decided to only spoke Ewe to me. Interacting with him has made me really look forward to the teaching i'm going to be doing out in the rural areas starting wednesday or thursday.
Things I learnt/did otherwise:
1. The colours in the flag: Red for the blood spilt to gain independence, Yellow for the gold, Green for the vegetation, and the black star for the colour of their skin.
2. Went to Accra's "Oxford Street"
3. Lots of small things which I can't begin to explain.
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