Science and Technology

A leopard may get wet falling into water, but its spots are eternal – A Ghanaian adage. Apart from the name change of the above airline, the value of mismanagement, incompetence and corruption remains the same. It is sad that in this era of global economic crises, the management of Ghana International airline (G.I.A) is still behaving similarly as the awful days of Ghana Airways.

Having boarded Ghana Airways in September 2003 like a ‘trotro cargo’, I could easily predict that the days of the airline were numbered. Due to the overselling of tickets, there were too many passengers present to board the plane. Consequently, the management ordered the passengers to literally run and board the plane creating a situation of the survival of the fittest. In the end I managed to get on the plane. As I sat in the plane, I felt pitiful for the less youthful passengers such as grannies and parents with young children. The fact that the pride of Ghana Airways had reached such a low point was pathetic. It was therefore unsurprising when I later learnt that the company had gone into liquidation.

There are no better reasons than the corruption, mismanagement and poor customer service that pushed our proud airline into insolvency. Amazingly, the same employees who were responsible for the terrible service of the airline owing to their unprofessional attitude were blaming the devil and evil spirits for their misfortune. In my opinion, the ignorance of the staff at Ghana Airways brought disaster upon themselves for the good book says, ‘curse be on the one who calls good evil and evil good’.

After all the hullabaloo about the better services offered by newly reformed Ghana International Airline (G.I.A), I decided to patronize their services for my recent 2008 Christmas holidays. My primary astonishment was the means of purchase of airline tickets. Clearly being surprised is an understatement, given this technological day and age, one cannot purchase ticket/s online. Moreover, there are no contact details of the airline in the United Kingdom (UK) even though most of their flights come to the UK. Instead, tickets are only obtainable through an agent in the U.K with essential enquiries about ticketing directed to their office in Accra Ghana.

It is a shame that none of their managers seem to realise the need to pitch an office in the UK, where most of their customers are based. I believe it will not take a chunk of the managements’ fat bonuses to set up either an online payment system or an office here in the UK.

Thank God with all the difficulties, poor customer services and the late departures, the airline manages to record safe flights to and fro its various destinations. Another twisted attitude of this airline is the real mental brouhaha that ensues during times of departure. Before my journey, I bought a return ticket for a direct flight from London to Accra-Ghana. Little did I know that my return journey would involve a transit at Düsseldorf (Germany). I was on the flight number LWG-G0 157 from Ghana to London via Düsseldorf on the 10th of January 2009. What a shear display of incompetence that in this day and age, flight route could be changed on the day of departure and at the check-in desk. Yes I can understand why that will be done for safety reasons but not as a normal practice. I do not have any words to explain the last minute inconvenience created as a result of this route change other than an absolute disrespect for customer care and services. To add salt to injury, no apologies were offered to customers.

Once again and in the plane, the trotro memories of Ghana Airways in September 2003 occurred to me. Again on this occasion, I could foresee the end in sight for Ghana International Airline as the similarities were too glaring. I will be very surprised to see the company in operation in the next two years unless a miracle of change happens. It is a big shame and alarming that customers’ care is trampled upon in our Ghanaian society. The average business person in Ghana cannot simply comprehend that his/her business is running because of the customers he/she has. Without customers, businesses fail to exist.

With all the promises of better customer services, G.I.A consistently ignores the professional practise of notifying customers well in advance of any flight changes. I wonder what they did with our contact details taken during boarding. I am yet to find out how much of the managers bonuses will be affected if notices are sent frequently to customers through the various media houses in Ghana. As bad as the former Ghana Airways operated, I am of the view that the new airline (G.I.A) in some cases performs relatively worse.

As if that was not enough, my only luggage numbered G0 129422 did not arrive when I got to London Gatwick Airport. All attempts to trace it through Global Baggage Services (the missing luggage company at the airport) proved futile. The reason was that there is no trace of the bag through the G.I.A system. Also, they cannot be contacted in the UK unless at their Ghanaian office. I have to go through the terrible ordeal of contacting their Ghanaian office almost every day for four weeks. Readers should be aware of how difficult it is to contact G.I.A offices in Ghana, let alone being told that the gentleman in charge is on leave for one month.

