Ameyaw-Akumfi chairs GIIF board

President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo yesterday inaugurated a nine-member Board of Directors for the Ghana Investment and Infrastructure Fund (GIIF), charging them to develop the country’s infrastructure space with creativity and purpose.

He urged the board to unlock new sources of finance and investment for the country and work closely with local institutions, both public and private, “so that infrastructure investment in the country can be raised and more jobs created”.

At a brief ceremony at the Flagstaff House, the President said the GIIF “is an important vehicle Ghana can use, with its $250-million seed funding, to leverage capital from other sources for the nation’s infrastructure financing and development”.

Members

The members of the board are Professor Christopher Ameyaw-Akumfi, Chairperson; Mr Solomon Asamoah, the Chief Executive Officer of the GIIF; Mr Tweneboah Kodua Fokuo, Ms Yvonne Sowah and Mr Kofi Boakye.

Others are Ms Cecilia Gambrah, Mr Agyenim Boateng, Mr Yaw Odame and Ms Nana Afua Kyerewaa Ababio.

While acknowledging the fact that Ghana lacked fully developed infrastructure which allowed for the transportation of people and goods to markets, affordable and reliable power, affordable telecommunication services and greater industrial and manufacturing platforms, President Akufo-Addo said investments in infrastructure should lead to greater economic activity and job creation.

The challenge, in that vein, was finding the money and expertise to make such investments from both public and private sector sources, he said.

“The public sector, within our current constrained financial circumstances, cannot, on its own, provide and finance all our infrastructure needs. We have to mobilise the private sector to fill the gap. That is how we will be able to achieve our goals for infrastructure development. This is the principal objective of the fund, which is to accelerate economic growth,” he added.

Corporate governance

President Akufo-Addo underscored the need for the GIIF to be run on the principles of strong corporate governance, with members of the board, as stipulated in Act 877 (2014), having “the necessary integrity, knowledge, expertise and experience in matters relevant to the functions of the board”.

Prof. Ameyaw-Akumfi was described by the President as a “respected public servant who has earned an enviable reputation, both in his work as an academician and politician”, and one who is “eminently qualified to act as chairperson of the fund”.

 Mr Asamoah, according to the President, “is among the foremost specialists in infrastructure financing on the continent. He has been personally responsible for over $4 billion in infrastructure investments across Africa and has occupied senior offices in some of the continent’s premier institutions”.

Mr Asamoah, prior to his appointment, served as Vice-President of the African Development Bank, Deputy Chief Executive Officer of the Africa Finance Corporation, Vice-President of the Development Bank of Southern Africa and Special Assistant to the Chief Executive of the International Finance Corporation in Washington, DC.

“He is uniquely qualified for this role and I am confident that he will surely unlock new sources of finance for the infrastructural development of our country,” the President added.