Financial decision making about found oil and gas in Ghana : real options vs. traditional methods

This research is a study of the use of capital budgeting methods for investment decisions. It uses both the traditional methods and the newly introduced approach called the real options analysis to make a decision. The research elucidates how capital budgeting can be done when analysts encounter projects with high uncertainty and are capital intensive, for example oil and gas production. It then uses the oil and gas find in Ghana as a case study to support its argument. For a clear understanding a thorough literature review was done, which highlights the advantages and disadvantages of both methods. The revenue that the project will generate and the costs of production were obtained from the predictions by analysts from GNPC and compared to others experts’ opinion. It then applied both the traditional and real option valuation on the oil and gas find in Ghana to determine the project’s feasibility. Although, there are some short falls in real option analysis that are presented in this research, it is still helpful in valuing projects that are capital intensive with high volatility due to the strategic flexibility management possess in their decision making. It also suggests that traditional methods of evaluation should still be maintained and be used to value projects that have no options or those with options yet the options do not have significant impact on the project. The research points out the economic ripples the production of oil and gas will have on Ghana’s economy should the project be undertaken. These ripples include economic growth, massive job creation and reduction of the balance of trade deficit for the country. The long run effect is an eventually improvement of life of the citizens. It is also belief that the production of gas specifically can be used to generate electricity in Ghana which would enable the country to have a more stable and reliable power source necessary to attract more foreign direct investment

American Democratic Support to Ghana’s Fourth Republic: Assistance or Encumbrance?

The end of the Cold War ushered the world into a new sphere of democratic governance.  Citizens in developing countries began actively contributing to the democratic process by demanding probity and accountability within existing governance structures. The international donor community complimented their efforts by responding to the challenges of the new ‘wave’ of democratisation in the late 1980s by embracing democracy assistance as a core priority.  In January 1993, Ghana inaugurated its Fourth Republic – a transition fraught with challenges that continue to blight the development of a democratic culture.  In response to these challenges, the American Government stepped in, with financial and technical support, to assist Ghana in mitigating the stalling of democratic development. While democracy aid has been caught in a myriad of criticism regarding such issues as conditionalities, through the use of matched-area comparison, it is concluded that the USAID-initiated ECSELL and GAIT programmes have positively increased local level democratisation in Ghana by strengthening the capacities and abilities of civil society. Key Words: America, Ghana, Democracy, Democratic Support, Civil Society