Their responses have been stories upon stories, which I do not buy and are inconsistent. Upon countless enquiries, I was told that my luggage had been located and should be delivered to my address in 3 days. However it turned out to be the wrong one as the found luggage had the name of one Linda Hooper in Germany. How on earth could that have been the case after going through all the check-in procedures and personally signing my bag? If not Ghana International Airline then where else is this feasible?

At present I am still waiting for my luggage after departing Ghana on the 10th of January 2009. Should the luggage arrive safely in London, I will have to travel from Manchester to London Gatwick in order to collect my bag amidst unnecessary costs that I will not be reimbursed for. If not Ghana International Airline then where will that happen?

Unless the management takes notice of such complaints and improve their services, I can only predict doom. Some of the workers have to be fired. Especially whoever was in charge of check in on the 10th of January 2009. G.I.A customer care and satisfaction should be the pivot, ‘Do what you say and say what you can do’.


I was happy sitting in an aircraft that I could boast of having a Ghanaian pilot and friends on the flight attendants team. Nevertheless, after such an experience, I believe enough lessons have been learnt and I have decided not to board G.I.A planes again. I sincerely believe that other people might have had worse experience/s than what has been elaborated. To such customers I say, ‘let your voices be heard’.


I can only conclude that the value of the current Ghana International Airline and the former Ghana Airways is the same. If there be any consolation at all, it will be for the former Ghana Airways.


Felix Adu-Gyamfi Appiah Bsc (Hons), Msc, MRICS
31 Kesington Court
Bury New Road
Salford
Manchester
M7 4WU

e-mail: nanak79@yahoo.co.uk

It  is now official that all the operators in the mobile telecom industry in Ghana, particularly the GSM service providers, are multi-nationals.

MTN, TIGO, ZAIN, GLO, KASAPA and GT/VODAFONE as they are ordinarily referred to, are all either wholly or largely owned by foreign multi-national telecom companies.

The simple history of their coming into Ghana is that of either complete buy outs of local interest or foreign-local partnership, where the foreign investor holds the majority shares

Investcom bought 98 per cent of Scancom and changed Areeba to MTN – Everywhere you go; Zain bought Western Telesystems Limited (WESTEL) and changed the brand name Westel to Zain – A wonderful world; Millicom International Cellular S. A. re-branded Mobitel/Buzz to Tigo- Express yourself and Kasapa re-branded Celtel Ghana into Kasapa – The power of 028.

Globacom – Rule your world, obtained a direct licence from the National Communication Authority (NCA) and most recently Vodafone bought 70 per cent shares in Ghana Telecom, but still uses the “linking people everywhere” slogan for the network and “proud to be Ghanaian” and “stay in touch” for the GSM service, Onetouch.

Scramble For Clients

Projections by industry analysts indicate that within the next year or two, the six operators would have a little over two million potential subscribers to compete for.

Even though some industry analysts are sceptical about the invasion of as many as six huge multi-nationals into a relatively small Ghanaian market, the fact remains that the competition is significant because not only would it put all the players on their toes to deliver, but it also promises to bring to the Ghanaian economy the best in telecom innovation with its attendant direct benefits to the people in terms of quality services and tariff cuts.

It would also provide a support base for the speedy realization of country’s Information Communication Technology for Accelerated Development (ICT4AD) Policy agenda.

For one, each of the players is busy digging wherever they could obtain legal permit to and laying their own fibre optics cables and installing other modern infrastructure to ensure that they are up to the game and the demands of the time.

Fibre optics in simple terms is a sort of glasslike cable technology that transmits voice and data messages faster than the normal wire cable.

Interestingly, whiles the competition promises to be keener in the near future, competitors are also entering into co-location deals to allow each other to serve their subscribers using each other’s cell sites (masts).

