Her Excellency, Ambassador Gina Ama Blay, Ghana’s Ambassador to Germany has been appointed by the Vice President, Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia, to be part of the 14-member Foreign Affairs Sub-Committee of the 2024 Manifesto of the ruling New Patriotic Party ahead of the upcoming December polls.
The Sub-Committee on Foreign Affairs of the NPP Manifesto will be chaired by the current Chief Executive Officer of the Ghana Free Zones Authority, Mike Oquaye Jnr and Mavis Nkansah as the Co-Chair with 12 others while the Current Minister for Foreign Affairs, Shirley Ayorkor Botchemey serves as an Advisor.
The Manifesto Committee has been charged with conducting a comprehensive review of the NPP’s previous manifestos of 2016 and 2020.
The committee will engage with a wide range of stakeholders to draft a realistic and forward-thinking document that addresses the diverse socio-economic challenges facing Ghanaians.
The appointment of Ambassador Gina Ama Blay is not a surprise since she has rich experience on foreign and diplomatic issues for the past years.
Mrs Blay is a media practitioner, with over 30 years of corporate work experience and company management roles.
She began her career in 1981 as the Public Relations Officer of Prices & Incomes Board. She later moved to the Achimota Brewery Company Limited as the Public Relations Manager, where she edited and published the Brewery’s magazine, ABC News.
From 1992 until her appointment as Ambassador in June 2017, H.E. Gina Ama Blay was the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Western Publications Ltd. (WPL), publishers of the Daily Guide newspaper and other publications.
Under her leadership, the company grew from a small family-run business to one of the largest media houses.
In the course of her career, Ambassador Blay served on the Boards of several companies and organisations in Ghana, including the Social Security and National Insurance Trust (SSNIT), Ghana Telecom, Ghana News Agency, the National Media Commission, and the World Association of Newspapers.
She also chaired the Board of the Makola Marketing Company Limited, and was for ten years, President of the Private Newspapers Publishers Association of Ghana (PRINPAG).
Ambassador Gina Blay has attended several capacity-building seminars and workshops in Ghana and abroad, including the United States and the Netherlands.
She has received training, particularly in the areas of leadership, media and politics.
She is a member of the Ghana Journalists Association (GJA) as well as a certified member of the Chartered Institute of Marketing Ghana, and the Institute of Public Relations (IPR).
The contributions of H.E. Gina Blay to the media and public relations landscape in Ghana have not gone unnoticed.
Ambassador Gina Blay holds a Post-Graduate Diploma in Journalism and Mass Communication, and a Bachelor of Arts Degree in English and Philosophy (with Honors), both from the University of Ghana. She is a past student of OLA Girls School in Ho.
Ambassador Gina Ama Blay was born in Ho in the Volta Region of Ghana, on 29th October, 1956. She is happily married to Frederick Worsemao Armah Blay, a Lawyer and Politician, and together, they have three children.
In her spare time, she enjoys swimming and reading.
-BY Daniel Bampoe