How Vodafone Ghana CEO Kyle Whitehill has led his team to break new ground in the telecoms industry It is 4:10 pm at Vodafone Ghana’s impressive head-office building in Airport City, Accra. Kyle Whitehill, the network’s Chief Executive, is in his office on the second floor, shuffling through documents as he waits for an interview with the Business & Financial Times. Kyle works hard and honours all his appointments, on time. “It’s part of the culture at Vodafone,” he says. In three years, Kyle and his team have built a dynamic telecoms network that has won unparalleled recognition from the industry and beyond. In April, Vodafone was named the best telecoms brand at the second edition of the Mobileworld Ghana Telecom Awards, where Kyle was also voted the best CEO in the industry. The network collected four other awards at that event, including one for the best customer service – the high point of the night, as Kyle now recalls. Asked about Vodafone’s customer-service philosophy, he answers with a simple, forthright statement: “our customer philosophy is, ‘when you want me, I’m here and I’ll help you get what you need to solve your problem or realise your opportunity.’” Vodafone, he says, is passionate about people: the staff, customers and the ordinary Ghanaians whose lives the network has affected in several positive ways. After its six-trophy harvest at the Ghana Telecom Awards, Vodafone doubled the number of honours before December, winning among others the ‘CIMG Telecoms Company of the Year’ and the ‘Fifth Most Respected Company in Ghana’. Indeed, Vodafone was the only telecoms company selected among the ten most respected businesses in Ghana in the biennial peer-review survey conducted by PwC Ghana, the tax-advisory and business consulting firm. Even for Kyle, who says he never underestimated what Vodafone was capable of, collecting twelve awards in a single year is an overwhelming achievement. “I thought that if we could win at least just one award, that would prove to Ghana that Vodafone is doing something which is being admired by the external world,” he says. “But to think that we have got twelve awards from different bodies in a period of twelve calendar months, that is absolutely incredible.” Incredible it may seem, but Kyle, who worked with the Vodafone Group for nearly a decade before arriving in Ghana, has no doubt about how his company has achieved so much barely three years after coming into this market. Apart from the millions Vodafone has invested to expand and upgrade its network, he enumerates four other ingredients of the network’s success in Ghana: a great workforce, a performance culture, pride in the brand, and the ability to capture the hearts and minds of Ghanaians. “The first ingredient of our success was identifying that great people can make an enormous difference. So we set out to bring to Vodafone not only great Ghanaians but the best Ghanaians, who we believed could have a disproportionately huge impact on what we can do as a business,” Kyle says. He believes the recognition of Patricia Obo-Nai, Vodafone’s Chief Technology Officer, as the best female technologist in the industry, is – besides being a tribute to Patricia’s own good works – an affirmation of the “great workforce” Vodafone has assembled. But having the best staff, he adds, was not enough “It was important to create a performance culture. So what I said was, ‘I’m going to recruit you, I’m going to set you some objectives and I’m going to reward and encourage you to deliver those objectives.’” Kyle says every member of his team understands that if they don’t do their job it has an impact on everybody else in the business. So he insists that they are punctual and reliable at all times and, more importantly, he is an exemplar of these virtues. Kyle encourages his staff to be ambitious and creative, and they are assured of his fullest support for their ideas and initiatives. As a result, the network’s marketing campaigns, one of which won an award in April, have had the effect of a revolution in the industry, setting a new benchmark for communicating with different customer segments in the industry. Vodafone loves innovation, and one of the best creations by the minds and hands that work for the company is the highly-acclaimed HealthLine Tv programme, which has successfully aired two series on the major television networks in the country. Kyle says HealthLine “helped put a heart into the Vodafone brand”, making people appreciate what it stands for. “HealthLine gave us an emotional connection with people. And it wasn’t just a few Ghanaians. It was the whole gamut of people including middle-class Ghanaians in Accra and Kumasi, and Ghanaians in the villages in the north. All these people felt that this is a company that stands for something very inspiring and cares a lot about us.” Kyle believes Vodafone’s ability to appeal to people on a personal level has won the hearts of Ghanaians to the brand, and this coupled with its unique products and the face-to-face customer service interactions that take place daily in the thirty-five Vodafone stores has helped the network achieve its brand promise of “helping people do what they want to do.” A glimpse into Kyle’s weekly routine shows how he lives the values and principles he articulates about his company. Apart from regular meetings with reporting managers to review performance, Kyle sets aside part of his time to listen to new ideas from his staff and provides guidance when they need it. He also visits his customers to listen to their feedback, or sometimes he drops by the Vodafone stores to interact with the staff and clients. So, does Kyle’s personality have a strong influence on the company? “It helps that I have been with Vodafone for twelve years in lots of different countries, but I couldn’t have achieved anything without the large Vodafone brand and organisation behind me,” he says. “So yes, I have been able to have a lot of influence on this company, but I’ve just brought with me the best of Vodafone to Ghana.”

