Others are the lapses in governance which could lead to environmental degradation such as oil spillages, mediocre environmental and social performance as well as the notion formed by some Ghanaians about a potential “curse” associated with oil production in the country.

These observations are contained in a report submitted by Acorn International, a United States of America based global consultancy firm, which specialises in “how to improve upon local content” in multinational companies.

The research conducted under the recommendation of the Ministry of Environment, Science and Technology (MEST), was sponsored by Kosmos Energy, Ghana.

Launching the report in Accra on Thursday, Mr Dean Slocum, President of Acorn International, called for the development of human resources to meet clarified mandates and responsibilities, development of sanction and penalty framework for oil companies that might falter.

“Also, there should be clarity on the responsibilities of agencies such as the EPA, GNPC and Ghana Maritime Authority, as well as the development of effective monitoring mechanisms,” he added.

The report called for the introduction of sustainable fishing policies, programmes to reduce shoreline erosion, provision of fish storage facilities, improved access to credit for fisher folks and the provision of alternative livelihood programmes for fishing communities where oil exploration takes place.

Ms Sherry Ayittey, Minister of Environment, Science and Technology, said the report would help provide capacity requirements to strengthen the regulatory framework for the environmental management of the oil and gas sector.

“Launching of the report and the subsequent programme and projects would lead the country to a state of readiness to meet any environmental challenge that the development of our oil and gas resources might bring”.

She said government would equip regulatory agencies with the needed resources to perform their statutory functions.

Ms Ayittey noted that the Ministry had developed the Ghana National Environmental Policy to provide clear direction for managing the environmental considerations of the oil and gas sector.

“The aims of the policy includes the need to ensure that preventive approach is adopted in the pursuit of sound environmental management”.

She lauded the discovery of oil and gas in the country as it would open up an array of opportunities to hasten the pace of national development.

Mr Mike Murphy, Vice President of Kosmos Energy, Ghana, appealed to donors to “support the Ministry in its research finding initiatives for the betterment of the oil industry.

“As operators of the West Cape Three Point Block, we are proud to assist the Ministry in shaping Ghana’s environmental protection agenda”.

“In doing so, we are working with the EPA and the World Bank in an effort to establish an ultra modern laboratory for the EPA,” he added.

Launching the product, the Chief Marketing Officer of MTN Ghana, Mr Rahul De, reiterated the company’s commitment to increase internet penetration in the country

4. Put all your trust in your employees and outside consultants
Many times I have sat with colleagues in corporate bodies listening to outside consultants present their findings on research carried out and my heart always bleeds. We had advised our company several times on these same issues at no cost only for huge cheques to be written for such consultants. The worst part is when these consultants offer suicidal suggestions. Do not get me wrong, there are excellent consultants out there but sometimes the “inside” people may have the advantage of being dipped in the company’s culture and know exactly what will work.

I used to be an advocate of “grow talent by giving them freedom to express themselves” but I have been burnt on so many occasions I have resorted to setting rules and protocols for most people to follow and allowing just a couple of people a lot more room to excel. It is great to place your trust in your employees but always have a backup; they tend to have an affinity to disappoint you just when your back is turned.

5. Be Bureaucratic
Many brilliant ideas and businesses have failed simply because the paper work, committee meetings, signatures and all the red tapism has been too cumbersome and complicated. It is very important that for small companies especially, a strategic advantage over the large multinationals is to have an extremely short turn-around time. Decisions should be made without going through a tall corporate hierachy. Bureaucracy may be a way to reduce corrupt practices, but does that really work? Stick to bureaucracy and you will surely be killing that beautiful dream you have been nursing.

6. Avoid taking risks
Entrepreneurship in itself is a risky venture thus how can one expect to make great strides without taking risks. Many successful businesses today have made giant strides because someone was bold enough to take an “educated” risk. Sometimes the figures may not look good but you will have to rely on intuition.

7. Always strive to let expenses exceed income
There you go, use your capital and first fruits to purchase cars, houses and all the luxuries of life and I can predict the future with 100% certainty – your business will fold up quicker than it took you to obtain your certificate of incorporation. What goes out should never be greater than your earnings. Yes, I understand you need to invest into the business and over a certain period you may be earning far less than you have to spend but this expenditure is made for future income and is a must in most businesses. The catch phrase here is expenditure can only exceed income over a limited and forecasted period while we set up the business.

