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05 Apr, 2016

9TH ANNUAL MICROFINANCE CONFERENCE

REGULATING MICROFINANCE INSTITUTIONS: IMPLICATIONS FOR FINANCIAL INCLUSION AND SURVIVAL

Background

The financial sector of an economy plays a critical role in facilitating economic growth and development. An unregulated financial system may have effects on the economy such as exploitation of consumers and accumulations of non-performing loans, which have the potential of retarding growth, exacerbating poverty and affecting the credibility of the financial system. An unregulated financial system also has the potential of excluding households, SMEs and consumers from the formal and informal financial systems.

Regulating the banking and non-banking financial institutions is a pre-requisite for an efficient financial system. In the past decades the microfinance sector in most parts of Africa was not subjected to regulation due to its complex nature. Over the last two decades a number of African countries have subjected their microfinance sectors to different forms of regulation as part of the process to improve efficiency.

In Ghana, regulation of microfinance industries began in January, 2012. Since then the system has witnessed the collapse of some microfinance institutions and a number of them have had their licenses withdrawn. Four years on, it will be instructive to examine the intentions and the state of the art of regulation. Some of the issues are whether the current regulatory framework is achieving the desired objectives; the role of various apex bodies in assisting the BoG in making the current regulation more effective; and whether there is the need to re-examine the regulations making them tighter or loosening some of the rules.

Objectives of Conference

The general objective of the 2017 Conference is to deliberate on various dimensions of regulation in the microfinance industry. The specific objectives are to:

  1. Examine the theoretical and empirical dimensions of regulating banking and non-banking financial institutions.
  2. Explore the possible ways of making regulation work better for the survival of microfinance institutions.
  3. Share cross-country evidence on how microfinance regulation has contributed to the development of microfinance sector.
  4. Discuss the role and contribution of Apex bodies and specialized institutions in regulating microfinance
  5. Provide the avenue for Bank of Ghana (BoG), Apex bodies, practitioners, clients and other stakeholders to share their experiences Sub-Themes

Sub-theme 1: Theoretical Issues of Regulation

This section seeks to explore the theoretical underpinnings of regulation in general for a better understanding and to appreciate the need for regulating institutions. Issues to be discussed include conceptualizing regulation, analysing the various theoretical reasons for regulation, regulation and public policy, regulation and consumer protection and examining the link between regulation and efficiency.

Sub-theme 2: Regulation and Efficient Financial system

The link between regulation and efficiency cannot be contested. Regulation brings institutions to a level playing grounds and ensures that all institutions comply with standard rules to improve ways of doing business. This section seeks to discuss theoretical and empirical issues that link regulation of banking and non-banking financial institutions to financial system efficiency.

Sub-theme 3: Regulating MFIs in Ghana for Survival: What is wrong?

The aim of regulating MFIs is to enable them operate on sustainable manner by adopting sound business practices. Unfortunately, the case in Ghana shows that MFIs have not been living up to expectation. What might be going wrong? Is it cause of MFIs themselves or regulatory authorities? Do we need different and special form of regulatory instruments for MFIs in Ghana?  What are the gaps in the regulatory system, if any? What are the lessons that can be learnt?

Sub-theme 4: The role of Apex Bodies and specialized institutions in Regulating MFIs

In some part of Africa regulating microfinance has not been the sole responsibility of Central Banks. Regulation of MFIs is done in tiers with Apex at the bottom. However, the current regulatory guidelines did not consider microfinance Apex bodies. Again due to the specialized and complex nature of MFI activities, some specialized institutions are involved in their regulation. For example in South Africa, Microfinance Regulatory Council (MFRC) is in charge of regulating MFIs. The Ministry of Social Solidarity is the regulator of MFIs that are non-governmental in Egypt. This section will seek to address the role MFI Apex bodies and other specialized institutions in regulating microfinance.

Sub-theme 5: Regulation and Inclusive Finance

Financial inclusion has become very critical in ensuring that the unbanked and those who do not have access to formal banking services are catered for. It is hypothesized that effective regulation of the microfinance sector will contribute to addressing the problems of financial inclusion and thereby reduce poverty. Papers for this section will address question such as: How can effective microfinance regulation ensure financial inclusion? What are the pathways through which regulating microfinance will lead to financial inclusion? How does the microfinance regulation guideline address the social dimensions objectives of microfinance?