Co-location allows several telecom companies to locate their transmitters on the mast of one operator in particular areas, to prevent the situation where several operators mount masts within short intervals and create an untidy scene.

At least four industry-related bills are before Parliament, all ultimately intended to re-orient the regulator, National Communications Authority (NCA) and to revamp the regulation system to ensure that it is upbeat with modern trends in the industry.

There is the NCA Bill itself, Electronic Communication Bill, Electronic Transaction Bill and the Information Technology Agency Bill, each of which are yet to be passed into law.

But whiles the industry is awaiting the revamp of the regulatory system and re-orientation of the regulator, the game is on and it is being keenly contested.

Tale of the Figures

It has become necessary at this time to compactly profile the players in the industry and closely look at what they bring to the market in terms of network infrastructure, services and products, social responsibility and engagements with the community, what prospects they have and how they compare with each other. The point of reference is the market leader, MTN.

Data from the NCA ending August 2008, indicated that out of a total of 10,242,916 mobile phone subscribers in the country, MTN has 5,539,065, representing 52 per cent of the market; Tigo following half way with 2,668,316 subscribers; followed by GT/Vodafone with 1,648,544 subscribers; whiles Kasapa trails far behind with a meager 386,991 subscribers.

Glo and Zain are yet to record any GSM mobile subscribers in the country, but Glo made it quite clear at their launch that they would attract at least two million subscribers in their first year.

Meanwhile Zain has actually rolled out an ambitious strategy to capture 150 million subscribers around the globe. One can only imagine what that means for its operations in Ghana.

In terms of their international strengths, the MTN Group has 74.1 million subscribers across 21 countries in Africa and the Middle East, and remains the market leader in some of the countries where Zain and Vodafone are also players. But MTN’s strength compares unfavourably with that of Vodafone in generic terms.

Vodafone is way ahead of MTN in the league, with 269 million subscribers (June 2008) worldwide, employing some 72,000 professional staff. Fact is that Vodafone is a world telecom leader.

In South Africa where MTN is headquartered, Vodafone, through its subsidiary, Vodacom/Telkom South Africa is the market leader with 54 per cent of the mobile phone subscribers, whiles MTN trails with 36 per cent.

Besides, Vodafone also has a commanding presence in parts of Africa with majority shares (40 per cent) in Safaricom, Kenya, which commands over 80 per cent of the mobile phone market in that country and also has 54.1 per cent in Vodafone Egypt.

Zain boasts of some 50.74 million subscribers (June 2008) in 22 countries mainly in Africa and Middle-East and has a staff strength of 16,000 across its operations. Glo has 13 million subscribers in Nigeria, where it is headquartered and is on record as the fastest growing telecom company in that country.

With operations in 16 countries in Africa, Asia and Latin America, Tigo recorded some 23.4 million subscribers in 2007. Kasapa’s international strength is not readily available.

A two-day workshop on Access to Information (ATI) opened in Accra on Monday with a call on countries in West African to institutionalize legislations enacted on ATI to make it effective and efficient.

The workshop, which has brought together 20 participants from Ghana, Nigeria, Sierra Leone, the Gambia and Liberia, is being organised by the Commonwealth Human Rights Initiative (CHRI) in collaboration with ActionAid International on the theme: “Promoting the Peoples' Access to Information: The West African Experience.”

Nana Oye Lithur, Regional Coordinator of the Commonwealth Human Rights Initiative, said the workshop would identify ways of strengthening information flow to engender a culture of openness in West Africa and enhance capabilities to utilize existing information.

It also seeks to share the findings of a legislative audit conducted in Ghana to provide an opportunity for participants to examine the nature and effectiveness of the mechanisms for information access in Ghana.

Nana Oye said though the right to information encouraged participatory democracy, Africa had not made any impressive strides in that regard.

"With a record of only five states - Angola, South Africa, Uganda, Ethiopia and Zimbabwe having Freedom of Information laws, progressive efforts must be made to enact more of these laws on the continent.”

