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Run a business account

Thu, 20 Nov 2008 04:13:35 GMT

Thursday, November 20, 2008

You should keep in mind the terms and conditions attached to each of your business accounts. As the business grows and circumstances change you may find that these terms no longer fit your situation.

It is better to go to the bank to discuss how you think your account may operate. It may be necessary to negotiate new conditions for your account rather than to breach a term, eg exceed a credit limit and incur extra fees and run the risk of getting a bad credit rating. It is important to build up a good relationship with your bank:

• don't allow the business account to become overdrawn unless an overdraft limit has been agreed
• don't exceed any overdraft limit without prior agreement
• stick to the terms and conditions

You can manage your bank account more easily by:

• ensuring that only appropriate persons are authorised to make payments from the bank account
• keeping records of all transactions in the bank account
• ensuring you keep and examine your bank statements
• using your bank statements to check the financial position of the business
• cross-checking your statements with your business records to ensure that all transactions tally

Online banking can make it quick and easy to check balances and payments. Your relationship with your bank will be improved if they understand your business. You can help them to improve their understanding by:

• talking to the person managing your account on a regular basis
• if requested, sending your accounts to the bank every year
• providing the bank with updated copies of your business plan when you need new loans or increased overdraft facilities.
• letting your bank know if you plan any unusual transactions, eg significant capital expenditure

Notify the bank immediately of any problems your business may be experiencing.

Author: by Kojo

A journey of faith

Tue, 18 Nov 2008 10:16:41 GMT

Tuesday, November 18, 2008

Every day, millions of Muslims face towards the East as they perform the five daily prayers.

They are facing towards a land to which their hearts and minds frequently travel. This is the Holy City of Mecca. For a Muslim, a journey to the Holy City is unlike any other. It is a journey of faith; a fulfillment of one of the Five Pillars of Islam.

All faithful Muslims aspire to go on this journey. The opportunity to go on Hajj – as the journey of faith is called – is a dream come true. Many are unable to make it because of financial constraints and other reasons.

For many Gambian Muslims, Good Fortune has smiled on them in the person of President Yahya Jammeh. Over the years, he has personally sponsored the pilgrimage of many Gambians who would otherwise not have been able to make the journey.

On an occasion when some pilgrims were stranded whilst on the journey, the president personally intervened to ensure that they were airlifted and that completed their journey.

To the pilgrims, we say congratulations and best wishes for a successful Hajj. As you go on this journey, our hearts and minds are with you. We pray that you all go in peace and come back safely.

It should also be borne in mind that you are ambassadors of this country. Thus, we implore you to be good ambassadors and to represent this illustrious nation well.
Please pray for our country and for our beloved president.

Author: DO

Gambia Not Directly Affected by Global Financial Crisis But… IMF Report

Thu, 13 Nov 2008 04:24:26 GMT

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Thursday, November 13, 2008

Latest report by an International Monetary Fund (IMF) mission to the Gambia reveals that so far, the financial system in The Gambia has not been affected directly by the global financial crisis.

The report however says that adverse impacts from recession in Europe and the USA are likely to slow down real GDP growth from about 6 percent in 2008 to less than 5 percent in 2009.

The report follows a fourth review under the Poverty Reduction and Growth Facility (PRGF) by the IMF mission led by Mr. Tsidi Tsikata.

According to the IMF report, inflation has been rising in recent months reaching an annual rate of 6.3 percent in September but is expected to remain in single digits, as pressures from abroad ease with falling commodity prices.

The mission advised the government to restrain its expenditures in light of what it described as weaker-than-expected revenue performance and an uncertain outlook for 2009. “The mission estimates that government revenue will fall short of budget estimates by over D400m (about 2 percent of GDP) in 2008 due mainly to implicit subsidization of petroleum product prices and lower revenues from non-oil imports (including re-exports),” the report added.

With recent decline in world oil prices, the report adds, the government should recoup some of the revenue loss associated with a less-than-full pass through of rising world prices to consumers earlier this year.

The mission also advised government to restrain discretionary expenditures in the fourth quarter of 2008 in order to limit domestic borrowing and avoid a marked increase in interest rates.

The mission noted that a reduction in re-export activity may represent a permanent erosion of an important part of the tax base, and cautioned against over-optimistic revenue projections and an overly expansionary budget for 2009.

