The Future of Work Capsules with Baptista S. Gebu: Is the future of work still working for you? (2)

Ghana's economic ambitions have changed.

One of the first principles of good corporate governance is independence. People who supervise an institution must be free to question its decisions, examine its finances and hold its management to account without fear, favour or personal interest. When that independence is compromised, even a carefully designed governance structure can become a shell.

Imagine two Ghanaian companies bidding for the same major contract. In the first, staff gather quotations through email, reconcile price schedules in spreadsheets, chase approval signatures and manually assemble the presentation.

A cup of tea and a cocoa bean

“One who eats alone cannot discuss the taste of the food with others.” – African proverb  

There's something so infuriating about waiting for a response from someone who's promised to deliver a service, complete a project, sort a problem, or provide an update, and then getting nothing.

Many professionals build their careers in one industry, often in one organisation, for decades. There is real value in that path. Deep expertise, long relationships and institutional memory are hard to replace, and I have great respect for leaders who have built them.

There is something fundamentally troubling about a society in which people can accumulate extraordinary wealth without anyone asking reasonable questions about how they acquired it. Even more disturbing is the apparent acceptance of unexplained riches as evidence of success, influence or political connections.