Maximum power point tracking and control of grid interfacing PV systems

Grid interfacing of PV systems is very crucial for their future deployment. To address some drawbacks of model-based maximum power point tracking (MPPT) techniques, new optimum proportionality constant values based on the variation of temperature and irradiance are proposed for fractional open circuit voltage (FOCV) and fraction short circuit current (FSCC) MPPT. The two MPPT controllers return their optimum proportionality values to gain high tracking efficiency when a change occurred to temperature and/or irradiance. A modified variable step-size incremental conductance MPPT technique for PV system is proposed. In the new MPPT technique, a new autonomous scaling factor based on the PV module voltage in a restricted search range to replace the fixed scaling factor in the conventional variable step-size algorithm is proposed. Additionally, a slope angle variation algorithm is also developed. The proposed MPPT technique demonstrates faster tracking speed with minimum oscillations around MPP both at steady-state and dynamic conditions with overall efficiency of about 99.70%. The merits of the proposed MPPT technique are verified using simulation and practical experimentation. A new 0.8Voc model technique to estimate the peak global voltage under partial shading condition for medium voltage megawatt photovoltaic system integration is proposed. The proposed technique consists of two main components; namely, peak voltage and peak voltage deviation correction factor. The proposed 0.8Voc model is validated by using MATLAB simulation. The results show high tracking efficiency with minimum deviations compared to the conventional counterpart. The efficiency of the conventional 0.8 model is about 93% while that of the proposed is 99.6%. Control issues confronting grid interfacing PV system is investigated. The proposed modified 0.8Voc model is utilized to optimise the active power level in the grid interfacing of multimegawatt photovoltaic system under normal and partial shading conditions. The active power from the PV arrays is 5 MW, while the injected power into the ac is 4.73 MW, which represents 95% of the PV arrays power at normal condition. Similarly, during partial shading conditions, the active power of PV module is 2 MW and the injected power is 1.89 MW, which represents 95% of PV array power at partial shading conditions. The technique demonstrated the capability of saving high amount of grid power.Grid interfacing of PV systems is very crucial for their future deployment. To address some drawbacks of model-based maximum power point tracking (MPPT) techniques, new optimum proportionality constant values based on the variation of temperature and irradiance are proposed for fractional open circuit voltage (FOCV) and fraction short circuit current (FSCC) MPPT. The two MPPT controllers return their optimum proportionality values to gain high tracking efficiency when a change occurred to temperature and/or irradiance. A modified variable step-size incremental conductance MPPT technique for PV system is proposed. In the new MPPT technique, a new autonomous scaling factor based on the PV module voltage in a restricted search range to replace the fixed scaling factor in the conventional variable step-size algorithm is proposed. Additionally, a slope angle variation algorithm is also developed. The proposed MPPT technique demonstrates faster tracking speed with minimum oscillations around MPP both at steady-state and dynamic conditions with overall efficiency of about 99.70%. The merits of the proposed MPPT technique are verified using simulation and practical experimentation. A new 0.8Voc model technique to estimate the peak global voltage under partial shading condition for medium voltage megawatt photovoltaic system integration is proposed. The proposed technique consists of two main components; namely, peak voltage and peak voltage deviation correction factor. The proposed 0.8Voc model is validated by using MATLAB simulation. The results show high tracking efficiency with minimum deviations compared to the conventional counterpart. The efficiency of the conventional 0.8 model is about 93% while that of the proposed is 99.6%. Control issues confronting grid interfacing PV system is investigated. The proposed modified 0.8Voc model is utilized to optimise the active power level in the grid interfacing of multimegawatt photovoltaic system under normal and partial shading conditions. The active power from the PV arrays is 5 MW, while the injected power into the ac is 4.73 MW, which represents 95% of the PV arrays power at normal condition. Similarly, during partial shading conditions, the active power of PV module is 2 MW and the injected power is 1.89 MW, which represents 95% of PV array power at partial shading conditions. The technique demonstrated the capability of saving high amount of grid power

Ghana’s Deposit Protection Act: Are Depositors Protected?

A Deposit Protection or Insurance as the name suggests is intended to provide a sustainable funding to reimburse depositors should an insured act(s) be triggered. Over time, it helps build confidence in the financial ecosystem thereby facilitating a strong and robust financial system. Ghana enacted a Deposit Protection Act in 2016 (the “Act”) and added some new sections in 2018 aimed at protecting small depositors, and create faith and stability in the financial system. However, the Act in its present form can neither protect small depositors nor build any faith and stability in the financial system in Ghana. It is not suggested that a deposit insurance alone can create a stable financial system but the part envisaged by the Deposit Protection Act in creating a stable financial system is seriously undermined by sections in the Act itself. Keywords: Deposit Protection Act, Ghana DOI: 10.7176/JLPG/105-06 Publication date: January 31st 202

The Judiciary and Ghana’s 2012 Elections: Analysis of 2012 Presidential Elections Petition and its Ramifications for Democratic Development in Ghana

The conduct of the 2012 presidential elections provided another opportunity to gauge the extent of Ghana’s democratic development with the election petition. By Judicial majority decision of 5-4, the panel of nine Supreme Court judges did not sustain the first presidential elections petition in the country.  Three cardinal issues: “no signature of presiding officer”, “No biometric verification of voters”, and over-voting determined the judgment. These core irregularities, infractions and statutory violations constituted the primary basis of determining the substance of the petition presented by the petitioners. The paper seeks to assess the Judiciary, a body entrusted with the responsibility of upholding and defending the Constitution and Acts of Parliament on impartiality, independence in the democratization process of the country. The significance of the study is to test whether the Judiciary is capable of upholding to these democratic principles entrusted to it.  It is the conclusion of the paper after a thorough analysis of the judgment of the Supreme Court that the option of seeking post-electoral adjudication in court by stakeholders is shut. Consequently, parties to future electoral disputes ought to resolve such challenges at the respective polling stations. Keywords: Ghana, Democracy, Judiciary, Elections and Petitio