While supportive of civil service reform, the mission also noted that another large increase in the wage bill (following a 40 percent increase in 2008) would constrain in the room provided by debt relief to increase poverty reducing expenditures.

The mission endorsed the Central Bank of the Gambia’s commitment to containing inflation using all instruments at its disposal.

In order to enhance the effectiveness of monetary operations, the mission called for greater collaboration between the Central bank of the Gambia and the Department of State for Finance and Economic Affairs in forecasting government revenues and expenditures.

With the entry of two new banks into the country’s banking industry and five more awaiting licenses, the mission expressed concern that the growing number of banks was stretching the Central Bank’s supervision capacity to the limit and risked diverting resources from meeting other pressing needs.

The mission welcomed a review of the scope of activities eligible for incentives under the Investment Promotion Act, which is currently underway. It advised the applications for investment incentives to be carefully scrutinised, but that once approved, the incentive should be provided in a predictable way.

“The government requested assistance from the IMF to review tax policy, especially in the areas of rationalizing central and local government taxation and broadening tax base.

“With regard to the PRGF supported program, the mission found that except for the fiscal basic balance target which was missed, overall performance against the end-September 2008 targets was good”, the IMF report stated.

The mission noted that the terms of external loans recently ratified by the National Assembly were in line with the minimum degree of concessionality agreed under the program. The mission urged the government to meet the target date of February 2009 for completing work on a national debt strategy, with a view to placing government borrowing decisions in an appropriate medium-term contract.

Meanwhile, the Executive Board of the IMF is expected to discuss the report of the mission in January 2009.

Source: Pictures: Secy Bala Gaye (1) and Governor Bamba Saho (2)

Pay Off Your Debts!

Mon, 03 Nov 2008 04:45:36 GMT

Monday, November 03, 2008

It is a generally accepted fact that in business dealings there must be honour. Unfortunately at the moment some of those people with whom The Point has done business in the last year and a half are not behaving in an honourable manner. The behaviour in question is a failure to pay their bills and this failure has left us in this newspaper facing acute financial constraints.

This very unsatisfactory situation is not confined to the private sector alone. In a number of cases government agencies and state bodies have failed to pay their bills and run up huge arrears which have been outstanding for significant periods in some cases.

There are many people employed at The Point, and as employers we try to do the very best we can to take care of our employees. This includes paying a reasonable wage and paying it on time. We now however find ourselves in a situation whereby journalists, layout editors, and marketing staff are facing increasing costs of living and cannot be treated to relevant increments by management because of chronic default on the part of some of our debtors. This situation is untenable and cannot be sustained any further.

Another factor in our financial woes is the fact that we as an organisation are extremely diligent in servicing our debts. This means that we pay on time while others merely ignore repeated calls to pay their bills. This has obvious implications for the balance sheet of the newspaper.

The taxes imposed by government with regard to the materials needed to produce a newspaper are very high but we pay them in full and on time. We do not avoid our patriotic responsibility to pay our taxes or our moral responsibility to pay our bills, leaving us in a difficult financial situation we have no need to be in.

In the past we have asked that people pay their debts. We now demand it. If the debts are not paid within a two-week period we will publish the full list of our debtors along with the very substantial sums that they owe us. We do not wish to do this but the slovenly approach to payment taken by some, has left us with no other option.

We, as a company, wish to be solvent and continue to inform the public and work towards national development. We wish to help our staff and their families to enjoy a standard of living that they deserve considering the excellent work that they do in our media house. We can do all these things when those who owe us money do the honourable thing and pay the money they owe for the services they have already received from us.

Footnote: We have reproduced this piece to remind those debtors mentioned above who have not yet paid their bills that this coming Friday is D-day. If the debts have not been paid by that day we will publish the names of all those who are in arrears.

72hrs ultimatum for Spectrum

Wed, 29 Oct 2008 10:07:29 GMT

Wednesday, October 29, 2008

The government of The Gambia has issued a statement giving a 72-hour notice to the management of Spectrum to provide information to the government regarding the financial status of Gamtel/Gamcel since they took over its management.

The statement, according to GRTS, came from the Office of the President.

According to the statement, the action was necessitated by the fact that Spectrum had failed to deliver on the terms of the agreement it had made with the government.

It added that complaints reaching the authorities also indicate that since Spectrum took charge of Gamtel/Gamcel, the quality of services has decreased significantly, "which in itself is [an] abuse of right of the consumers".

