Ghana is going backwards-Kofi Amoabeng

Chief Executive Officer of the UT Holdings Prince Kofi Amoabeng has deplored what he described as increasing retrogression in the country’s development. This, he said, contradicted sermons by politicians- past and present- about progress and development, especially in macro-economic indices of the country. He was speaking at the end of a two day Annual Strategic Marketing Conference organized by the Chartered Institute of Marketing Ghana (CIMG). The conference themed “entrepreneurial marketing, a tool for repositioning,” is to enlighten entrepreneurs on global and modern trends in the industry. Amoabeng who was speaking on the topic: “The UT’s of the world –Lessons from the world’s great entrepreneurs,” chronicled several scenarios in Ghana which formed the basis for his remarks that “Ghana is going backwards.” He said Ghana in the first Republic had a GDP per capita of $400; over 50 years on, Ghana has a little over $600.00. In 1983, the cedi to a dollar was ¢10.75 cedi, today without re-denomination it is ¢16,000 to a dollar, he narrated. Again, he said Ghana at independence had a population of 7 million, same as Switzerland. Over 50 years on, Ghana is over 24 million and Switzerland is 8 million. As if that is not enough, our major development projects, institutions- Black Star line, Ghana Airways, Job 600 etc, have been allowed to deteriorate. “Have we developed?” he quizzed. Prince Amoabeng blamed the seeming under development to lack of creativity which he said is the result of a “programmed life” by the Ghanaian. When born, you are fed, go to school, grow up, find a job, marry and die. He said society has become slaves to this programme and has people who are appointed to closely monitor everybody and make sure there are no deviations from the programme. The UT boss admonished entrepreneurs and participants to be humble and respectful not only to humans but to time. According to him, a person commits partial murder to another if he or she fails to respect the time for an appointment. He explained the age of a person is an aggregated number of minutes and hours, adding, if you delay a person for an hour, you have taken one hour out of the accumulated number of hours which forms a persons age. Prince Kofi Amoabeng said Ghanaian entrepreneurs must be disciplined and invest in systems and processes. Customer first Speaking on the topic:“Making the right decisions at the right time,” Dr. Pikay Richardson, a visiting professor at the Manchester Business School said entrepreneurs must be wary of the turbulent market they are operating in. In that market, the customer- who wants world class quality service or product but ready to pay pea nuts- determines the success or otherwise of a company and must be treated with respect,” he intimated. He said entrepreneurs must do the right things and be fast and flexible to meet the changing needs of the customer. He said a leader must think out of the box, “dream dreams” and be self confident because “if you can’t say I am, nobody will say you are.” On guidelines to enter into a market, Dr. Richardson said entrepreneurs must enter early, or later when the market is evolving rapidly. He said entrepreneurs must develop a winning strategy and be fast in executing the strategy. On the path to Ghana’s development, the Manchester Business School lecturer said entrepreneurs must be knowledgeable and competent; must have the desire and be resourceful. Member of Parliament for Nkawkaw, Seth Adjei Baah popularly known as “Shaaba” asked entrepreneurs to be focused and not meddle in politics. He was speaking on the topic: “fostering an entrepreneurial culture in Ghana.”