GCNet ready for new Ghana cedi

Takoradi, April 11, GNA - Mr. Nortey K. Omaboe, Executive Chairman of the Ghana Community Network (GCNet), has said its service would not experience any interruptions when the new Ghana cedi becomes operation in July this year.

He said continuity, during and after the transition period and beyond had been taken care off.

Mr. Omaboe said these at a public forum organised by the Ghana Shippers Council (GHC) for the shipping, security agencies, chambers of commerce and the National Board for Small Scale Industries (NBSSI) at Takoradi, on Wednesday.

He said there would be greater efficiency in data recording, transmission, management, efficiency in processing documents and clear reductions in the scale of data entry and related errors. Mr. Omaboe urged business entities to adopt new measures that would make them compliant and keep them in operations before the new Ghana cedi and pesewas were introduced.

He said companies who failed to adopt meaningful measures for their operations were likely to face problems in July.

Mr. Omaboe said business entities must assess the implications of the new change on their business activities within and outside Ghana, to enable them become more competitive.

He therefore called on all Ghanaians to stop politicising the re-denomination and accept it for their own good. Dr Benjamin Amoah, of the Monitoring Policy Analysis and Financial Unit of the Bank of Ghana (BOG), said the new cedi notes and coins would be durable and contain a lot of security features to prevent counterfeiting.

He said that even though the activities of counterfeiters were difficult to eliminate the BOG would do its best to educate the public on genuine cedi notes and coins.

Dr. Amoah charged businesses to be vigilant and avoid arbitrary increases since consumers would be compelled to purchase alternatives. He called on Ghanaians to protect the new cedi notes to extend their life span.

Dr. Amoah said "manhandling" of the notes coupled with other negative practices would cost the country extra printing cost.