World Bank applauds President of Ghana’s support for marginalised communities

World Bank applauds President of Ghana’s support for marginalised communities

Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo to speak at LBS ‘Africa Business Summit’ event

London, United Kingdom, DD MM 2018 – The World Bank has praised the President of Ghana, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, for introducing policies that aim to economically empower women, support Persons With Disabilities (PWDs) and help young people into work.

The President, who will be attending this year’s London Business School Africa Business Summit – Scaling for Impact, will give a talk on how best to provide economic support for marginalised people, and how they might contribute to the country’s ‘Ghana beyond aid’ programme.

“We want to build an economy that is not dependent on charity and handouts, but an economy that will look at the proper management of its resources as the way to engineer social and economic growth in our country,” said the President Nana.

The World Bank Group Director, Solutions and Innovations in Procurement Governance Global Practice, Vinay Sharma, said the establishment of a Ghanaian Ministry for Public Procurement was “tremendously far-sighted”. Mr Sharma praised both Ghana’s President and his newly appointed Minister of State in charge of Public Procurement, Sarah Adwoa Safo, for her efforts in rolling out the country’s public procurement policy.

Ghana seeks to award 30 to 70 per cent of all government contracts to marginalised groups in the society, most especially women, PWDs and young people. Mr Sharma said that the US had instituted a similar policy, whereby 23 per cent of all government contracts are reserved for women-owned firms and it was encouraging that Ghana is now pursuing the same goal.

Mr. Sharma said that a recent study conducted in Ghana revealed that only one per cent of total government contracts were currently awarded to women-owned firms, observing that he was optimistic that the new Ghanaian policy would economically empower women and the other marginalised groups.

The LBS Africa Business Summit 2018 – #LBSABS – is an all-day event which will be held at The Landmark Hotel on May 12th. Entitled, ‘Scaling for Impact’, it has attracted some significant talent to speak at the event, including Sola David-Borha, Chief Executive Africa Regions at Standard Bank Group; Mostafa Terrab, CEO OCP Group; Jingdong Hua, Vice President and Treasurer of the International Finance Corporation; Tewolde Gebremariam, CEO Ethiopian Airlines; Ozwald Boateng OBE; as well as Nana Akufo-Addo, the President of Ghana.

Speaking about this year’s event, Africa Club Co-President Adesoji Solanke, said: “This year we would like to explore what practical approaches can be used to help businesses and corporations in Africa to achieve sustainable growth and to thrive both locally and globally. We will take a closer look at various levers that could enable this growth – from Pan- African trade, investments and technology to the entrepreneurship environment and culture. Guests will participate in our inaugural entrepreneurship pitch competition, the Accel Awards. Additionally, the President and other select business leaders will interact during an exclusive roundtable discussion on human capital developments on the continent. We are extremely glad to have received support from our sponsors in delivering another excellent Africa summit: Boston Consulting Group, International Finance Corporation, Bain & Company, OCP Group and Ethiopian Airlines.”

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