8. Never collect your invoices/cash on time
In our part of the world, and hmmm and others are joining us fast, inflation reigns supreme. The value of your money keeps eroding the longer it stays with your dear clients. The worst part of this scene is you may end up borrowing money (and paying interest on this amount) to run your business while your clients comfortably use money you have earned for other purposes. Keep playing the nice guy role and do not insist on money being paid on time and your guess is as good as mine.

9. Isolate self
Be a loner. This may be because you think you know it all so you need not interact with your clients and employees. Sit in your office and insulate yourself from everyone and set hairy audacious goals and draw business strategies that cannot be faltered by anyone. Top this up with ignoring current trends in your industry and other associated businesses and you will be on your way to killing your business.

10. Avoid paying your tithes
The bible my dear reader is always right. Do not substitute tithe for donations, charity work etc. Do not think someone corrupt will spend your money – choose the right congregation and do what God has commanded. Pay your tithes and see what happens.

I am sure there are other disastrous paths that lead to entrepreneurial “suicide” but these points listed above definitely go a long way to keep you on the path to success.

I am making a conscious effort to avoid these demons and I hope my fellow entrepreneur or corporate guru, you are going to do the same.

Dr. KojTo be a successful entrepreneur, you need to be extremely passionate about your dream. Passion is what makes you persevere long enough to see the light at the end of the tunnel. Doing the right things may ensure that you fare well.

What if we slip and are unable to recognize the Judases? Or we just take things for granted and drift away from reality?

So, for a change lets look at the factors that will kill our dream. Hopefully if we learn to avoid these pitfalls like the pestilence then we will be on the way to an exciting business life.

1.Take your health for granted
In the current business era, the ability to innovate continuously is always a strategic advantage. Want to keep your brain fresh, active and always on the go? The answer is maintaining good health. Quite often we are so engrossed in our business that we hardly find time to eat right, exercise and even do medical check-ups. Over time our bodies become tired and we lose our initial drive and passion.

Many entrepreneurs, know they need a soft or hard copy of a business plan but instead majority have vital components of this plan both long and short term in their memory. So what happens when you are unwell? The growth of your business stalls and may even collapse totally.
Lets do ourselves a favour and not take our health for granted – good health could be the trump card for success.

2. Think you are infallible
Sometimes we think we “know it all” and will not read or even listen to trends in our industry. Ever wondered why the Japanese were able to penetrate the US market with Toyota and Honda? It is always revealing beyond measure to talk to your clients/customers and even employees who are way down the organizational ladder. There is no advantage in turning your office into an ivory tower and refusing/ failing to interact with your clients, customers and employees. The thought that we are infallible makes us extremely inflexible. The beauty of life is the chance to change our minds sometimes. There is no point sticking to a plan or goal you set five (5) years ago when clearly market, economic and social factors have changed drastically almost making that idea obsolete.

3. Never stop to think
We are always too busy. No time to sleep, no time to socialize, no time to listen to customers and employees/advisors, no time to assess what you have achieved to date and eventually no time to succeed.
It is important that we take a few minutes at the end of the day to go over what has been accomplished. Creating different scenarios for our business turns an opportunity into a “déjà vu”. We can then seize the moment and run for gold. Many financial giants have failed in recent time because of conducting business the “usual way”. Scenario staging could have averted some catastrophes.
o Essel, MBChB, MBA, FT

Some of the miners could be seen digging sand and washing it with sea water on palettes to collect the gold dust with mercury.

It has been established that unlike the past when the prospectors travelled to Tarkwa to sell their gold dust, buyers have travelled from across the country to buy from the prospectors right at the beach.

Some of the miners who spoke to Daily Graphic on condition of anonymity said business was booming as they made a “blade” or “half blade”, terms which the miners used as the measure for the quantity they gathered.

It was also gathered that officials from the Minerals Commission from Takoradi had visited the scene to take samples of the sand for testing.

Sources close to the Edina Traditional Council indicated that the council had invited the prospective miners to meet it for discussions on their activities but the miners did not respond to the call.

Attempts to get the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to comment on the activities of the miners proved futile, as the Central Regional Director of the agency, Mr Kwasi Owusu-Sekyere, was said to have travelled to Accra on an official assignment.