Expected output

The Conference will identify areas which will need further consideration in the regulatory system and the relevant bodies which will need to take action(s) to ensure that the intentions are achieved. A report and declaration will be disseminated to the Regulator (Bank of Ghana), practitioners, sponsors, Apex Institutions and policy makers. A communiqué from the Eighth Annual Conference will be issued through press conference which will be organized by the Faculty of Social Sciences. In collaboration with the Bank of Ghana the Microfinance Unit will organize capacity building programme on microfinance regulation for interested institutions.

IMPORTANT DATES

SUBMISSION OF ABSTRACTS: 30th August, 2016

NOTIFICATION OF ACCEPTANCE: 15th September, 2016

REGISTRATION OPENS: 1st October, 2016

SUBMISSION OF FULL PAPERS: 31st December, 2016

REGISTRATION

  1. Registration fee for the conference is GHC 250.00. This does not include accommodation. And participants will be required to make their own arrangements for accommodation.
  2. To register for the programme, please download the registration form, fill it and send it as an attachment to the Co-ordinator. You can also fill the form in the advertisement and send it as an attachment or by post to the Co-ordinator at the address below.
  3. Graduate students will be required to pay 50% (GHC 125) of the registration fee. Evidence of studentship will be required.

Payment of registration fees should be made into the account below:

Account Name: Microfinance Conference

Account Number: 100-10004343 -01

Bank: National Investment Bank

Branch: Cape Coast

CONTACTS

Abstracts should be sent to the Co-ordinator at the following email address: microfinance@ucc.edu.gh  Website: www.ucc.edu.gh (Click on announcements to the conference site). Further details about the conference can be obtained from the following: 0244718204/ 0322137720/0322135561

01 Apr, 2016

GUSSS Hostel Complex, located adjacent SRC hostel is available to Students. Interested Students can download Application Form and complete.

A copy of the payment slip together with the completed application form should be submitted to Room No. DF 4, Directorate of Finance at Central Administration, Old site.

ATTRACT INTO THE UNIVERSITY STRATEGIC PARTNERSHIPS AND BUSINESS INITIATIVES TO HELP BUILD YOUR ALMA MATER: PROF KUUPOLE TELLS UCC ALUMNI

31 Mar, 2016 By Anonymous (not Verified)

The Vice-Chancellor of the University of Cape Coast, Prof. D.D. Kuupole has called on all UCC Alumni both in Ghana and in the International Community to connect with their alma mater to share ideas and offer suggestions that will help attract into the University, strategic partnerships and business initiatives to help improve upon teaching, research and other academic related businesses of the University of Cape Coast, the University of Competitive Choice in Ghana and beyond. He stressed that in working to promote the University, the role of our Alumni is paramount:  “as stakeholders you have a stake in the trajectory of development,… as alumni you have to share with us your views, opinions, suggestions as to how you want the University of Cape Coast, your alma mater to develop in the future….” he said. He called for what he termed ‘Brain Regain’, that is, for our cherished Alumni to make time to visit their alma mater to share life experiences and new knowledge acquired with members of the University Community. The Vice-Chancellor made this request in his inaugural address at the Inauguration Ceremony of the Canada Chapter of the University of Cape Coast Alumni Association; the First International Chapter of the Association, held on 12th March, 2016 at the Conference Hall of the Ghanaian Presbyterian Church of Toronto, Canada. The Vice-Chancellor used the occasion to share with the Alumni, some major developments that have taken place in recent times at the University, and touched on the continuous effort the University is making to aggressively develop linkages with local and international institutions and to forge partnerships with industry in an effort to shape and pursue the development of the institution among other things; an agenda the University pursuing in conformity with its corporate strategy. The President of the Canada Chapter, Dr. Settor Kemeh (1989), pledged their commitment to ensure that the Chapter grows from strength to strength and promised to uphold and defend the vision, mission and the good name of the University of Cape Coast to the international community. Other executives of the Chapter are: Dr. Francis Wiafe Amoako (1994) - Vice-President Mr. Christian (1998) - Secretary Ms. Adjoa Morgan (2001) - Treasurer   Ghana’s High Commissioner to Canada, H.E Dr. Sulley Gariba, who was the special guest for the occasion, commended the University of Cape Coast for training high calibre professionals and outstanding individuals who have repeatedly proven themselves with tremendous achievements at the highest levels in their respective fields and have distinguished themselves through lifetime achievement and professional accomplishments. The ceremony was attended by the Ghanaian community in the Greater Toronto Area. Other dignitaries that graced the occasion included the Consul General of the Consulate General of Ghana in Toronto, Canada, Mr. John Bosco Kpebesani, Professor Kobina Amoo (An Alumnus based in the United States of America) and Nana Prof. Sefa Dei of the University of Toronto, who chaired the ceremony. As part of the inauguration ceremony, the Vice-Chancellor delivered a lecture on the theme   “the Ghanaian Education System in the Global Economy”. In a related development, the Vice-Chancellor paid a working visit to the University of Toronto and Ryerson University to explore possible partnerships, teaching and research collaboration between the University of Cape Coast and the two leading institutions in Canada.    

