The Analysis Of The Rural Credit Market In Ghana

The formal banking sector does not satisfy the growing demand for credit, and many borrowers turn to informal loan sources to meet their production and consumption needs. The problem of the rural credit, which includes supplying credit for a rural community for economic growth, is reemerging on the development agenda as a pressing issue. The rural economy is financially very fragile. Lack of credit is a significant and sometimes binding constraint, limiting investment in productivity-enhancing technology and inputs. Rural credit plays a critical role in household strategies to reduce vulnerability. In spite of the contribution that credit entails to the rural development, it has been one of the crucial factors that have not been given proper attention. The purpose of this paper is to identify problems that have hindered the effectiveness of the rural credit market in Ghana. The paper is premised on the theoretical understanding of rural credit markets and applies the framework to investigate the aspect of the rural credit market in Ghana. Improving the rural credit system will help to raise household incomes and reduce poverty and will contribute to the eradication of extreme poverty. The paper identifies high cost, interest rate, lack of collateral, lack of innovation and high delinquency rates as the main factors that have hindered the effectiveness of the rural credit market in Ghana. This paper will interest policymakers to place more emphasis on savings mobilization and to revisit interest rate policy, while providing cheap and adequate credit to small and poor farmers

Determinant Of Foreign Direct Investment: Is It A Better Prescription For Economic Growth In Africa?

The manuscript entitled Determinant Of Foreign Direct Investment:  Is It A Better Prescription For Economic Growth In Africa?was retracted on December 5, 2014. Please contact our office at [email protected] for more information.

Impact Of Financial Reforms On The Banking System In Ghana

The pre-reform policies, coupled with an acute and prolonged economic crisis which severely damaged the financial system in Ghana, caused policymakers to address the institutional deficiencies of the financial system through the Financial Sector Adjustment Program. This paper investigated the pre- and post-reforms policies to determine whether those policies have helped to eradicate problems that have hindered the effectiveness of the financial system. The liberalization of Ghana’s financial system has included the relaxation of interest rate controls, credit ceiling, partial privatization of the government’s own banks, restructuring of public sector banks, capital markets developments, and deregulation of the prudential system. The performance of the financial sector has been substantial and healthy since the reforms. Overall, the financial liberalization strategy pursued in Ghana has been supportive of wider economic development

Interest Rate Spread on Bank Profitability: The Case of Ghanaian Banks

The banking sector in Ghana plays a dominant role in the financial sector, particularly with respect to mobilization of savings and the provision of credit. An analysis of bank interest rate spreads is therefore central to the understanding of the financial intermediation process and the macroeconomic environment in which banks operate. This paper is motivated by the fact that although Ghana’s financial sector was liberalized in the early 1990s to allow for market determination of interest rates, concerns about high interest rate spreads have persisted and attracted a lot of debate in both public and policy forums. The purpose of the study is to empirically investigate the interest rate spread on banks profitability in Ghana using average annual observation data from1992–2015 to include 28 commercial banks. Ordinary least square was used to estimate the regression coefficients. The empirical results show that bank-specific factors play a significant role in the determination of interest rate spreads in the Ghana’s banking sector. All the bank specific variables were found to be significant except Total Assets (TA). Among the macroeconomic variables, inflation was found to be significant whereas GDP growth rate was insignificant. The role of the global financial institutions is changing and so are the banks operating in Ghana. The banking sector should explore new paths that will enable them to take advantage of the government’s policy of making the “private sector the engine of growth” to market their products

Foreign Direct Investment: A Journey To Economic Growth In Ghana - Empirical Evidence

Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) has been viewed as a major stimulus to economic growth in developing countries. Its ability to deal with two major obstacles; namely, shortages of financial resources and technology and skills, has made it the center of attention for policymakers in low-income countries in particular. In spite of the significance generated by FDI flows, the flow to developing countries and the world, in general, has witnessed persistent decline over the years. The implication for the drop means that competition to attract FDI has increased as developing countries continue to create the enabling environment to attract foreign investors. Ghana, in particular, has, over the last decade, pursued various forms of economic reforms and liberalization of trade regimes in order to become more competitive in the international financial market. A handful of papers has recently dealt with FDI flows in Ghana. However, most of these studies are concerned with strategic FDI policy to attract FDI flows. The purpose of this study is to empirically determine the factors that influence FDI flows in Ghana, using time series data from 1988 to 2011. Regression analysis was carried out using relevant econometric techniques. The results of the study capture trade openness, exchange rate, natural resources, and infrastructure as the drivers of FDI in Ghana. Macroeconomic variables, such as inflation and per capita gross domestic products, were also registered to impact the determinants of FDI flows in Ghana. The contribution of this paper is that economic liberalization was found to be significant, indicating that policymakers' efforts in liberalizing the economic activities may necessarily translate into significant FDI inflows into the country

Capital Structure and Firm’s Performance in Ghana. Do Macroeconomic Factors Matter?

