Twenty five women were honoured at the 2nd edition of the Feminine Ghana Achievement Awards held at the Golden Tulip Hotel in Accra last weekend.
The women were honoured for their exemplary accomplishments in entrepreneurship and public service, among others.
Five female ambassadors who represent their various countries in Ghana were also honoured at the event.
The awards are held annually by The Business Executive magazine, a pan-African magazine published since 2011 from Ghana and circulated in several English-speaking African countries that covers business, finance, economy, investment, among other issues.
The magazine also organizes its flagship Business Executive Excellence Awards.
Speaking at the awards, Deputy Finance Minister, Mona Quartey, who represented the First Lady, Lordina Mahama, praised the awardees for setting a good example for all women in Ghana and beyond, saying “individually you make us all shine through your leadership and your skills.”
She noted that “our outstanding women have got to where they are because they knew what they wanted and where they were going. You have knocked down outdated customs and practices to reach out to other women, especially young girls to encourage and inspire them to great heights.”
Explaining the rationale for the theme for this year’s awards which was “Giving women the self belief to accomplish all they can,” the Publisher and Chief Executive of The Business Executive magazine, Paulette Kporo, noted that “society has gradually come to accept women as they take their rightful place within it. But what is left is for women themselves to realize this fact that society no longer confines them to the kitchen and the bedroom, and that now their pursuit of professional and entrepreneurial success is limited only by the scope of their own self belief and ambition.”
The awardees, who were drawn from various sectors, included entrepreneurs such as Kate Quartey Papafio, CEO of Reroy Cables; Vanessa Addo of Vaniado Ltd; Israella Kafui Mansu, CEO of Mansuki; Rev Gifty Akushika Lamptey, CEO of Sidalco Ltd and Esther Cobbah, CEO of Stratcomm.
Several other corporate executives were similarly honoured.
They were Maidie Arkutu, MD of Unilever Ghana; Roshi Motman, CEO of Millicom Ghana’s Tigo mobile telephone network; Sonya Sadhwhani, Director of Brand Management at Melcom Group; Mary Brown, Deputy MD at Prudential Bank; Diana Heymann Adu, CEO of Meridian FM; Selina Bebaako Mensah; CEO, Selina Beb; Joyce Boadi Okyere; MD, Posky Plus & MD, Dorotheen Enterprise; Shirley Frimpong, General Manager of Frimps Oil; Roberta Annan, CEO, Roberta Annan Consulting; Afi Amoro, CEO, Jandel Limited; Eunice Antwi, General Manager at Samara Group (producers of Sasso products); Julia Afadua Mensah, Administrative and Business Manager, Holy Trinity Group and Catherine Nelson General Manager at BAJ Freight and Logistics.
The rest were Christiana Kyeremeh, CEO of Principal Capital; Anita Amoako Gyimah: President, Yen Anidaso Readers; Josephine Gyasi, CEO, Nana K. Gyasi Limited; Sheila Minka Premo, Managing Consultant at Apex Law Consult and Francisca Karikari, CEO of Liberty Insurance Brokers Group.
Adelaide Anno Kumi, Chief Director at the Ministry of the Interior represented the public sector.
The female ambassadors of Turkey, Zimbabwe, Spain, Colombia and the Czech Republic to Ghana were also presented with special awards.