Josiah
Nananom, distinguished guests, leaders of industry, entrepreneurs, ladies and gentlemen, good evening.
I pay my respects to the Asantehene Otumfuo Osei Tutu II, to my Konahene Nana Konadu Yiadom Kumanin IV, and to the traditional authorities of Asanteman. I thank Global Ovations for bringing us together, and congratulate tonight’s honourees and the teams behind their achievements.
Today is also my birthday. I am grateful to God for another year. But birthdays remind us of something leadership must never forget: we do not have unlimited time to do work that matters.
Tonight, we celebrate achievement. My charge to all of us is that we also consider inheritance: what will Ghana inherit from the success gathered in this room?
I stand before you in traditional regalia as Nana Kwadwo Marfo Ampong I, Kona Aboafuohene in Asanteman, but I also speak as a businessman, CEO of Maxwell Investments Group. I do not see a contradiction at all. Tradition asks what we must preserve. Innovation asks what we must change. But leadership… leadership requires the judgment to know the difference.
Our theme, “Driving Ghana’s Economic Transformation Through Leadership, Innovation and Enterprise Excellence”, therefore asks something practical of us, and I shall just articulate three of them.
First, we must lead with vision and build beyond ourselves.
Our elders say, “Tumi te sɛ kosua.” Power is like an egg. Squeeze it and the shell cracks. Neglect your hold, and it falls. Authority requires both firmness and care. That lesson belongs in the boardroom as much as it belongs in the palace.
A business that cannot function without its founder remains vulnerable no matter how impressive its profits may be. So we must develop people. We must establish accountable systems. We must prepare successors. Let the next generation inherit a functioning institution, not an unresolved succession crisis.
Second, we must innovate with courage, and solve something that matters.
Our in-house Sustainable Architect, Isaac Addae, has been working with us to innovate using Impact Infrastructure Theory, and this is an example of courageous innovation: infrastructure that positively impacts anyone it interacts with.
Artificial intelligence and other technologies should also be judged by the problems they help us solve. Can we use AI to reduce waste? Can we use AI to improve a farmer’s access to markets? Can we use AI to make a customer’s transaction safer, or help a small business fulfil a larger order?
The test is not how modern our presentations sound. It is how much better our enterprises work. So we must invest in the skills that allow our people to use these tools. We should not simply purchase the tools and call it transformation.
Lastly, we must pursue excellence with integrity, and let growth create opportunity.
We should build profitable enterprises that can reward investment, support livelihoods and finance expansion. But national transformation requires us to ask who can participate in that growth.
So pay the small supplier when payment is due, so he can participate. Give the capable young person a first real opportunity to contribute to growth. Help a local producer meet the standards your company requires so they can grow with you. These gestures are more than ceremonial. They are practical ways to build a stronger economy.
“Nsa baako nkura adesoa”. One hand cannot lift a load. We all have to do our part.
Government, business, universities and traditional institutions must bring their different strengths together. Partnership should mean more than appearing in the same photograph. It should produce something none of us could have delivered alone.
So I offer one challenge to every leader here in this room, myself included. Within the next ninety days, turn one promise into a result. Give a paid apprenticeship. Help a local supplier get stronger. Partner with an entity that solves a real problem. You choose it. You resource it. You measure it.
On this birthday, my prayer is that we build something worth inheriting, not only for our children, but for children whose names we will never know.
Let our honours be personal, but let our legacy be national. For none of us here can solve Ghana’s problems alone. We can only contribute to the substrate upon which others who will come after us will also contribute theirs. So let’s all do our part while we’re here.
May God bless all your endeavours. May God bless Otumfuo Osei Tutu II. May God bless Asanteman. And may God bless our beloved country Ghana.
Medaase.
[Pictures of the event here: https://web.facebook.com/share/p/1Jkehggqpe/]
Speech delivered by:
Nana Kwadwo Marfo Ampong I
Aboafuohene of the Traditional Council of Kona
within the Dumankwa-Nifa Kyidom Division
under His Majesty Otumfuo Osei Tutu II, Asantehene.
