General

Traditional medicine, also known as ethnic, indigenous, alternative or complementary medicine, is the first and oldest healthcare system. It is the ancient and cultural means used by humans to deal with diseases. The practice is available and is found in almost every country around the world (Kenu et al., 2021). It is vast and diverse. According to the World Health Organization (W.H.O), Traditional medicine includes “diverse health practices, approaches, knowledge, and beliefs incorporating plant, animal, and or mineral-based medicines, spiritual therapies, manual techniques, and exercises applied singularly or in combination to maintain well-being, as well as to treat, diagnose or prevent illness.”(W.H.O, 2002) Traditional medicine practices denote health medicines and practices that are outside of mainstream conventional medicine. It encompasses a vast range of ancient and modern approaches, including the use of traditional herbs, traditional and spiritual healing to support the prevention, treatment and management of diseases. Studies have shown that Traditional medicine plays a critical role and makes significant contributions to the health care needs of not only those in developing countries but also in some developed countries (Hilbers & Lewis, 2013; Hussain & Malik, 2013). Reports of W.H.O. indicate that the interest in Traditional medicine and its usages, treatments or supplementary treatments of many illnesses are wide and rapidly growing around the world (Qi, Zhang 2013). Over the past few years, in developed countries, there has been an increase in the interest in the use of Traditional medicine, where it is referred to as complementary and alternative medicine. The report also indicates that about eighty percent (80%) of the population in developing countries, especially in Africa, rely on Traditional medicine as a source of primary health care. According to Kasilo & Trapsida (2010), in developing countries, it is the primary source of health care for the majority of the populace; because of its affordability, accessibility, and cultural acceptability. In Ghana, Traditional medicine has been practised for many centuries, even before the colonial era. As indicated by (Elujoba et al., 2005; Gyasi et al., 2017), the activities of missionaries, likewise colonization, resulted in the introduction of mainstream conventional medicine. The orthodox subsequently became recognized and institutionalized as the mainstream health care system in Ghana, resulting in repression of the traditional practices in Ghana to some extent. Moreover, the W.H.O. recognized and acknowledged Traditional medicine’s essence as it encourages its members to formulate policies, regulations, and programs and integrate them into the national health systems. As a member, Ghana recognizes Traditional medicine as an existing healthcare system; likewise, it has in place national policy but yet to fully integrate it into all the aspects of its national health care system (Gyasi et al., 2017). Ghana recognized that the majority of its populace, about 70% depend on Traditional medicine for their primary health care needs. This led to its introduction into the mainstream health care system in several hospitals in the country in 2011, following a policy of herbal medicine practice in 2005. This also subsequently led to the implementation of the W.H.O. strategy of integrating Traditional medicine into the formal healthcare delivery system in 2012 (Gyasi et al., 2017). According to (WHO, 2019) the integration has come to stay and gradually making progress, with about forty centres in the district and regional hospitals where Traditional medicine is being used side by side with conventional therapy. Furthermore, to integrate traditional medicine into the national health care system in Ghana, the Traditional Medicine Practice Council, as the lead institution on the subject matter, was established through the Traditional Medicine Practice Act, 2000 (No. 575), and mandated to promote, control, and regulate Traditional medicine practice in Ghana. Despite the process made so far, Traditional medicine still receives limited consideration from many professionals, especially medical experts demanding more scientific evidence of its safety, quality, and efficacy. There are concerns about the quality, safety, and negative perception of Traditional medicine in Ghana. Despite the importance and the essential role it plays in the health care needs of Ghanaians, there is a paucity of information about the current state of Traditional medicine practices in Ghana. As a result, I found it prudent to consult the body responsible for promoting, controlling and regulating Traditional medicine practices in Ghana, to attain and relay to you, the reader, insight into the current situation. I posed a series of questions to the Traditional Medicine Practice Council concerning the state of Traditional medicine practices in Ghana. Here’s what they had to say. — Answer: The TMPC is on course to ensure appropriate standards of practice among Traditional Medicine Practitioners (TMPs). Answer: The TMPC has registered over 1,000 Practitioners in 2021, it has trained different practice groups and it has controlled the influx of quacks and charlatans while promoting good traditional medicine practice. Answer: Ensuring Standards. Answer: Human Resources, logistical, and financial support. Answer: Extinction of raw plant materials due to low cultivation. Needed support from the State, research to find timely relevant remedies. Answer: Research, development and publicity, cultivation of medicinal plants.   Answer: Over 20,000 registration of Practitioners and premises in total. Answer: The TMPC provides support for graduates from KNUST to undergo a mandatory internship programme after which Professional Qualifying Examination and Interview is conducted to assess candidate’s eligibility for practice as Medical Herbalists. Answer: No. Answer: Very assuring, it is hoped that there shall be full integration, inclusion of medicines into NHIS and patronage will continue. — I hope you enjoyed the read. Hit me up and let’s keep the conversation going! I read all the feedback you send me. Also, feel free to throw at me topics you’d like to read or hear my thoughts on. You can always head to my Calendly to schedule a quick chat by going to calendly.com/maxwellampong. Or connect with me your way through my Linktree: https://linktr.ee/themax. These are all facts. And this has been an opinion piece. Have a blessed week! ♕ —- ♕ —- ♕ —- ♕ —- ♕ —- ♕ —- ♕ —- ♕ —- ♕ References Elujoba, A. A., Odeleye, O. M., & Ogunyemi, C. M. (2005). Traditional medicine development for medical and dental