Turn-taking as a Pedagogical Strategy in Classroom Interaction: A Conversation Analysis of Adjacency Pairs

Most part of teaching and learning in the classroom is done through interaction or ‘talk’. The importance of teacher-student interaction in the teaching and learning process can, therefore, not be overemphasised. This study investigates the adjacency pair patterns of teacher-student classroom interaction and how these patterns impact on pedagogy. It is a qualitative study. All the four Senior High Schools in the Agona West Municipality of the Central Region of Ghana were engaged in the study. One English teacher each from the schools was selected through a random sampling technique. Their classes of an average size of 60 students were observed through participant observation and the teacher-student interactions were recorded through audio recording and note-taking. Analysis of the data was grounded in Schegloff’s (2007) conceptual framework of adjacency pair. The outcome of the study revealed that eight adjacency pairs were used in the language classroom. These are; greeting/greeting, check/clarification, instruction/compliance, question/answer, request/accept, accusation/refusal, complaint/apology and leave-taking/leave-taking. The data also revealed that 82% of the interactions is initiated by the teacher while only 18% is student-initiated. This has impacts on pedagogy and must therefore ignite the scholarly interests of pedagogues and linguists

Metal Welding Sculptural Portraiture for the Historical Remembrance of Political Figures in Ghana: The Case of Osagyefo Dr. Kwame Nkrumah

Artists in Ghana who produce sculptural busts or portraits mostly limit their production materials to clay P O P cement and metal cast These materials may have defects and could be potentially affected by environmental conditions for lifelong periods Aluminium welding is not practiced by artists in the fabrication of photorealistic portraits The techniques used by artists in Ghana is the clay and cement model which can further be used in the creation of a cast resin or metal The researchers investigated the most used materials for creating realistic busts The pros and cons of the materials as well as their techniques were rigorously analyzed in comparison with the aluminium forming and welding technique Welders are constrained as far as what they can create Mostly welders produce iron gates burglar-proof and security locks There is the need to diversify the technique to be able to produce portraits as a step in experimenting and diversifying the material and techniqu

An Assessment of Tax Compliance Level of Small Enterprises in Ghana

In the wake of fiscal consolidation and the quest to maximise government revenue for economic development, it is vital to assess the tax compliance level of firms. An understanding of the behaviour and compliance level of businesses provides important policy implications for tax reformations and revenue mobilisation. This paper assesses the tax compliance level of small businesses in the Sunyani Municipality. The study uses a total sample size of 500 small businesses. Using Probit regression models, our findings show that lack of tax education, computational issues and lack of book keeping negatively influence the level of tax compliance amongst small businesses in Ghana.  The results also show that age, duration of business operations, liability assessment and business incorporation are important factors that influence tax compliance among small businesses.  We conclude that continuous tax education at the local level would improve small businesses tax compliance level in Ghana. Keywords: Ghana; Sunyani Municipality; Taxation; Tax compliance; Tax educatio

Financial Development and Economic Growth in a Post Financial Liberalization Era in Ghana: Does the Measure of Financial Development Matter?

This paper investigated the long-run effect of financial sector development on growth in Ghana. The result showed that the sensitivity of financial sector development to growth depends on the choice of proxy for financial sector development. The result showed that ratio of private credit to GDP, ratio of total domestic credit to GDP, ratio of currency to GDP, ratio of currency to broad money and ratio of broad money stock to GDP are statistically significant and negatively affects growth. The result from the indexes created from principal component analysis confirmed the sensitivity of the effect to the choice of proxy. The findings therefore suggest that one will judge financial sector development as having negative or positive effect on growth depending on the choice of indicator as a proxy for financial sector development. The research therefore recommends that policy makers exercise caution in the choice of proxy for financial development in policy design