The current economic conditions pose a critical challenge to any senior manager or board member in the country, as they struggle to lift corporate Ghana from the economic meltdown’s negative effects, said Ken Ashigbey, Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the Ghana Chamber of Telecommunications,.
Given the times in which these senior managers and board members find themselves, Mr. Ashigbey therefore emphasised the need for prudent decision-making based on reliable, relevant and timely data to overcome economic challenges confronting organisations.
“We cannot escape blame if we fail to make the right decisions to lift corporate Ghana from the current real adverse fiscal performance to a better economic trajectory,” he said when delivering the keynote address at the 2022 Board/CEO/CAE Governance Workshop of the Institute of Internal Auditors Ghana.
He said threats to the survival and growth of institutions in various sectors have escalated amid these challenges with the economy, and that tougher decisions or greater empathy may be required in protecting corporate Ghana from taking a hit.
The year 2022 is expected to go down as one of the most difficult and eventful years in the country’s economic history. While the economy continues to deal with the COVID-19 pandemic’s devastating impacts, which led to a significant reduction in revenues and enormous increase in expenditures, the country has had to contend with double jeopardy from the Russia-Ukraine war.
This, according to Mr. Ashigbey, adversely impacted on the country’s “precarious domestic financial situation” causing the country’s credit rating to plummet; or for some other reasons, “one of our major streams of credit dried up”.
“The situation is very fluid. We are uncertain of timely positive outcomes, as strategic negotiations and decisions with key stakeholders have delayed – with attendant escalations in cost of goods and services, exchange rate and currency devaluation,” he stated.
Elevating corporate sustainability
On her part, the Institute of Internal Auditors Ghana president, Harriet Akua Karikari, said the workshop theme of ‘Elevating Corporate Sustainability’ appropriately reflects the current times within which internal auditors operate as individuals and organisations.
She said the harsh economic conditions in the country demand good leadership “to take us out of the doldrums, elevate and sustain our organisations”.
“There is an urgent need to redefine the leadership role and search for critical and strategic leaders who will ensure survival and growth of organisations in the uncertain times we face – now and into the future. This need for quality leadership has been heightened by the recent happenings at both global and national levels,” she stated.
Meanwhile, the Institute of Internal Auditors Ghana won the bid to host the 2023 African Federation of Institutes of Internal Auditors (AFIIA) Conference and accompanying events in May 2023. The Conference will be preceded by a two-day Governance Workshop from the 22nd to 23rd May 2023 in Accra.
The main Conference will be from 24th to 26th May 2023 at the UPSA Auditorium. There will be an African Federation of Institutes of Internal Auditors’ University (academy), at which technical and practical auditing skills will be taught. This academy will run at the UPSA Auditorium concurrently with the Governance Workshop.
