President Akufo-Addo
President Akufo-Addo is leaving no stone unturn in his quest to see the senior national football team, Black Stars once again lift the African Cup of Nation and make and possibly reach the final stages of the world.
He has since intensified his search for money in terms of sponsorship packages for the team with his fundraising exploits.
This became evident when he organised a fundraising breakfast meeting with key players in the country’s banking industry at the Jubilee House Friday morning.
At the meeting, he appealed to the conscience of the various Chief Executive Officers (CEOs) and representatives of the banks on the need to support the Black Stars as they prepare to participate in the 2022 African cup of Nations (Afcon) and compete for a place in the world cup to be hosted by Qatar, in June next year.
He said the Black Stars under the leadership of its current coach, C. K. Akonnor, is poised to make history after forty (40) years since the team last won the continental trophy.
But he sais the team will need an amount of $25million to be able to prepare adequately and participate in the two tournaments.
So far, government has committed an amount of $10million towards the two campaigns and the President is seeking the help of corporate institutions in the country ro help raise the remaining $15million to make up for the $25million.
On her part, CEO of Standard Chartered Bank, Mansa Nettey, who is also President of the Ghana Association of Bankers could not help thanking the President for the honour of inviting them for the meeting.
They considered it a priviledge to be invited to break bread with the President but sought leave of him to consult with their respective Boards and Directors on the issue to report back to make concrete commitments.
The Minister for Youth and Sports, Mustapha Ussif stressed the fact that sports financing has become an important issue in every sports loving country such as Ghana.
Even though there has be a considerable increase in the budgetary allocation to the Sport Ministy by government, he indicated that there is still the need to engineer alternatives financing models for the Sports Ministry.
“It is eventually clear that there is linkage between corporate support to our national team and performance and as we seek to replicate these memorable performances in the past, we will surely require their [corporate Ghana] ones again”, he said.
By Charles Takyi-Boadu, Presidential Correspondent