BUSAC boss leaves Ghana

The Fund Manager of the Business Advocacy Challenge Fund (BUSAC), Dr Dale Rachmeler, has ended his over six years stay in Ghana working to contribute to the creation of a more enabling business environment for the growth and development of the private sector.

During his stay in Ghana, Dr Rachmeler through the BUSAC Fund project  empowered the private sector to engage the public sector in “Public–Private–Partnership using evidence-based advocacy to address the concerns of the sector.

When Dale joined the BUSAC Fund in 2007, there were numerous challenges with most of the project, which led to very few grants concluding their actions on time.  Under his leadership, most of the challenges were addressed and BUSAC Fund became a well known brand in Ghana.

The BUSAC Fund has won the CIMG award for the “Not for Profit Organisation for two consecutive years – 2010 and 2011.  This recognition  attests  to the dynamic leadership Dr Rachmeler has provided since joining the Fund.

He has promoted the use of vetiver in many communities in Ghana to stabilise the dams for irrigation purposes, or for erosion control, soil and water conservation in communities and farmlands. 

This he does using his own resources including time and money.

Dr Rachmeler, a sustainable agriculturalist/environmentalist having worked on long-term assignments in mainly Francophone Africa over the past 38 years, started as a US Peace Corps Volunteer in the Ivory Coast in 1973 and worked with the USAID either as a long-term consultant or as a project manager within USAID.

His stay in Ghana has impacted the lives of many people at the BUSAC Fund Management Unit, the Business Service Providers, Due Diligence/Monitoring and Evaluation Data Collectors, Monitors, Trainers, Evaluators, BUSAC Fund Steering Committee, the Development Partners and most especially the BUSAC Fund Grantees.

He says, “Ghana has taught me about the art of the impossible, and it has shown me that all who wish for change have but to use their voices, be persistent and know the difference between fact and fiction. Ghana is moving forward and that positive movement is a tribute to its people, its leaders and its spirit. May Ghana be an example to others as the way forward is clear, however bumpy the path may be. The world watches and waits, as I do, and someday Ghana will join the ranks of developed countries where health and wealth are abundant and available to all.”

Dr. Rachmeler’s professional goal is to assist the developed world to reduce poverty in the developing world. Overall, all his professional experience has dealt with improving the livelihoods of citizens in developing countries.

He admits that none of what he has achieved in life would have been possible without the rock of his existence, his wife Susan Wright, who is his guide 24/7.

Story: Suleiman Mustapha