What comes to your mind when you think about the financial performance of a business? Is it the profit/loss given at the last line of an income statement? Although that’s one of the strong measures to analyze the financial performance of the business, it does not offer a comprehensive perspective to base all of your decisions on that single metric. This is due to an inherent limitation of the profit/loss that comes with subjective assumptions, accounting estimates, and adequacy of the transaction-related controls. (wikiaccounting, 2021) Hence, there is a need to consider cash flow operations which are more objective and lead to enhanced accuracy of the decision making and financial analysis. But, the question arises of how to perform cash flow analysis with perspective to working capital management and how startups/businesses can control their cash flows to achieve higher profitability. How to perform cash flow analysis with perspective to working capital management Generally, cash flow is divided into three main categories: operating, financing, and investing activities. Operating activities are about how businesses manage their day-to-day operations. These operations consume working capital/financial resources. As we understand, interest/dividend is payable on raising debt/equity (financial resources). So, there is a cost associated with raising finance and using it as working capital. Hence, businesses tend to optimize their operations and streamline their processes so that the length of the working capital cycle decreases. Working capital cycle refers to a complete process of trade. It involves the length of time required to purchase, hold, and collect receivables from the customers. So, if the business has a shorter working capital cycle, it can complete the trade process in a shorter time to earn higher profit within the business’ working capital cycle and vice versa. So, a shorter working capital cycle is desirable from the perspective of financial analysis, achieved with the shorter production time, shorter inventory days, shorter receivable days, and higher payable days. It’s important to note that higher payable days is more desirable as it brings financing within the business without any cost (in most cases). It means there is a direct connection between the performance of operational business activities and the achievement of business profitability. If activities like sales, production, and collection are performed with higher efficiency, there are higher chances of profitability, and vice versa, generally speaking. So, if the working capital cycle is shorter, it leads to a lower cost of financing and higher business profitability. The next question arises how business can control cash operations/working capital to achieve higher profitability. How businesses can control cash operations/working capital cycle to achieve higher business profitability Control of cash operations require a disciplinary approach to plan, measure, monitor, and take corrective actions for the cash-related operations. The following actions can be helpful in the effective management of the cash-related functions/working capital. Measure your current cash runwayCash runway refers to the time your business is expected to sustain without a need to raise finance from external financing sources. It considers opening cash position, expected cash inflow and outflow of cash during a period under consideration (SRJ Chartered Accountants, n.d.). For instance, let’s say your opening cash amounts to $10,000, the expected inflow is $5,000 a month, and the expected outflow amounts to $6,000 a month. The given cash outline suggests more outflow of cash than inflow. Hence, opening cash needs to be able to support the shortage. However, opening cash is limited and expected to support the business to a specific period called cash runway. Cash runway in the given case can be calculated as follows. Cash shortage during a month =cash outflow – cash inflow Cash shortage during a month = $6,000– $5,000 Cash shortage during a month = $1,000 Cash runway = opening cash/cash shortage during a month Cash run ways = $10,000/$1,000 Cash run ways = 10 months The current cash runway is 10 months. This means, in the circumstances specified, the business can sustain itself for exactly ten months without raising finance from external sources (for working capital purposes). So, the strategic decision-making persons of the company must consider the length of the cash runway to adequately plan the cash needs of the business. Setting cash runway as a benchmark can be a helpful measure to control cash-related performance. A comprehensive evaluation of cash flow in terms of revenue and expensesIf your business has more expenses than revenue, it can be taken as an alarming sign; the situation is termed as ”burning cash”. So, there is a need to reduce the cash-burning rate that can be achieved with implementable smart moves to enhance revenue. For instance, finding a new market to sell an existing product, implementing smart marketing tools, and intelligent changes in the product design can lead to higher sales and increased revenue. Speed up recovery function for the accounts receivablesMaking profitable sales is not enough for the successful running of a business. The cash needs to be ultimately realized for successful operations. Otherwise, there may be actual losses behind the profit. For instance, if the business profit amounts to $2,000 and the expected bad debt to be recorded in future for the current period sales is $2,200. It means there is a net loss of $200. Hence, there is a need to ensure the efficiency of the collection; otherwise, an apparent profit might be a loss in reality. To increase the efficiency of the collection, the business needs to optimize the process of credit approval, formation of credit policy, invoicing, following up, and collecting the cash. Work to enhance gross profit (more relevant for manufacturing business)One of the ways to achieve higher gross profit is by increasing the price of the product. However, that might not be feasible in a competitive economic environment. So an alternate approach can be to control direct costs. The biggest secret of controlling direct cost lies in the fact that if there is a higher gross profit, the business has space to offer early payment discounts while maintaining net profitability. Hence, working