By Benson AFFUL About 34 customers of Ecobank Ghana Limited have received various prizes at a mini draw held in Accra as part of the ‘Ecobank win big promotion.’ Among the prizes were Home theatre sets, Laptop computers, Blackberry phones, LCD television set. Mr. George Mensah-Asante, Executive Director of Domestic Bank, Ecobank Ghana said, the company declared the year 2012 as a year for its customers and the event is a way of rewarding them. “For us at Ecobank, our key survival strategies have been geared towards customer and employee retention, with the ultimate aim of building long term loyalty for mutually beneficial relations “And it is in this regard that we thought it wise to introduce the ‘win big promo’ to say big thank you to our customers for standing by the bank throughout all the years of reforms,” he said. He said the bank wants to show to its valued customers that it cherishes their contribution, which has propelled the bank into the number one position, based on size, and it also willing to reciprocate the customers’ goodwill with the prizes. He said the bank is working to improve customer care delivery at all customer touch-points to ensure complete satisfaction for its customers on all business fronts.  Mr. Mensah-Asante  said the ‘win big promo’ is real and urged all customers to take part in the big draw which is slated for 14 February 2013, adding customers stand the chance to win the ultimate prizes of the Mercedes Benz C Class Sports Package, BMW 1 Series, 3D Cinema TV and a living room plus dining furniture set.  He said to be part of the promotion customers are required to open or maintain personal current or savings accounts at any branch and pay in fresh deposits of GH¢250.

By Seth KRAMPAH, Acherensua The Asutifi  Rural Bank Limited at Acherensua in the Asutifi District of Brong Ahafo Region has posted  very  remarkable progress in the 2011 year under review. The  Bank made a profit of approximately GH¢111,200 in the 2011 year under review as against a little over GH¢51,680   in 2010 representing an impressive growth of 116%. The Chairman of the Board of Directors Mr Anthony Yaw Oppong announced this at the Bank’s 24th Annual General shareholders’ meeting . According to him, the Bank registered a very satisfactory performance in all the performance indicators in spite of the major economic challenges posed by heightened local competition as well as the many negative effects on the operations of the Bank. He mentioned that the Bank’s catchment area continued to witness heightened competition with the influx of new financial institutions and commercial banks in almost all the operational territories of the Bank adding to the already choked environment. As at the end of the 31st December 2011, the Bank’s Capital Adequacy Ratio (CAR) had hit  12.25%  which is over and above the minimum statutory requirement of 10.0%  while total assets increased by 18% from about GH¢4,049,300.00 in 2010 to GH¢4,751,600.00 in 2011 The Bank’s Investments in Treasury Bills and other short term instruments stood at GH¢1,600,000.00 in 2011, an increase of 12% from GH¢1,400,000.00 in 2010; while Advances (Loans and Overdrafts) also stood at approximately GH¢1,732,740.00 in year 2011, as against GH¢1,298,360.00 in 2010 which represents an increase of 37.79%. The Bank’s Stated Capital as at 31st December 2011 stood at a little over GH¢200,000 which is above the Bank of Ghana minimum Stated Capital requirement of GH¢150,000.00   Meanwhile the Board   of Directors has recommended a dividend payment for the year 2011 at a rate of GH¢0.01 per share. With a relatively stable Base Rate by the Central Bank (BOG), the Bank will have to respond accordingly, like all other Banks, by maintaining a carefully tracked lending rate and a balanced Interest Rate on Deposits to remain competitive.  The Board Chairman has assured shareholders that the impact on the Bank will continue to be closely monitored in 2012/2013. In order to maintain comparative advantage and safeguard the interest of shareholders, and other stakeholders, the Bank plans to continue to ensure good corporate governance and good ethics to ensure compliance with statutory requirement and BOG/ARB Apex Bank directives, improve customer care and service, introduce a viable Micro finance unit and enforce internal control measures as well as strengthening the Internal Audit Unit of the Bank. The Bank continues to offer assistance to communities and institutions within its operational territories in terms of community development projects. A total amount of GH¢ 10,227.50 was spent in this direction. Areas that benefitted included education and security as well as construction of a Rest Stop at Nkaseim GPRTU Station at a cost of GH¢3,550.00 Finally the Board Chairman took the opportunity to express the Board’s gratitude to the Bank’s cherished and treasured customers without whom indeed they would not be in business. He further extended his appreciation to Management and Staff of the Bank for their support. He also thanked all other Stakeholders for their immense contribution and finally his colleagues on the Board for their visionary direction. The Board Chairman, Anthony Yaw Oppong, addressing shareholders at the AGM

