The President of Ghana Consulting Engineers Association (GCEA), Ing. Magnus Leslie Lincoln Quarshie, has called on Ghanaian entrepreneurs to build sustainable enterprises that can survive over 100 years.
He also called on consulting engineers in the country to build businesses which embrace good governance, give future to the employees, have systems that allow rotational roles, and also allow young engineers to bring their modern ideas to bear in the sustainability of the business.
Ing. Magnus made these calls at the 2022 Urban Environment Sustainability Conference and Annual General Meeting for the Ghana Consulting Engineers at the Accra City Hotel on Thursday, December 8, 2022.
Speaking on the theme: ‘Sustainability: Promoting Circular Economy and Governance’, Ing. Magnus Lincoln Quarshie explained that in Ghana, most businesses lack basic systems that can help build sustainable enterprises. Most businesses in Ghana die with the exit of the owners because of lack succession plans and sustainable culture. He cited lack of critical policy statements, especially on health & safety, lack of partnership agreement between the business and employees, business registration mostly not being up to date, and lack of deliberate and decisive plan to build sustainable businesses that can stand the test of time over 100 years as seen in other parts of the world.
The Keynote Speaker for the occasion, Dr. Eric Twum, CEO of Institute of Environmental Assessment, explained a circular economy is a model of production and consumption, which involves sharing, leasing, reusing, repairing, refurbishing and recycling existing materials and products as long as possible. He further said the circular economy is a systems solutions framework that tackles global challenges like climate change, biodiversity loss and waste. He also hinted that in Ghana, one-third of food produced for human consumption goes to rot or waste. He, therefore, challenged the Ghana Consulting Engineers to design products for durability, reuse, remanufacturing and recycling to keep materials circulating for as long as possible.
Others who spoke on ‘Promoting Circular Economy’ at the conference included Arch. Esinam Tagboto, Ing. Bernadette Dzifa Agbefu, Ms. Keziah Quarshie as it was moderated by Ing. Kwabena Bempong.
Discussing on governance, the panel members included Ing. Asare-Yeboah, CEO of Associated Consultants; Mr. Yaw Appiah Lartey, a partner and the Deloitte Africa Head of Infrastructure Projects and Economic Advisory; and Ing. Magnus Lincoln Quarshie. Moderated by Ing. Harold Esseku, the panel members made cutting-edge presentations on the subject to the admiration and appreciation of the delegates. The Annual General Meeting (AGM) followed immediately after the panel discussions.