31 Mar, 2016

Dear Partner of Varna University of Management,
I am pleased to inform you that this summer VUM will initiate the first VUM EU Summer School targeted at VUM full-time and incoming exchange students from VUM partner universities around the world.
I am emailing to invite your students on the Master and undergraduate levels to join our Summer School for a period of 2 or 3 or 4 weeks or for its whole duration of 3 months between 1st June and 31st August 2016.
Having students from your institution will certainly contribute to the diverse multicultural student community we will have at the VUM EU Summer School. So far we have registered student participants from more than 15 countries around the world including Russia, Kazakhstan, Vietnam, Ukraine, Moldova, Belarus, Lebanon, Jordan, Georgia, Armenia etc. We will also welcome visiting professors from the USA, France, India, Kazakhstan etc.
During the VUM EU Summer School we will offer various courses targeted at undergraduate and Master students in the fields of Business, Management, Administration and Tourism. All courses will be delivered exclusively in English.
In the attached promotional materials you could find a list of courses to be taught along with the relevant periods of teaching as well as the minimum number of ECTS to be obtained. Please, note the students will be awarded additional 1- 1.5 ECTS for each of the listed courses, provided they prepare and submit an additional course work or assignment.
The following tuition fees apply to the VUM EU Summer School depending on the duration of the student's participation in it:
2 weeks: 550 EUR 
3 weeks: 675 EUR
4 weeks: 800 EUR
6 weeks: 1050 EUR
2 months: 1300 EUR
3 months: 1550 EUR.
Costs for accommodation amount to 6 EUR/night in a double room in our new and modernly equipped student house in VUM campus in Dobrich.
I would be very grateful if you could circulate the attached brochure among your students and may be publish it on your website or facebook page.
I am also available to discuss with you the VUM EU Summer School opportunities via skype. My skype account is titoncheto6789, please feel free to give me a call if you have any questions.
I look forward to hearing from you.
Thank you.
Kind regards,
Christina

31 Mar, 2016

We kindly inform our staff and cherished clients that the Hospital is commencing an ANAESTHESIA CLINIC for clients scheduled for elective surgery on every Monday, within the time; 8:00am-12:00noon, at the ECG room. The following is the full schedule for the clinic for 2016.  MONTH           ANAESTHETIST AT THE CLINIC MARCH              MR. ALEX AFRIFA DARTEH APRIL                MR. EUGENE ANTWI BOASIAKO MAY                   MR. SETH N. YEBOAH JUNE                 MR. ALEX AFRIFA DARTEH JULY                  MR. SETH N. YEBOAH AUGUST            MR. EUGENE ANTWI BOASIAKO SEPTEMBER     MR. ALEX AFRIFA DARTEH OCTOBER          MR. EUGENE ANTWI BOASIAKO NOVEMBER       MR. SETH N. YEBOAH DECEMBER       MR. ALEX AFRIFA DARTEH CLINIC TIME:             8AM – 12NOON           DAY:                          EVERY MONDAYS CLINIC VENUE:         ECG ROOM-UCC HOSPITAL   CONTACTS MR. ALEX AFRIFA DARTEH:                0208181339 MR. EUGENE ANTWI BOASIAKO:        0248795009 MR. SETH N. YEBOAH:                        0203914855  

APPRECIATION OF SPONSORS OF DEAN'S AWARD 2015

30 Mar, 2016 By Anonymous (not Verified)

The School of Business has presented Certificates of Appreciation to National Investment Bank, GCB Bank Limited, the Institute of Chartered Accountants (Ghana), Jeremiah 33:3 Enterprise and ATL FM for sponsoring the 2015 Dean's Award. Presenting the certificates, the Vice-Dean of the School, Dr. Frimpong Siaw and the Head of Department for Management Studies, Mr. F. O. Boachie-Mensah expressed their profound gratitude to the sponsors for their support. The sponsors, on the other hand, complimented the school for the good work and assured it of their continuous support.