The Deputy Regional Director who said he had visited the scene could not make any comment, since he said he needed permission from his boss before he could make any comments on the situation.

Some of the miners said since the sea waves filled the pits by the next morning, they did not see any environmental hazard from their activities.

On the source of the gold, they said they believed it might have been contained in the silt dumped along the beach when the Benya Lagoon was dredged and that the silt which was carried away by the waves was now being washed ashore by the same waves.

“El-Mina”, which means ‘gold mine’ in Portuguese, was linked with gold mining when Don Diego d’Azambuja set foot on the settlement known as Edina in 1472.

Some of the residents told the Daily Graphic that the rush for gold could have serious consequences on the age-long booming fishing industry and education in the area, since some fishermen and children had abandoned their trade and classrooms to engage in the business.

Premiering on 30 November 2011, China’s African Gold is the story of how illegal Chinese alluvial gold mining in West Africa has grown to industrial levels of extraction. Even Ghana, a leading African state, is incapable of stopping the robbery of its most valuable mineral.

Anas shows these illegal Chinese operations in action, how the quest for riches is to the detriment of people along the rivers Pra and Ankobra, and how the government’s best efforts to thwart this illegal trade have been blocked by corrupt Ghanaian officials.

Africa Investigates, a groundbreaking new series that puts flesh on Al Jazeera’s ambition to give voice to the voiceless, can be seen each week at the following times GMT: Wednesday, 2230; Thursday, 0930; Friday, 0330; Saturday, 1630; Sunday, 2230; Monday, 0930; Tuesday, 0330; and Wednesday, 1630.

He, therefore, appealed to managements of various Ghanaian companies to be innovative and creative in developing business plans that will create adequate jobs for Ghanaians.

The Vice president made this call yesterday when he inspected JOSPONG Automobile Assembling Plant off the Tema Motorway in Accra. The Company, which is totally Ghanaian, has so far built a total of 250 DONFENG Tipper trucks at the site.

Apart from selling on the local market, the company has started exporting some of the assembled vehicles to Togo, Equatorial Guinea, Angola and Zambia.

The Vice President, who also visited the assembling plants of tricycles for the collection of waste throughout the country, said Government will continue to create an enabling environment for businesses to triumph and called on them to go the extra mile to make innovations that will attract partnerships from all angles of development.

Mr Joseph Siaw Agyepong, Chief Executive Officer of JOSPONG Group of Companies including Zoomlion Ghana Limited said his companies are employing a total of 70,000 workers in all the subsidiary companies in Ghana. The company also has subsidiaries in Angola, Equitorial Guinea, Togo and Zambia that are employing so many workers.

Mr Agyepong said the automobile assembling company in Ghana is currently employing 100 persons and will soon have a workforce of 500. He added that another plant will be opened in Kumasi in the Ashanti region to cater for the demands of the northern sector and Burkina Faso.

He said, his outfit has also established an institute of waste management and will partner the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology and Polytechnics to train their students practically at the institute.

He said apart from the engines that are imported, all other parts such as tyres, bodies among others are manufactured in the company.

A statement from the Energy Ministry said a new board has been constituted by President John Evans Atta Mills and will be chaired by Mrs. Perpetual Darfour.

“This Board will be sworn-in on Tuesday 6th December 2011,” the statement said.

“The Ministry takes this opportunity to convey to the old Board the sincere gratitude of His Excellency the President for their contribution toward building ECG into a world class electricity distribution company,” the statement signed by the minister Dr. J. Oteng-Adjei added.

Experts stress this does not mean the same would occur in a real-life setting and say men should not worry unduly.

But they are recommending more studies.

The preliminary research, published in the journal Fertility and Sterility, looked at semen samples from 29 healthy donors.

Each donor sample was separated out into two pots. One of these pots was then stored for four hours next to a laptop that was wirelessly connected to the internet. The other was stored under identical conditions, minus the laptop.

The scientists, from Argentina and the US, suspect that the effect seen is unrelated to the heat kicked out by a laptop, although heat can damage sperm.

Under investigation

The UK’s Health Protection Agency has been closely monitoring the safety of wi-fi.

It says people using wi-fi, or those in the proximity of wi-fi equipment, are exposed to the radio signals it emits – and some of the transmitted energy in the signals is absorbed in their bodies.