Universal basic income (UBI) is when an entity, like an NGO, Government or other institution, provides a set amount of money to all of its beneficiaries irrespective of their wealth and taxpayer status. It’s based on the idea that every member of society must have access to basic resources, and further, these resources must be sufficient for the survival of an individual. So, the concept is based on social care and boosting the moral behaviour of society as a whole (peters, 2021). This social support system aims to eliminate poverty, provide easy access to basic needs for everyone, helps to eliminate bureaucratic involvement in the social support system (such system can be time-consuming and subject to excessive delays), helps to control the crime rate, and provides a greater sense of financial security. Further, the pandemic of COVID-19 has severely affected not only businesses but households around the world. Despite development of the vaccine, still a confusion remains regarding future looks of recovery (Lora Jones, 2021). So, the need to financially support society is more prominent in today’s world. And UBI can be one of the suitable options. The following defining characteristics of the UBI make it an attractive dimension for social support system. Importance of universal basic income (UBI) Universal basic income (UBI) is perceived as a great solution for the social security problem. Implementation of UBI in the United States and Iran has helped reduce poverty and improve the overall financial stability of the people. But let’s bring our minds home to Ghana and other African countries. In today’s African society, millions are facing severe issues like increasing financial challenges, adverse economic conditions from lockdowns and business closures due to this pandemic, increasing inflation, decreasing opportunities for employment, food insecurity, and many more. Hence, UBI can play an important role in uplifting living standards and meeting the survival needs of the people (JRF, 2021). Likewise, for UBI implementation, there is no need to assess individual background and other aspects. So, this system eliminates the chances of unfair rejection. This further showcases the importance of UBI in a present Africa where, in many cases, the threshold of the minimum wage is not sufficient. Another important point to note is that most public assistance programs to financially support people are outdated or lack efficacy, not to even talk about efficient implementation. If the case were otherwise, Africa would be further than where it is now. Hence, UBI can provide a simple but excellent choice to bring an element of financial stability within society. History of universal basic income  (UBI) The idea of UBI has been multiple centuries-old, and different rulers have implemented the same to support financial aspects of the society at different times. However, it’s again gaining momentum due to significant automation and development of artificial intelligence leading to a great cut in traditional jobs (Heimer, 2021). Political philosophers and economists have used this concept in the post-war economies; this was done to control the situation and rehabilitate the overall environment. Similarly, Europeans used the concept to achieve a producerist vision of society as a whole. These programs were directed to alleviate poverty and control inequality. So, the history of UBI can be linked to the colonial and post-colonial context. (Daniel Zamora Vargas, 2021) Great Britain has used UBI in India to develop a system of food distribution to control hunger and enhance developing aspects of the country. Likewise, a disciplined system of Zakat (2.5% on net equity) under Islamic laws and guidance is mandatory and has been used by states around the world (Daniel Zamora Vargas, 2021). Hence, the notion of States  and capable entities utilising a disciplined system of income distribution to stabilize the financial conditions of their people is not new. As the saying goes, there is nothing new under the sun. The history of UBI is as old as the broader history of a global social policy where states have used the concept from time to time to alleviate poverty and ensure human survival. Important facts and figures related to universal basic income Currently, no country in the world has implemented UBI in full. However, there are experiments and discussions for the same around the globe. Here in Ghana, The RIO Corporation and The RIO Think Tank (TRTT) continue to push discussion on poverty alleviation avenues and other welfare programs, backed by proper implementation structures and evaluating & reporting criteria that meet world standards, both before and after program execution. It is worth noting that the welfare system of Norway is close to UBI; the Government takes care of the citizen’s access to fundamental goods, health care, and social security income. However, that’s not truly UBI because Government has specified certain conditions to receive such benefits. The conditions include, be a law-abiding citizen, paying taxes, participating in an election, and citizen must try to find a job. All that is well and good in Norway’s eyes but as I stated above, Universal Basic Income (UBI) must be unconditional. In the United States election of 2020, the presidential candidate Andrew Yang campaigned to implement UBI in the country. This basic income program was called “Freedom of Dividend” and directed to tackle adverse impacts of automation on society. The plan intended to help every American with $1,000 per month, which may not be enough but a supportive amount to meet operational expenses (Clifford, 2020).  Likewise, multiple states have introduced basic income programs; these states include New Jersey, California, Pennsylvania, and Alaska, etc. Finland also conducted a UBI experiment in 2018; an experiment was conducted on 2,000 unemployed individuals. Each of them was given 560 euros per month, and a positive change was observed in their personality with respect to improved health and happier life (World population review, n.d.) . So, many nations of the world are inspired by the benefits of the UBI and are considering implementing it. How to implement Universal basic income – UBI Implementation of UBI is an expensive activity, and it needs massive funds to continuously support such a large base of beneficiaries. Most of the UBI programs