Voltic Ghana Limited, the Gold winner for bottled-water manufacturing at the recently-held Ashanti Business Excellence Awards, has renewed its sponsorship contract with the Ghana Football Association (GFA) for the 16th premiership season. The renewed sponsorship contract entails the provision of 6,000 cartons of Voltic Natural Mineral Water and a yearly cash amount of GH¢65,000 introduced this year for the next three years, making a total of GH¢195,000. This partnership between Voltic Ghana and GFA was initiated in August, 2009. Mr. Gregory Metcalf, MD of Voltic, said the support for the Association is as a result of the company’s strong belief in giving back to the society which patronises its products and provides human resources for the company. “This partnership is therefore a perfect opportunity for us to show our appreciation to Ghanaians by supporting football, which is the passion of the nation,” he said. Mr. Metcalf said it is the company’s hope that the partnership with the football body will further support the Association’s firm drive to promote the culture of excellence in Ghanaian football. Mr. Kwasi Nyantakyi, President, GFA, thanked the company for the sponsorship and called on other corporate entities to emulate the gesture. Other events sponsored this year by the company include the 18th National Best Teachers’ Awards and the 17th Ghana Journalist Association Awards. Voltic has also signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with the Accra Psychiatric Hospital for the provision of mineral water on a monthly basis to patients.

Air Liquide, a market leader in industrial and medical gases, has inaugurated a new Liquid Oxygen, Nitrogen, and Argon plant as well as a 60 tonne CO2 Storage Tank estimated at euro 2 million at its factory in Tema. To Air Liquide, the country presents continuing strong growth prospects in the food and beverage, oil and gas, as well as the mining markets and related Industries. The company therefore undertook these investments to seize these growth opportunities and to meet the increasing demands of its cherished customers. The liquid plant will produce approximately seven tonnes per day of oxygen and nitrogen in both gaseous and liquid forms, while the new CO2 storage tanks have a combined capacity of 90 tonnes. The new investment offers many benefits such as product availability, prompt delivery, and simpler operations and maintenance -- which brings an improvement to its quality of service to its customers The CO2 storage tanks, according to the company, will nearly triple Air Liquide’s CO2 storage capacity and further position the company as a leader in the country’s growing food and beverage market. It has also strengthened its supply chain infrastructure and positioned itself to sell liquid products to customers in various industries such as steel, oil & gas, food and beverages, and hospitals among others throughout the country and beyond. The General Manager, Ronan Guyader, stated: “With a presence of over 55 years in Ghana, AIR LIQUIDE has always walked with Ghana on the road of economic development as a leader in industrial and medical gases. “These investments show the self-will of the company to participate in the economic growth of the country.”

By Patrick PAINTSIL Professor Pedro Nueno, Executive President, China Europe International Business School (CEIBS), has underscored the need for government to provide a stable and enabling business environment in order to build trust and confidence for potential investors to invest in the country’s economy. “Intermittent changes in the business terrain ward off investors who wish to start up long-term businesses in the country. “To avoid such occurrences, government must create a stable environment that runs into the long-term so as to attract investors who wish to bring long-term businesses into the country,” he said. Professor Nueno also urged government to retain and maintain the country’s vibrant industries, which are the key to ensuring sustainable economic advancement. He said the country’s current image on the global stage is one that depicts a favorable economy with effective legal structures that promote investment, stressing “being on the front-page is a huge opportunity that must be well-utilised to encourage and increase investments into the country.” He said this at an entrepreneurial seminar organised by CEIBS Ghana on the topic “The Need for Entrepreneurial Development in Africa”, to point out the business opportunities within the African continent while empowering entrepreneurs with business solutions that will promote productive and sustainable businesses. “Companies and young entrepreneurs must diversify their wealth in other sectors of the economy, taking advantage of the country’s position as one of the fastest-growing economies in the world. “Speedy progression of the economic conditions can be achieved through active entrepreneurial participation and investments into various sectors of the economy. “We are now in a flat world, so whatever happens on one side should be able to be done on the other; it is about the entrepreneur identifying the business opportunities and making efforts to realise them. “Effective entrepreneurial skills include the ability of a businessman or investor to discover a potential opportunity and pursue it till its full realisation,” he said. Professor Nueno advised young and upcoming entrepreneurs to have the capacity to negotiate through humility while building strong and wider networks for them to have a vivid idea about investment around their environment, noting “economic development is achievable when we have business leaders who are far ahead in innovations, acquisitions and growth.” The CEIBS Africa Programme was registered in Ghana in 2008 and officially launched in Accra on May 19, 2009 to provide top-notch executive education for business leaders in Africa. Since the official launch, CEIBS has introduced the Advance Diploma in Management and other Executive Development programmes as well as company-specific programmes to meet the human capital needs of its target market. Ghana was chosen out of several proposals from other African countries as the preferred location for the CEIBS Africa campus.