Ghana’s economy expanded in 2021 despite covid-19 – Board Chairman of MTN discloses at 4th AGM
Scancom PLC (MTN Ghana) on Monday, May 30, 2022 held its 4th Annual General Meeting (AGM) in Accra.
The virtual meeting was streamed live from the company’s head office at MTN House in Accra from 11am.
The agenda for the AGM included the approval of the Audited Financial Statements for the year ended December 31, 2021; declaration of a final dividend for 2021, appointment of an Executive Director, authorization of the Directors to fix the remuneration of the Auditor for the year 2022, and approval of Director’s fees for 2022.
GLOBAL OVERVIEW BY BOARD CHAIRMAN:
Board Chairman of Scancom PLC, Dr. Ishmael Yamson noted that the global economy emerged from the COVID-19 pandemic induced recession of 2020 with economic growth estimated by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) to have risen to 6.1% in 2021.
He said global energy prices surged in the last 6 months of the year on the back of recovering demand and constrained supply.
“Global inflation continued to trend upwards, reflecting the rebound in demand, as well as supply chain disruptions and rising food and energy prices,” he explained.
According to the IMF’s latest estimates, global economic growth is expected to slow to 3.6% in 2022, reflecting the risk of COVID-19 figure-ups linked to the Omicron variant, lingering supply-chain bottlenecks and the spillover effects of the Russian-Ukraine conflict, he emphasized.
He reiterated that notably, commodity prices have soared and logistics disruptions are likely to increase.
Ghana’s Operating Environment:
Dr. Ishmael Yamson said the economic activity continued to expand in 2021.
This, he noted, was in line with the recovery following the lingering impact of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Dr. Yamson emphasized that the local economy grew by 5.4% in 2021 higher than the estimates of the IMF and the World Bank.
According to him, Ghana’s GDP growth was driven by the services and agricultural sectors, which grew by 9.4% and 8.4% respectfully.
Dr. Yamson said headline inflation slowed from 10.4% in December 2020 to 7.5% in May 2021 but increased in the second half of the year to reach 12.6% due to the rise in crude oil prices and higher food prices.
“The local currency performed well on 2021, depreciating against the USD, GBP and EUR by 4.1%, 3.1% and 3.5% respectfully.
CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER OF MTN:
The Chief Executive Officer of MTN, Selorm Adadevoh noted that 2021 was a special year for MTN Ghana, as it marked 25 years of providing vital telecommunications and digital services to Ghanaians.
During this period, he said, MTN Ghana played it’s part in improving the lives of Ghanaians as well as enabling growth of businesses and the economy.
“We commemorated the milestone by celebrating the loyalty and trust we have received from our valued customers, our people and all shareholders including our trade partners, our technology partners, our business collaborators, our regulators and our media partners, who have made this journey possible,” he stressed.
Scancom Plc (MTN Ghana) held its first AGM in May 2019 after it listed on the Ghana Stock Exchange (GSE) on 5 September 2018 with the largest number of Ghanaian shareholdings of any listed company on the GSE at 127,826.
By raising GHS 1,146,589,464.75 from 128,152 applicants, the Offer made history as the largest primary share offer in the history of the Ghana Stock Exchange.
It enabled many Ghanaians from all walks of life to own a share in one of Ghana’s largest, most visible and well-respected companies.
Source: Ghana/otecfmghana.com/Michael Ofosu-Afriyie, Kumasi.
