SkobaCommunications

 Introduction On Tuesday, I chanced on a webinar on the timeline of the Ministry of Finance's Facebook. I would discover that the star-studded webinar was an Economic RoundTable organized by the Ministry of Finance in collaboration with the University of Ghana. This rather publicized event brought together the creme de la creme in economic issues in the country. A few names i made out included, Dr. Ebow Turkson, Dr. Kwaku Sawa, Professor. Williams Baah Boateng,Professor Peter Quartey, among other illustrious economic lumanries. In this piece, i have shared a summary of the key points that key spokespersons, ably moderated by the respected, Bernard Avle, expoused. While the matters they touched on are not new, it appears the event revealed the passion and growing concerns that these distiguished persons have had on Ghana's rather dwindling economic fortunes: The budget is central government oriented it does not reflect the full range fiscal activities in Ghana... Informal sector...

Planning a weekend can be a duanting task. For alot of us the weekend run into us , as we have no plan to properly enjoy all the bliss that a great weekend should provide. On this note, i share five weekend ideas to make your weekend a blissful one. 1. Check up on old friends. Bring back all the nostalgic feelings of your youngself by making time to speak to old friends and family members that you have not heard from in a while. Checking up on all friends can present an opportunity to reminisce and smile through some past memories. The caution is that you need to be selective on this, speaking to people who will not bring you depression. 2. Cultivate new habits: Cultivating new hobbies and positive habits could have a positive impact on your mind. It could help you make the right choices and elevate your life than ever before. Pick that book; Take the music lesson, Go for rehearsals and enter that studio, you may be the next big thing to hit a celebrity status. 3. Control: Control is k...

  It appears the sustained efforts to stifle the operations of Strategic Mobilisation Ghana Limited, will not end soon. It would be recalled that following the recommendations from the KPMG report on the GRA-SML contract, the President directed that SML be made to continue its operations in the downstream petroleum sector, as its much-needed services has led to an incremental revenue in Ghana’s downstream petroleum sector. In keeping with the President’s directive, Ghana Revenue Authority in a letter, directed SML to resume its downstream revenue monitoring and assurance operations, effective June 14, 2024. The June 12, 2024, letter from the GRA to the Bulk Oil Distributors partly reads: “We wish to inform you that Strategic Mobilisation Limited (SML) has been directed to resume its monitoring operations of the Downstream Petroleum sector with effect from 14th June 2024 in accordance with the Presidential Directives on the KPMG report.’’ However, just when SML resumed ope...

  Ghana is not new to Ponzi schemes. From the days of Noble Dream, God is Love and other similar schemes in recent times, so many people have lost their investments, and monies due to such roundly orchestrated schemes. What has even worsened the case in recent times is the speed at which these schemes run, owing to the power of social media. This has had an adverse impact on the already nagging disposable incomes of people. For instance, cases of people allegedly and reportedly losing their families, friends, relations and lives because of Ponzi schemes have been rife. Having worked in the investment banking sector for over 5 years, I can confidently say that the concept of Ponzi investments is not new to me. Over the period, I have come to understand why Ponzi schemes, however ridiculous it may sound, will always be successful. As we bid farewell to 2023, I thought I could remind all of us of the need to stay clear of any investment scheme that sounds so good to be true. By th...

  Introduction We are all used to the various Ps of Marketing. By this, I mean, Product, Place, Price, Promotion, Positioning, Promise, Physical Evidence and Purpose. Some even have many other Ps under their sleeves. In most of the marketing assessments that I do, I have always used this framework to design and set parameters for measuring the success or otherwise of any product/service I have managed. In this article, however, I share what I consider other important elements that keeps the marketing function on wheel. The 7 Ms of Marketing includes Market, Meaning Money, Men, Manual, Menu and Measure. Market: It is counterproductive to invest in any marketing endeavour without a market. Some product and service businesses are not marketable, as these businesses were set up without the proper understanding of what the client actually wants or needs. A market is both a physical and mental space. In practice, a market must be actionable, accessible, reachable, profitable and measurab...

In a typical Ghanaian setting, irrespective of the context, it is difficult for people to disagree with others without making enemies. You cannot but conform to whatever position that most people, at least those within your immediate circle, or your social subscribe to. The typical Ghanaian social system will cave you in. You had better conform if you want anybody’s support or social recognition. Do otherwise and you risk being tagged and taken on a lonely route. Healthy disagreements that could be the source of many new discoveries and breakthroughs are otherwise suppressed. This level of intolerance in Ghana dominates and permeates, every facet of our lives, including but not limited to popular social discourse on radio, television and even social media. We seem to be happy with building a people who are alike in so many ways, including the way they think, how they behave and talk. Interestingly, we want our intolerance towards others to be tolerated without question but cry foul whe...

Hootsuite is out with social media Trends 2024 report, in which some startling revelations about expectations and permutation for social media and marketers in the coming year, have been made. Such reports are critical for marketers, as technology have served to complicate our work, amidst skyrocketing expectations on professionals to demonstrate Return on Investments. In this piece, I will share some of my key take outs, as a complement to some of the major issues highlighted in the report. TECHNOLOGY AND AUTHENTICITY: As technological advancement has had no limiting, so has the opportunities that exist for marketers have. In recent months, generative technologies, AI, have served to revolutionized most aspects of our works as marketers. These tools have provided both cutting edge support to marketers, enhancing the speed, and efficiency of some roles including, content generation, editing, image and video creation. These opportunities, notwithstanding, AI, have equally brought ...