Kwahu Nkwatia (E/R),- Chamber of Chief Executive Officers of state institutions have retreated to Nkwatia in the Kwahu East District of Eastern Region to reflect on key issues challenging the rapid realisation of the Ghana beyond Aid agenda.

The retreat was organised by the management of the State Interest and Governance Authority (SIGA) on the theme: “The specified role of institutions in transforming specified entities towards the achievement of Ghana beyond aid agenda.”

Chief Executive Officers and deputies of state agencies, Members of Parliament and Board Chairpersons of government institutions attended the retreat instituted in 2018 by President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo.

It aimed at regularly assessing ways of moving Ghana away from dependence on foreign aids and grants for its social and economic development.

Addressing the retreat, Mrs Frema Osei- Opare, Chief of Staff, charged heads of government institutions to champion the Ghana Beyond Aid agenda to help transform the country’s economy and spur development.

She explained that the plan of moving Ghana’s economy away from relying on foreign aid and grants was to primarily position it to become self-resilient and self-sustaining.

She said the central idea of the Ghana Beyond Aid Agenda was geared towards transforming the country’s economy to help reduce dependency on external aid by ensuring the effective performance of state institutions.

To realise this vision, she noted there was the need to create opportunities for export and diversification of local commodities as well as strengthen Ghana’s industrial sector.

This, she called for redirection of Ghana’s economy, focusing on manufacturing and developing high-value services that would generate wealth and ensure inclusiveness, sustainability, empowerment and resilience.

For Ghana to achieve this broad mandate, she added, the retreat should concentrate on pertinent issues such as the Cyber Security Act 2020 and the implementation of energy efficiency.

It should also focus on the submission of annual auditors and financial reports and look at ways of improving performance towards the delivery of quality services among others.

She advised CEOs to eschew bad leadership traits that would impede efforts towards achieving the Ghana Beyond Aid agenda and urged them to maintain congenial working relations with their workers.

The Chief of Staff also advised state agencies to partner other entities to achieve the Ghana Beyond Aid programme.

Mr Stephen Asamoah Boateng, the Director-General of SIGA, said the organization was created to identify constraints such as multiple government organizations and a lack of a clearly defined ownership framework.

He said it was also to examine poor governance practices of state-owned enterprises among others and work towards reversing the situation for the national good.

To promote sound corporate governance practices, he said, a stakeholders’ consultative workshop on a draft code of corporate governance was held to solicit their views and inputs.

According to him, the formation of SIGA, had given room for participants to share ideas and best practices to foster growth and synergy to support the government’s vision.

Mr Asamoah Boateng entreated participants to focus on their mission and be willing to communicate to find solutions to challenges facing their respective agencies.

The 2021 retreat was to help the heads of the state institutions to reflect on key issues leading to the realisation of the Ghana Beyond Aid agenda since it was introduced as a national policy.

Since its inception, subsequent meetings were carried out by SIGA, which had engaged board members and senior managers to improve service delivery and run state organizations more profitably.

Source: Ghana News Agency