The paper seeks to investigate how macroeconomic factors affect the relationship between capital structure and bank performance from 2004 to 2014. In this context we try to condition the postulated relations between capital structure and firm performance on the dynamics of the macroeconomic environment of Ghana. We considered the impact of some macroeconomic variables such as inflation and GDP growth. Panel data methodology is adopted in this study. This combines simultaneous cross-section and time series data. The paper employs samples of banks in Ghana. Using fixed effect regression estimation model, a relationship was established between performance (proxied by return on asset and return on equity) and the firms capital structure over a period of ten years. Hausman chi-square test was conducted in each equation.The macroeconomic variables, GDP growth were registered to be significant in both models. This signifies that macroeconomics matter in the bank’s capital structure and performance. Inflation however were found to be insignificant. We therefore recommend that macroeconomic policies should provide a conducive environment for banks operations, in addition the government should develop the bond market

Pentobarbitone-induced sleeping time and sub-acute toxicity studies of Trichilia monadelpha aqueous extract

Background: Trichilia monadelpha is used either alone or in combination with other plants to treat many diseases in West Africa. Earlier, the anti-inflammatory, analgesic and anti-parasitic effects of the plant have been investigated to confirm its folkloric use. The current study is aimed at investigating the sub-acute toxicity profile as well as hypno-sedative effect of the Trichilia monadelpha aqueous extract (TAE).Methods: For the pentobarbitone-induced sleeping test, rats (150-200 g, n=5) were pre-treated with TAE (100, 300 and 1000 mg/kg, p.o.) or distilled water (control group) 30 minutes before they were challenged with Pentobarbitone Sodium (50 mg/kg body weight, i.p). Sleeping time of each animal was recorded and analysed. In the sub-acute toxicity test, rats were treated daily either TAE (30, 100 and 1000 mg/kg) or water (control group) for two weeks after which the animals were sacrificed. Blood samples were collected for haematological and biochemical analyses. Specific organs were then removed and weighed immediately.Results: The pentobarbitone-induced sleeping test resulted in a significant and dose-dependent increase in the duration of sleep of the rats. There were however no significant changes in the relative weight of vital organs of the control and TAE treated groups. Similarly, there were no significant differences in haematological and biochemical parameters between control and TAE treated groups.Conclusions: TAE significantly and dose-dependently increased the duration of pentobarbitone-induced sleeping time in rats. TAE showed no significant changes in the relative weight of the vital organs, haematological and biochemical parameters

Aqueous extract of Lannea microcarpa attenuates dextran sulphate-induced paw oedema and xylene-induced ear oedema in rodents

Background: Lannea microcarpa Engl. and K. Krause (Family Anacardiaceae), a tropical tree is used traditionally used in Africa for both medicinal and non-medicinal purposes. Folkoric uses of the plant include wound healing, conjunctivitis, stomatitis and gingivitis among others. Inflammatory reactions are involved in several diseases which this plant is traditionally used to manage. This study was therefore aimed at investigating the antiinflammatory effects of the aqueous extract of Lannea microcapa.Methods: Oedema was induced in the right hind paws of Sprague Dawley rats (200-250g, 12 weeks old, n=5) using dextran sulphate solution whiles ear oedema was induced in ICR mice (25-30g, 6 weeks old, n=5) using xylene solutions. Aqueous extracts of ALM (30, 100 and 300mg kg-1) were administered in a set of rats and mice for both prophylactic and therapeutic studies. In the dextran sulphate-induced paw oedema, rats (200-250g) were treated orally with ALM (30, 100 and 300 mg kg-1) for both prophylactic and therapeutic studies. The paw thickness of the rats was measured before and after dextran sulphate injection at an hourly interval for 5 h. For xylene-induced ear oedema, ICR mice (25-30g) were given the same doses of the ALM and the ear weight of mice were measured after 2 h.Results: In the dextran sulphate-induced paw oedema, the ALM reduced the mean maximal paw oedema significantly (P ≤0.05) to 36.392±9.207% and 26.050±3.396% at 100 and 300 mg kg-1 (prophylaxis) and 32.192±5.670%, 31.398±6.921% and 31.593±5.841% at 30, 100 and 300 mg kg-1 (therapeutic) in dose dependent manner when compared to the control respectively. Similarly, the ALM dose dependently showed a significant (P ≤0.05) reduction of percentage mean oedema in xylene-induced ear oedema by 43.56%, 59.63% and 68.07% at 30, 100 and 300 mg kg-1 when compared to the control respectively.Conclusions: Aqueous extract of Lannea microcapa (30 -300 mg kg-1) caused significant reduction of oedema in both dextran sulphate-induced paw oedema and xylene-induced ear oedema

Baseline malaria vector transmission dynamics in communities in Ahafo mining area in Ghana.