Mr Venkatesh Nayak of the CHRI noted that none of the countries represented had overriding access to information legislation.

Nevertheless many laws passed by parliaments in these countries contained information disclosure provisions, he added.

He said the findings of the legislative audit from Ghana would encourage members to recognize the usefulness of these provisions and test their efficacy as well as conducting similar research in their respective countries.

Mr Hussaini Abdu, of ActionAid, Nigeria, who gave his country's experience and the role of ActionAid, said though some countries like Zimbabwe and Uganda had enacted such laws, they were not operational.

"Some countries have passed these laws just to satisfy the conditions of accessing loans and grant facilities from international donors," he added.


Source: GNA

The Ghanaian-based Youth Aid Foundation for Winners (YAFOW) has received financial support from the London-based Commonwealth Telecommunications Organisation (CTO) to facilitate a feasibility study toward the establishment of an Information and Communications Technology Park in Cape Coast.

The first tranche of the CTO’s commitment of 900 pounds has already been made available to YAFOW, a statement from CTO in Accra said on Monday.

Commenting on the gesture, the CEO of the CTO, Dr Ekwow Spio-Garbrah, said: “Promoting the development of and access to ICTs, especially in the developing world, forms the core of the CTO’s mandate as an international inter-governmental organisation.

“Generally, in promoting the sector, the CTO has focused on research and advisory services, capacity-building and training programmes and knowledge-sharing events.”

Dr Spio-Garbrah said where necessary, the organisation sought collaboration with non-governmental organisations (NGOs), to enable smaller-scale community-based projects to be executed.

“We consider Ghana as having great potential for e-based and IT-enabled services, and Cape Coast to be a veritable site for the knowledge-based industries, in view of the number of high-quality educational institutions located there.”

Dr Spio-Garbrh said there were many bright young educated people in Cape Coast and in other parts of Ghana seeking good employment, adding, “this ICT Park will answer their yearning.”

The statement said in the case of YAFOW, should the study confirm the feasibility of an ICT Park in Cape Coast, the CTO’s initial financial support was expected to extend to various kinds of technical assistance in the medium term to mobilise additional investors and partners to help establish the ICT Park.

According to CTO management, Ghana had distinguished itself, including in its recent successful and peaceful democratic transitions of power.

It said the large pool of highly educated people produced by its prestigious educational institutions based in Cape Coast would benefit from the proposed ICT Park.

“ICTs are also a well-known transformational means for addressing urban and rural poverty, and for empowering citizens through e-governance, e-health, e-education/distance learning, e-agriculture and e-commerce,” the statement said.

Receiving the donation, the Head of YAFOW, Rev. Prof. S. K. Agyepong, thanked Dr Spio-Garbrah and the CTO for the support and added that the donation will go a long way to help establish a baseline of information regarding ICT infrastructure and services existing in Cape Coast.

It would also help to identify who the current and prospective end-users of such services were, and how to meet their expressed needs, he added.

Prof. Agyepong assured the CTO that the money will be used for the purpose for which it was given, adding that YAFOW will appreciate any further technical assistance that the CTO would extend toward the successful realization of the project.


Source: GNA

Apostle Dr. Kwadwo Safo, Founder and Leader of the Kristo Asafo Christ Reformed Church on Sunday called on Ghanaians to eschew
envy and backbiting and rather come together to develop the country.

He said Ghanaians should be self-reliant and change their old idea of relying on donors for every little thing they need.

Apostle Safo gave the advice at the 28th annual technology exhibition of the Church in Accra.

The Founder said the nation with its scarce resources could not afford to be importing equipment that he and other talented and skilful individuals could manufacture at a lower cost than those imported from outside the country.

He therefore called on people with technological know-how to join him to assist the nation technologically.

Apostle Safo has manufactured two tractors for mowing grasses and a sweeper.

He said the idea of manufacturing the equipment was that his heart was touched anytime he came across the Zoomlion people sweeping with brooms along the streets and picking rubbish with their hands.

He said that the equipment would make sweeping and weeding easier.