Author: By Hatab Fadera

Gambia hosts BAG steering committee meeting

Tue, 28 Oct 2008 09:52:08 GMT

Tuesday, October 28, 2008

Lamin Bojang, the secretary of state for Works, Construction and Infrastructure, yesterday, opened the seventh annual steering committee meeting of the member states of the Banjul Accord Group (BAG) at the Jaama Hall, Kairaba Beach Hotel.

Declaring the meeting officially opened, SoS Bojang said that the gathering was a clear testimony to the positive efforts being made in addressing the endemic safety challenges that have been known to be confronting the Africa region.

Secretary of state Bojang told member states that the momentum of aviation safety, which has been raised through the group project in the Africa sub-region, should be maintained. The desired results of the BAG project according to SoS Bojang would not be achieved if member states of the group did not measure to their expectation in fulfilling their financial obligations to it.

For his part, Abdoulie Jammeh, deputy director general of the Gambia Civil Aviation Authority, expressed his hope that the discussions of the meeting would focus on the way forward. He narrated that since the formation of the group, it had enjoyed sustained support from its membership and partners such as ICAO, FAA, Airbus and Boeing, ECOWAS, ADB and the French Cooperation. This, he added, has made it a reliable vehicle for bringing about positive changes in the Civil Aviation industry within the region.

Mr Jules Gogoua, head of the ECOWAS commission transport division, indicated that the commission is determined to assist its member states in implementing the Yamoussoukro Declaration, relating to the liberalization of access to transport markets in Africa, mainly to enhance aviation security and safety in compliance with the ICAO standards and recommended practices.

Mr Gogoua said that noticeable efforts have been made at various levels by ECOWAS commission and called on the Banjul Accord Group member states to comply with the African Development Bank’s requirements that resulted to the first disbursement of 530.600 Dollars and the Term of References available for Regional Aviation Safety Agency, data bank and regional maintenance centre, among others.

Mr Gogoua then urged the member states to make an immediate ratification of the BAG convention in order to establish the legal status that would enhance the group to accomplish its task. He then thanked their funding agencies and their supporters for their commitment to the programme.

Author: by Amadou Jallow

Pay Off Your Debts!

Mon, 27 Oct 2008 06:09:01 GMT

Monday, October 27, 2008

IMF Sees Major Slowdown

Fri, 10 Oct 2008 04:44:12 GMT

Friday, October 10, 2008

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) today warned that the world economy is experiencing a major downturn in the face of the most dangerous financial shock in mature markets since 1930s, and called for strong and coordinated actions to avoid worse-case scenarios. The IMF’s latest world economic Outlook (WEO) projected global growth to slow substantially in the latter part of 2008, before beginning a modest recovery in the second half of 2009, Growth in advanced countries will be close to zero until at least the middle of 2009, while growth in emerging and developing countries will slow to substantially lower rates than in the recent past. The WEO projects global growth at around 3 percent in 2009.

“The world economy has entered a major downturn after being hit by two large shocks: a surge in oil commodity prices and the expanding financial crisis,” said Olivier Blanchard, the IMF’s Economic Counsellor and Director of Research. “The financial crisis has clearly gotten worse, and no country will be fully immune from the effects on the real economy.

It is too late to avoid a slowdown, but strong and coordinated policies can avoid even worse scenarios. In many countries, plans are already being put place to help resolve the crisis.”

The recovery measures include both financial and macroeconomic policies, Mr Blanchar noted.” while uncertainty remains, we are hopeful that these measures will contain the crisis and return trust to the markets, “he said. “restore trust should result in credit coming back- although it will come back only slowly.”

He said in the short run, systemic financial actions, from the provision of liquidity to the purchase of assets to the injection of capital, are key to restoring stability and confidence in financial markets, while monetary and fiscal policies in many countries can help soften the effects of decreasing demand and break the negative feedback loop between the financial sector and the real economy.” with such policies in place, it is reasonable to expect recovery to start in 2009 and gather strength in 2010,” MR Blanchard said.

The WEO projects global growth year on year will slow sharply to 3.9 percent in 2008 from 5.0 percent in 2007, and continue slowing to 3.0 percent in 2009.
The US economy is slowing after a relatively strong second quarter, as support from fiscal stimulus has ebbed and the impact in US credit crisis is intensifying, according to the WEO, which estimates the US will record year on year growth of 1.6 percent in 2008 and 0.1 percent in 2009 against 2.0 percent in 2007.