BACKGROUND: Malaria vector dynamics are relevant prior to commencement of mining activities. A baseline entomology survey was conducted in Asutifi and Tano (referred to as Ahafo) in the Brong-Ahafo geo-political region of Ghana during preparatory stages for mining by Newmont Ghana Gold Limited. METHODS: Between November 2006 and August 2007, eight Centre for Disease Control light traps were set daily (Monday-Friday) to collect mosquitoes. Traps were hanged in rooms that were selected from a pool of 1,100 randomly selected houses. Types of materials used in construction of houses were recorded and mosquito prevention measures were assessed from occupants. RESULTS: A total of 5,393 mosquitoes were caught that comprised Anopheles gambiae (64.8%), Anopheles funestus (4.2%), as well as Culicines, comprising of Culex (30.4%) and Aedes species (0.6%). The entomological inoculation rate in Asutifi (279 infective bites/person/month) and Tano (487 infective bites/person/month) demonstrate relatively high malaria transmission in Ahafo. The presence or absence of Anopheles vectors in rooms was influenced by the type of roofing material (OR 2.33, 95%CI: 1.29-4.22, p = 0.01) as well as the presence of eaves gaps (OR 1.80, 95%CI: 1.37-2.37, p < 0.01). It was also associated with bed net availability in the room (OR 1.39, 95%CI: 1.08-1.80, p = 0.01). Over 80% of the houses were roofed with corrugated zinc sheets. Over 60% of the houses in Ahafo had no eaves gaps to give access to mosquito entry and exit into rooms and mosquito bed net coverage was over 50%. Other measures used in preventing mosquito bites included; coil (22.1%), insecticide spray (9.4%), repellent cream (4.0%) and smoky fires (1.1%), contributed minimally to individual mosquito preventive measures in impact areas. Similarly, levels of protection; coil (16.9%), insecticide spray (2.8%) and repellent cream (0.3%) for the non-impact areas, depict low individual prevention measures. CONCLUSIONS: The survey identified areas where intensified vector control activities would be beneficial. It also demonstrates that transmission in Asutifi and Tano is high even before the commencement of mining operations. This study serves as baseline information to assess impact of mining activities in relation to future vector control interventions

Malaria epidemiology in the Ahafo area of Ghana

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p><it>Plasmodium falciparum </it>malaria remains endemic in sub-Saharan Africa including Ghana. The epidemiology of malaria in special areas, such as mining areas needs to be monitored and controlled. Newmont Ghana Gold Limited is conducting mining activities in the Brong Ahafo Region of Ghana that may have an impact on the diseases such as malaria in the mining area.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>Prior to the start of mining activities, a cross-sectional survey was conducted in 2006/2007 to determine malaria epidemiology, including malaria parasitaemia and anaemia among children < 5 years and monthly malaria transmission in a mining area of Ghana.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>A total of 1,671 households with a child less than five years were selected. About 50% of the household heads were males. The prevalence of any malaria parasitaemia was 22.8% (95% CI 20.8 - 24.9). <it>Plasmodium falciparum </it>represented 98.1% (95% CI 96.2 - 99.2) of parasitaemia. The geometric mean <it>P. falciparum </it>asexual parasite count was 1,602 (95% CI 1,140 - 2,252) and 1,195 (95% CI 985 - 1,449) among children < 24 months and ≥ 24 months respectively. Health insurance membership (OR 0.60, 95% CI 0.45 - 0.80, p = 0.001) and the least poor (OR 0.57, 95% CI 0.37 - 0.90, p = 0.001) were protected against malaria parasitaemia. The prevalence of anaemia was high among children < 24 months compared to children ≥ 24 months (44.1% (95% CI 40.0 - 48.3) and 23.8% (95% CI 21.2 - 26.5) respectively. About 69% (95% CI 66.3 - 70.9) of households own at least one ITN. The highest EIRs were record in May 2007 (669 <it>ib/p/m</it>) and June 2007 (826 <it>ib/p/m</it>). The EIR of <it>Anopheles gambiae </it>were generally higher than <it>Anopheles funestus</it>.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>The baseline malaria epidemiology suggests a high malaria transmission in the mining area prior to the start of mining activities. Efforts at controlling malaria in this mining area have been intensified but could be enhanced with increased resources and partnerships between the government and the private sector.</p