Vincent Boakye, Medical Representative, receiving a Special Gold Award in the Healthcare Category from Baffour Agyei Kesse on behalf of Ernest Bediako Sampong, Chief Executive Officer, Ernest Chemists Limited
The Asantehene, Otumfuo Osei Tutu II, has urged business leaders to harness the latent abilities of their workers.
According to him, a specialised skill that is outstanding would often make a company stand out above all its competitors.
His call was contained in a speech read on his behalf by Adumhene, Baffour Agyei Kesse, during the 5th Ashanti Business Leaders Excellence Awards held in Kumasi. The occasion commemorated the 20th anniversary of the assumption of the Otumfuo to the throne of the Ashanti Kingdom.
He said, “A major challenge confronting businessmen is how to make their employees proud of their capabilities and have the desire to increase such capabilities to hence productivity”.
He commended the Bank of Ghana for showing courage in taking decisions to dissolve some banks ‘at the time it did rather than delay further to make a bad situation worse.’
He asserted that ample evidence pointed to the precarious condition the seven banks were in but the apex bank couldn’t address the situation.
Dr. Ibrahim Mohammed Awal, Minister of Business Development, who was the guest of honour, stated that government was in the process of implementing three business promotion programmes across the country from which the Ashanti Region would have its first share of benefits.
He said that under the Training for Young Businessmen module, a trainer from Spain would offer business oriented training to 400 trainees in the Ashanti Region. Also, 300 young businessmen and women from Ashanti would receive financial support under the Young Businesses Fund, while 100 beneficiaries from the Ashanti Region would be covered under a fund to support physically challenged businessmen and women.
Dr. Awal explained that the former fund would attract only a 10% interest, whereas the latter would attract no interest at all with 50% of the facility being free from re-payment.
According to Mr. Isaac Dakwa, Director of Top Brass Ghana, the organisers of the awards scheme, previous Ashanti Business Leaders Excellence Awards Ceremonies had been limited in scope to business leaders based in the Ashanti Region, but on this special occasion to mark Otumfuo’s 20th anniversary, it was decided to recognise deserving business leaders located outside Ashanti, but whose products and services have a positive impact on the economic development of Ashanti.
The awards ceremony was chaired by Eng. Prof. Mike Agbesi Acheampong – Ag. Vice-Chancellor of Kumasi Technical University.