However, the signals are very low power.

The HPA says there is no consistent evidence to date that exposure to radio signals from wi-fi adversely affects the health of the general population.

UK fertility expert Dr Allan Pacey, senior lecturer in andrology at the University of Sheffield, said: “The study is very well conducted, but we should be cautious about what it may infer about the fertility of men who regularly use laptops with wi-fi on their laps.

“Ejaculated sperm are particularly sensitive to many factors because outside the body they don’t have the protection of the other cells, tissues and fluids of the body in which they are stored before ejaculation. Therefore, we cannot infer from this study that because a man might use a laptop with wi-fi on his lap for more than four hours then his sperm will necessarily be damaged and he will be less fertile.

“We need large epidemiological studies to determine this, and to my knowledge these have not yet been performed.”

He said men should still be cautious about balancing a laptop on their thighs for hours on end.

“We know from other studies that the bottom of laptops can become incredibly hot and inadvertent testicular heating is a risk factor for poor sperm quality.

“There is a case report of a man who burnt his penis after using a laptop resting on his lap for a long time. Therefore, there are many reasons to try and use a laptop on a table where possible, and this may in itself ameliorate any theoretical concerns about wi-fi.”Scientists are questioning if using wi-fi on a laptop to roam the internet could harm a man’s fertility, after lab work suggested ejaculated sperm were significantly damaged after only four hours of exposure.

The exhibition is for the general public, families and students to indulge their senses, and learn about Kente in Ghana today as seen through the eyes of the people of Tsiame.

The exhibition also tells the story of the Tsiame community and what they have been able to achieve from the beginning till date including the different types of dying technique used for the
kente cloth. Some of the cloths tell the story of the Anlo people.

Over the years weaving has become the soul of the Tsiame people and therefore any attempt to take away the art of weaving would be taking away the soul of the community therefore there is the need to sustain the activities of the community.

According to one of the weavers, Moses Kofi Afanyo, Kente weaving is the cultural practice of the people of Tsiame. He gave a brief history of the Tsiame weaving community and told of how after discovering the potentials of the weavers decided to find market for them. He said the
community was a unique community with a unique culture and gift.

Opening the exhibition, Prof Asare Akuffo commended the Nubuke Foundation for providing the platform and space to nurture Ghana’s culture adding that he was happy that the exhibition was about Kente.

He noted that kente weaving was part of the Ghanaian culture, “Kente weaving is an aspect of the enviable creative heritage left for us by our ancestors” he said.

He commended the weavers for their creativity but expressed regret that as a people there is nothing to show for our creativity except for copying what others have done and discouraged the habit of copying and imitating others.

Prof Asare advised that “We should pay attention to the creativity and resourcefulness of our ancestors” adding that the kente cloth was not just about the design but the story they tell and represent.

As well as the exhibition, visitors can watch a video documentary on the Tsiame weavers, take part in weaving workshopsand even get the opportunity to buy many of the unique textiles on display.

Kente, with its vibrant colours and intricate patterns, is at the heart of Ghanaian culture, representing centuries of traditional weaving technology and design. The weavers of Tsiame in the Volta region are immensely skilled in the creative art upon which they depend yet, like many similar communities throughout Ghana; their livelihoods are under threat from decades of declining trade and competition from imported cheaper alternatives.

The history of Kente in the Tsiame community in the Volta region is captured poignantly through the lives of a dynasty of weavers for many centuries right through to today’s generation.

The patrons of the weavers, master weavers and women in the Kente industry played their part alongside Nubuke Foundation to bring this landmark arts event into being and the Kente cloth on display represents the fusion of traditional skills with new creative approaches, a testimony to a living, growing art form.

THE NUBUKE Foundation, a non-governmental institution founded in 2006 to promote Ghanaian culture and heritage.

Electricity saw a 3 per cent increase whilst that of water saw 1.07 per cent increase.

The new prices are expected to take effect on December 1, 2011.

The increases Joy News correspondent Sammy Darko reported is part of the automatic price adjustment policy announced by the PURC early this year.

However, consumers who use within 0-50 units of electricity are not affected by the new increases, Darko added.

The increases, among other things have been attributed to hikes in crude oil prices at the international level, decrease in exchange rate of the cedi.

The next adjust is expected to be announced in February, 2012.