Unilever, Barclays train financial journalist on financial reporting

Unilever Ghana in collaboration with Barclays Bank Ghana, the Ghana Journalist Association and the Institute of Financial and Economic Journalists has held a three day sensitisation Seminar for financial and economic journalists in Accra.

The events were under the topics "Principals of economic and financial reporting" "Understanding company reports and corporate governance today and for the future" and International trade and counterfeiting - the Ghanaian experience.

Margaret Mwanakatwe, Managing Director of Barclays Bank Ghana in her address said the private sector is very much aware that the present conducive environment created for the conduct of business and the growing confidence in the country's economy are both derivatives of the vanguard role that financial journalists have and are playing.

According to her the topics selected were well thought through to help add value to their profession and further strengthen the collaboration between the private sector and the media in their effort to build a strong and buoyant economic.

She said various areas of development and growth within Ghana require a massive injection of support in various forms which includes financial, technological know-how, skills and competences, direction, capacity building, and infrastructure.

And said it is high time that corporate organisations abandoned the piece meal, individualistic approach to corporate social responsibility, and other pool resources in support of areas where they have common interest.

That way corporate organisations would be able to make greater impact on the communities in which they operate.

"The partnership between Barclays Bank and Unilever in sponsoring this seminar aims at creating a platform that will enable us and journalists understand one another better, since in today's scheme of things partnership in various forms, such as business social and political partnership have become the order of the day."

Nana Otuo Acheampong, a corporate finance consultant and the publisher of Ghana review international in a lecture at the seminar urged media practitioners to be circumspect in reporting from the stock exchange and quoting figures to create understanding among the reading public.

He admonished them to write full names of listed companies on the Stock Exchange, according to their specifications. That should be followed by exchange code, price open list, price close rate percentage rate, market capitalisation, traded shares, PE ratio and dividend yield percentage. That would help investors to understand the Ghanaian business environment and boost foreign direct investment.