Accra, June 28, GNA- Mr Boniface Abubakar Saddique, Minister of State at the Office of the Vice-President, has encouraged Ghanaians to support the ‘Ghana Beyond Aid’ agenda to help bring more people out of poverty.
He said the initiative highlights government’s desire to prudently manage the country’s natural resources in a manner that would allow Ghana’s developmental projects to be financed without recourse to external support.
He said this calls for developing strategies and aligning people to certain assignments for a cause to achieve a purpose, and even though there would obstacles it takes a strategic leader to take bold steps in introducing such initiatives.
Mr Saddique made the appeal in an interview with the Ghana News Agency (GNA) in Accra on the sidelines of a Strategic Leadership Colloquium, organised by the University of Professional Studies Accra, (UPSA) on the theme: “The Role of Strategic Leadership in the Ghana Beyond Aid Agenda”.
The annual event, which was held for final year students pursuing Masters of Business Administration (MBA)-Total Quality Management and Master of Philosophy (MPhil)/ Master of Science (MSc) Leadership, was aimed at fostering discussions on what the students found out during their field visits to several companies they chose to research on.
The students made presentations on 11 companies, which include Chocomac Ghana Limited, Synergy Commodities Limited, VICAB’s Shipping Limited, Entrance Pharmaceuticals and Research Centre, FOOD 101, Radiance Petroleum Limited and Emcure Pharmaceuticals.
Mr Saddique said agriculture being another prong of the initiative involved the improvement of Ghana’s agricultural capacity, and this focused on two main programmes: “One village One Dam” and “Planting for Food and Jobs”.
Mr Saddique told the GNA that in the area of education, it was realized that all the economic interventions might come to naught if the country did not have an educated workforce.
He said this assertion led to the introduction and implementation of the Free Senior High School (SHS) Programme, adding that “the vision of President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo was that in some few years, Ghana would have a strong human capital to drive its own socio-economic activities.
The Minister noted these among other programmes, such as the National Identification Cards and One District One Factory, were all geared towards achieving the Ghana Beyond Agenda.
Professor Abednego Feehi Okoe Amartey, the Vice Chancellor of UPSA said strategic leadership was key in effective planning, and this was important to any organisation because it provided a sense of direction.
He said the University was hopeful that in the next 10 years its students would take up the leadership mantle in the country; saying however that, one does not become a strategic leader overnight, it therefore, required training, a lot of sacrifice, obedience and humility.
Prof Amartey, said the youth were too impatient to get to the top and challenged students to change their mindsets and lead in their own small way; saying, self-leadership was the most important thing.
Dr John Ampontuah Kumah, Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the National Entrepreneurship and Innovation Programme (NEIP) said ‘Ghana Beyond Aid’ highlights the need to build Ghana, using the country’s resources, whiles welcoming any external support that may come.
He said to a large extent it implied adhering to the rule of law and the principles of democratic accountability, adding that “so when you are voted for, you must execute your campaign manifestoes”.
Dr Kumah, who stated that a strategic leader takes bold decisions, noted that, as a country, it was time to accept the new vision and agenda and to be optimistic of achieving the agenda with or without external funding.
GNA
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