APPRECIATION OF SPONSORS OF DEAN'S AWARD 2015

30 Mar, 2016 By Anonymous (not Verified)

The School of Business has presented Certificates of Appreciation to National Investment Bank, GCB Bank Limited, The Institute of Chartered Accountants (Ghana), Jeremiah 33:3 Enterprise and ATL FM for sponsoring the 2015 Dean's Award. Presenting the certificates, the Vice-Dean of the School, Dr. Frimpong Siaw and the Head of Department for Management Studies, Mr. F. O. Boachie-Mensah expressed their profound gratitude to the sponsors for their support. The sponsors on the other hand complimented the school for the good work and assured it of their continuous support.  

Minister for Education Tours On-going Projects on UCC Campus

30 Mar, 2016 By louis Mensah

The Minister for Education, Prof. Naana Jane Opoku-Agyemang has toured some on-going projects at the University of Cape Coast.

Projects sites visited by the minister and her team were the new Central administration complex, Science complex annex building and 2 No. classroom and library projects at the Medical School village.

Welcoming the minister and her entourage, the Vice-Chancellor, Prof. D. D. Kuupole expressed management’s profound gratitude to the minister and her team for checking on the university as well as apprising themselves of the state of some building projects.

The Minister’s team comprised the Chief Director of the Ministry, Mr. Ernest Cobbinah, the Cape Coast Metropolitan Chief Executive Officer, Ms. Priscilla Arhin and other officials from the Ministry of Education.

Prof. Kuupole said even though some of the projects have been prioritized to facilitate their early completion, most of the contractors were constrained financially.

“We are happy that you are here to learn things at first hand and see how best we can find solution to these problems’.

The Minister for Education, on her part said the projects could be re-prioritized for resources to be concentrated on one or two of them for successful and early completion.

Prof. Opoku-Agyemang said she was particularly happy that GETfund has undertaken to fund the building of the School of Graduate Studies complex.

“I am happy that we have taken this step even though funds are so scarce, we still need to get something going”.  She said special efforts needed to be taken to support the system to make graduate work a little more flexible for our students”.

She called on contractors executing the various projects to expedite work to have them completed on time.

Pesticides Have Become Food Additive in Ghana-Prof. Essumang

30 Mar, 2016 By louis Mensah

A Professor of Environmental Chemistry, Prof. David Kofi Essumang of the Department of Chemistry of the University of Cape Coast, has stated, that pesticides have become an inevitable food additive in Ghana.

The eminent chemistry scholar, made the above statement when he delivered his inaugural lecture on the theme An Environment In A “DITCH” at the university.

The lecture highlighted the causes, effects and some management strategies to deal with Ghana’s environmental challenges. Some of the environmental challenges facing the country include waste management, legal and illegal mining, logging deforestation soil, water and air pollution. Others are the destruction of biodiversity, desertification, climate variability and change, mismanagement of chemicals and industrial discharges.

Prof. Essumang described the environment as “everything that makes up our surroundings and affects our ability to live on the earth” and added that it becomes polluted when micro-organisms, chemicals, toxic substances, waste and waste water are introduced into the air and water bodies. “We depend on the environment and the environment depends on us”, he said. “We all need to work together to solve the problem of environmental pollution since we are all at risk”, he declared.

It came to light during the lecture that the use of pesticides has become so pervasive and causing a lot of damage to the environment and food crops such as watermelon and okro sold in the open market.It was revealed that exposure to pesticides could result in Neurological disorders, Parkinson’s diseases, Childhood Leukemia, Lymphoma, Asthma and many more.

Looking at the trend of Pesticides use in Ghana, Prof. Essumang indicated that even though the use of DDT for example has been banned for the past twenty years it was still being used.  “DDT existence in the Ghanaian environment shows that manufactures conceal the chemical in their products smuggled through our porous boarders”.

 

He said research has shown that systemic pesticides get into the plant, saying “When we make the plant itself poisonous to predators, one has to wonder what (or who) else it’s poisoning”.  He called for proper inventory of all chemicals used in Ghana since it has been realised that most of them have not been registered.

He lamented the wanton destruction of wetlands in the country by developers without any regard to its consequences to the environment.  He said every water flows into water and “God in his wisdom designed the system to be self-cleansing so we have wetlands to sanitise or remove chemicals in the water before it gets into rivers. Wetlands remove heavy metal pollutants by trapping the sediments and holding it”.

Prof. Essumang called for a change in our environmental policy since it lacks direction. “The policy does not have specific indicators that can be measured over a time frame.  There is also no indication in the policy showing government commitment towards the attainment of the goals in the document”. He advocated for Environmental education to be incorporated properly in the educational system and also a second look given to mining activities in Ghana.

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