The National Pensions Regulatory Authority (NPRA) has approved the sale of 60% of SSNIT’s shares in four of its hotel investment portfolios to Rock City Hotel, owned by Bryan Acheampong, the Minister of Agriculture.
They are Labadi Beach Hotel, La Palm Royal Beach Resort, Ridge Royal Hotel and Elmina Beach Resort).
The Minister. of Employment and Labour Relations, Ignatius Baffour Awuah, apologised for this while answering questions on the floor of Parliament.
The NPRA, on June 28, directed SSNIT to suspend its negotiations with Rock City.
This was to allow for an evaluation to be conducted over the sale of four hotels.
The Minister revealed that “Yes, it is true that NPRA came up with a directive, but I would appreciate it if my brother, my colleague, really read the directive from NPRA. It said it needed to be furnished with all information relating to the sale of the hotels, which SSNIT has since done that.
“So, it wasn’t like a direct something that SSNIT should not go ahead to do anything, but then, SSNIT can only go ahead when NPRA, which is the regulator within the field, had actually certified that they have seen all the documentation and the processes, and they think that we are good to go.
“Yes, so, as a minister, I can tell you on authority that NPRA has since indicated that they have seen the processes, and they think that SSNIT can go ahead.”
“SSNIT considered only the sale of shares for its hotel investment portfolio as a strategic decision after multiple attempts at restructuring proved insufficient.
“70-60% of its shares are deemed the most viable solution to prevent further depletion of resources and to bring in private participation.”
“Is it a good business activity? Yes, I want to believe my colleague is listening to me fully, well because I answered by saying that some of the investments are either making low returns or making losses.
“So it is not in all cases that we are making losses, but even for those that are making profits, the returns are low.”
Reasons why SSNIT is selling the Hotels
The Trust is seeking to partner a strategic investor to raise capital to invest in the hotels, and also assist in their management.
The primary objective of finding a strategic investor is to increase efficiency, profitability, shareholder value, and the long-term sustainability of the SSNIT Pension Scheme.
The Trust had expalined that it went through International Competitive Tendering (ICT) processes as prescribed by the Public Procurement Act, 2003 (ACT 663), as amended by ACT 914, for the selection of a strategic investor.
A total of nine (9) companies responded to the advertisements by submitting proposals on the 23rd March, 2022 deadline. Six (6) out of the nine (9) were then shortlisted and issued with Request for Proposal (RFP) documents.
The qualifying firms were invited for the opening of their financial proposals.
Rock City Hotel accoridng to SSNIT emerged the best and submitted the best and strongest technical and financial proposal amongst those received.
By: Rainbowradioonline.com/Ghana