Apostle Safo said Ghanaians should cherish made-in-Ghana goods and avoid the notion that anything made in US or Europe was the best, which was retarding the country in its development.

Mr William Ampem-Darko, Director General of the Ghana Broadcasting Corporation, guest speaker said the country has many people who could assist the government to save scarce resources going outside the country but they lacked the “can do it spirit”.

He said it was about time people with technological skills are given some financial push to develop the nation economically and technically so that simple equipment are manufactured in the country for Ghanaians to be able to afford at a low cost.

Mr. Ampem-Darko said Ghanaians should stop reading politics into any initiative made by individuals but rather such people should be encouraged and assisted for the betterment of all.

He commended Apostle Safo for his boldness and foresight in always thinking of what would be good for the citizenry.

Mr Ampem-Darko cut the tape to open the exhibition.

Professor Naana Opoku-Agyeman, Vice Chancellor University of Cape Coast, Chairperson of the occasion during her closing remarks said Ghanaians should cultivate the attitude to develop the country by themselves.

She said; “no one will come from outside the country to develop it for us. We have to think of what we can do to move the country forward in development and peace.”

Prof Opoku-Agyeman appealed to men to support their wives in giving their children sound moral training for them to become useful citizens.


Source: GNA

Onetouch, the telecommunication company that has ferociously bragged about sponsoring Ghana's top flight league, was unable to come up with the US$2.5m they promised to support the competition which starts from Saturday.

Ghanasoccernet investigation has revealed that financial difficulties are preventing the company from making good their promise to the 16 clubs.

This is a massive blow to the 16 clubs who were hoping to use the expected US$150,000 each to offset part of their huge bills in running the clubs during the league.

It is also a huge setback to the image of Onetouch in the fiercely competitive communications industry in Ghana.

The revelation is also a body blow to Vodafone, the British company who acquired the company, after an acrimonious takeover of Ghana's first telecommunications company from the government.

The Professional League Board (PLB), the organisers of Ghana's top flight league, have confirmed that they have re-adjusted the name of the league to reflect the inability of Onetouch to pay the initial deposit.

"As of last night when we were leaving the office Onetouch had not paid the initial deposit they promised so we have taken them off as title sponsorships," PLB boss Welbeck Abra Appiah noted.


Source: Ghanasoccernet

A mobile technology expert on Monday expressed worry over Ghana's open mobile technology industry which makes it easier for foreign competitors to penetrate the local market.

Mr. Ehizogie Binitie, Director of Product Management and Marketing of Rancard, a mobile technology firm, said there was the need to regularise the industry, since this was a threat to local competitors.

Mr. Binitie expressed the concern in Accra at the opening of this year's Innovative Week (iweek) organised by the Ghana-Indian Kofi Annan Centre of Excellence in ICT.

The 2008 iweek, the third in a series, was under the theme: "ICT Innovation- with Open Source and Mobile Content" to provide a platform for knowledge sharing and networking in the use of ICT for economic growth.

Touching on the theme; Mr Binitie further observed that innovation was key for economic growth, especially in the country's quest to attain the annual growth rate of 12 per cent.

He identified emerging mobile technology as a great potential for development, hence the need for support from industries and government in particular for such innovative drive.

Mr Binitie said there was also the need to equip the youth, especially university students to get the right tools that would enable them to take good advantage of opportunities in the industry.

Dr Anthony Akoto Osei, Minister of State at the Ministry of Finance and Economic Planning noted that mobile telephone was braining real change and opening up business opportunities, but the challenge was how to best exploit those opportunities to address societal needs.

He said Open Ghana for instance was torn between agro-based economic development and service-oriented development, but the way forward was to embrace both approaches by developing agro-industries using technology based value added services.

"Studies have shown that a well-designed blend of the two approaches will be optimum in our quest for a more developed society", the Minister added.

The use of ICT, he said, would also help to improve initiatives that would turn around the country's century-old society into a more prosperous one.