By Patrick PAINTSIL The Commercial Services Division of the Accra Fast Track High Court, presided over by Mrs. Barbara Ackah-Yensu, has ordered management of Ramona Complex to pay Guaranty Trust Bank GHC 1,152,046 plus interest calculated from January 2012 till date of final payment. The amount represents the total debt that the company owes the Bank for facilities acquired between November 2007 and September 2008. B&FT gathered that GT-Bank gave series of substantial credit facilities to Ramona Complex between November 2007 and September 2008 through a legal mortgage on property and a personal guarantee from the managing director of the debtor-company. The company was to make bullet payments on both principal and interest at the end of tenure of the facility, which it failed to honour despite repeated demands from the Bank. GT-Bank recalled the facility and further caused a unit of summons to be issued against Ramona Complex and its manager, as the first and second defendants respectively. The Bank demanded payment of the sum of GHC 1,242,008, being the outstanding balance on the facility as at 1st June, 2010 as well as interest on the amount at the prevailing bank rate from 1st June, 2010 till final payment. In the alternative, the Bank sought the judicial sale of the mortgage property which the company used as security for the facility. Prior to its final judgement, the High Court had entered judgement in favour of the plaintiff and further appointed a financial expert to assist the court determine the defendant’s indebtedness. Subsequently, the financial expert tendered his report on the accounts following which the Court on December 4, 2012 gave final judgement that the defendant was indebted to GT-Bank to the tune of the stated amount, together with interest from January 2012 till date of final payment.

By Bernard Yaw ASHIADEY An agricultural census to unearth detailed information about the sector for possible investment will be undertaken next year by the Ministry of Food and Agriculture in collaboration with the Ghana Statistical Service, with technical support from the Food and Agriculture Organisation. “We have observed that for a long time Ghana has not had credible and reliable agricultural information. The last time we had an agricultural census was in 1985. “We are now preparing to have another agricultural census which will give us detailed information about the number of people engaged in the various agric sectors like crops, livestock and fishing,” said Kofi Agyeman-Duah, the acting Deputy Government Statistician in charge of operations. “Information from agriculture feeds into the Gross Domestic Product. Through this census, we will be able to plan effectively and know which areas need to be considered for agricultural purposes, and which crops thrive better in certain areas so that businesses who want to invest in agric would know where to invest.” Mr. Agyeman-Duah was speaking at a stakeholders’ meeting in Accra on the preparations for the census. He said the census will cover non-traditional crops such as pineapple, cashew, snail and grasscutter rearing. Country Representative of the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO), Musa Saihou Mbenga, said a census of agriculture provides fundamental data on the organisational structure of agricultural holdings such as farm size, land use, land tenure, livestock numbers and the use of machinery, as well as the number of holdings with each crop and livestock type. “It is a large-scale statistical operation for the collection and derivation of quantitative information about the structure of agriculture in the country,” he said. The FAO boss noted that in recent years, increasing efforts have been made towards the better integration of statistical activities, such that the census of agriculture will provide certain data as part of an integrated set of data needed for decision making in agriculture and rural development. A budget of US$19million has been drawn up to cover the census for a period of four years (2013-2016). The main source of funding for the project is government, which is expected to seek support from its development partners.