“Policymakers around the world are facing the daunting task of stabilizing financial conditions while nursing their economies through a period of slower growth and higher inflation,” Mr Blanchard said, adding that financial markets and institutions must be placed on a healthier footing, and supply-demand responses in commodity markets must be strengthened.

Author: Pap Saine In USA

Source: Picture: Dominique Strauss-Khan (IMF Managing Director)

Banjul Breweries sued

Mon, 29 Sep 2008 04:45:35 GMT

Monday, September 29, 2008

Joshua MA Wilson John, an ex-employee of the Banjul Breweries Company Limited, on Thursday, entered the witness box to give his testimony in a civil suit filed against Banjul Breweries before the Kanifing Industrial Tribunal at the Kanifing Magistrates Court.

Giving his evidence-in-chief before a panel presided over by Principal Magistrate Buba Jawo, the plaintiff, Wilson John, told the court that he was an employee of the company as the result of a contract signed on the 2nd of January 2006.

He said that he was responsible for the supervision of the accounts department, the company’s day to day financial operation, preparing the monthly account together with the financial controller and other financial reports as required by the management. He said he was answerable to the financial controller at that time.

According to Mr Wilson, on the 12th of March 2008, while in his office, the financial controller of the company invited him to her office. He said when he went to her, he found the company’s human resources manager there and was told that he was being put under suspension, as a result of discrepancies found in his office, regarding empty bottles.
“I was given the suspension letter and my salary was also seized during the period of my suspension, which I demanded but to no avail,” said the plaintiff.

At that juncture, the counsel for the plaintiff, Assan NI Martin applied to tender the said suspension letter to the tribunal.The application was granted and the letter marked as Exhibit B.

Mr Wilson further told the tribunal that he was finally issued a termination letter after five months of suspension. The counsel again applied to tender the said termination letter in court. His application was granted and the letter was marked as Exhibit A.

According to him, he had been under suspension for five months without salary, before he was finally terminated. He added that he has also not been served any notice prior to his termination.

At that juncture, the tribunal adjourned the case to October 23rd.
Lawyer Malick Mba’i represented the defendant company in the tribunal.

Author: by Musa Ndow

Let’s Get it Right

Mon, 15 Sep 2008 05:57:52 GMT

Monday, September 15, 2008

Why do Public Enterprises and Agencies fail to submit their annual reports and financial statements to the Joint Committee of Finance and Public Enterprises of the National Assembly? Why do they not want the lawmakers to make sure that the loans they ratified in the National Assembly or grants secured on behalf of the Gambian people are properly accounted for? Is it that they want to hoodwink the taxpayers, who partly or wholly funded Public Enterprises and Agencies in this country?

We said in these page the last time that it will all be there for us to see at the end of the exercise and as it is at the moment, things are slowly and surely becoming clear for the general public to see.

It has been reported that the National Assembly is going to take legal action against those defaulting Public Enterprises/Agencies that fail to submit their annual reports, accounts and financial statements by the set deadline of 2ndSeptember 2008.

This must be seen to be done because nothing can be more accountable than holding Public Enterprises/Agencies of any country accountable to the taxpayers.

During a press briefing last Thursday at the National Assembly, the speaker of the National Assembly, Hon. Fatoumatta Jahumpa-Ceesay, who is also the chairperson of the Joint Committee stated, “after sending reminders to all Public Enterprises/Agencies to submit their annual reports, it has come to the notice of the committee that some Enterprises/Agencies blatantly refused to submit their annual reports, accounts, financial statements for parliamentary scrutiny or even refuse to attend the joint session as scheduled.”

Whether they’ve refused to submit or not, Public Enterprises/Agencies should know that they are only deceiving themselves, because sooner or later their inadequacy or whatever will stick out like a sore thumb. Then it will be very interesting for us all to see who was not doing something right or who is not taking the taxpayers seriously.

Yes the exercise, as we expressed recently in these pages, may not be popular with some, especially those involved in dubious dealings, but we should all understand that it is geared towards performing lawful checks, scrutiny and oversight over Public Enterprises and Agencies and the public service delivery systems.

Taxpayers should know how their money is being used and this is one way of enabling them to know about it. We would therefore want to encourage the joint committee of the National Assembly to go ahead as soon as possible and take legal actions against defaulting enterprises/agencies. . In a significant way, this will serve as a deterrent to those public enterprises/agencies that would in future engage in such practices.