The Minister said since accessibility to market has been a major challenge to the country's production processes, often leading to farmers relying on intermediary traders who offered less value, adopting ICT based services such as the stock market would change the trend.

"ICT will help develop systems that will provide rural production a better access to market, to facilitate competitiveness in the global market.

Ms Dorothy K. Gordon, Director-General of the Kofi Annan ICT Centre, noted that linking all Africans up through technology would empower the continent to address its challenges.

She said there was therefore the need to design clear policies, investment in research of technology and information systems and more commitment o promoting innovation,

Ms. Gordon called for capacity building in the continent in order for Africans to take ownership of emerging technologies to create wealth.

She promised an exciting five-day event this year with well-vested ICT experts form Nigeria, Cote D'Ivoire, Kenya and other countries to speak on e-governance, e-education, the Free and Open Source Software (FOSS) and business opportunities in Ghana.



Source: GNA

Government has been urged to waive off import duties charged on information technology (IT) equipment and materials.

It was further asked to reduce Value Added Tax (VAT) charges on IT consumables in order to encourage more investments into the sector and also make the cost of computers low and affordable to the end users.

Mrs Florence Seriki, Group Managing Director, Omatek Ventures, made the appeal during the launch of e-xpress consumer initiative, which aimed at making computer acquisition easy and affordable for Ghanaians.

The scheme which is being embarked upon by the government in partnership with Omatek Computers Ghana, is to enable civil servants, corporate executives, organisations, educational institutions and students to acquire computers within 12 to 24 months through a structured payment plan.

The initiative forms part of government’s i-ADVANCE project, which is a government assisted PC programme, launched in August 2006. Since its launch two years ago, the i-ADVANCE project has helped to make available over 21,000 computers, both desktops and laptops.

Mrs Seriki said although the scheme was private sector driven, government’s support had given a new meaning and momentum to it.

She urged government to do more for the sector by policy pronouncements that would encourage state institutions to patronise locally assembled computers.

Mrs Seriki expressed the hope that the collaboration between Omatek e-xpress scheme and i-advance would help to bridge the digital divide and enhance IT penetration in the country.
In a related development, Omatek has also launched its 8inches and 10inches Smartbooks positioned for the educational sector and executives respectively.

Speaking at the launch, Dr Benjamin Aggrey-Ntim, Minister of Communications, said Omatek’s partnership with government was in the right direction as it would help increase the number of computers available to individuals.

 “The initiative would impact positively on education, job creation and employment, which were necessary for accelerating the country’s development,” he added.

Professor Dominic Fobih, Minister of Education, Science and Sports, lauded Omatek for its efforts and said it would go a long way to revolutionalise the educational sector.

The event also marked the official unveiling of the new Omatek brand identity.

Omatek is the first completely knock down factory in Africa to produce computer casings, speakers, desktops and notebooks.

By Felix Dela Klutse

Internet usage in Ghana is a mere 2.7 per cent as compared to 5.3 per cent in Africa, Mr. Eric Akumiah, General Secretary, Internet Society, Ghana, said on Monday.

He said the figure was a low because of some policies and called on government to recognize the importance of a multi-stakeholder model of decision making especially on Internet Policy Development.

"We therefore commit ourselves to engage with government and other stakeholders to enhance confidence, ensure security and encourage innovation at the national level."

Mr. Akumiah said this at this year's OneWebDay celebration to draw attention to key internet values. The global theme: "Online Participation in Democracy," would also focus on local internet concerns such as connectivity, censorship, individual skills and creating a global network to protect and defend the internet."

"As the internet grows and continues to spur economic and social development around the world, the policies and practices of tomorrow must grow from shared principles and vision that underpin our collaboration," Mr Akumiah added.

He said to achieve an increased usage there was the need to ensure that human capacities in that area were preserved, including the ability to connect, innovate, communicate and share information.

"We also encourage the government to create maximum benefit through networking to draw on the insight and expertise of all stakeholders, especially those from the internet technical community, to conceive and implement an internet-friendly policy framework," Mr. Akumiah said.


Source: GNA