Rabiatu Awudu

Samuel K. Gyan is an experienced professional with a demonstrated history of working in the international trade, service and development industry.  As a strong business development professional with an extensive corporate experience and strict code of integrity & professional conduct, he built extensive skilled capacity in Negotiation, Business Planning, Operations Management, Customer Service and Strategic Planning at both the technical and executive management levels  across a variety of business sectors including  Agriculture, Industrial – Construction & Infrastructure, Certification, Energy (Oil, Gas & Chemicals),  Environmental, Government & Institutions, Mining and Mineral and Transportation.

Mr. Gyan with over 28 years experience as a strong business development professional on the back of considerable start-up expertise and immense leadership skills, has held extensive managerial position with widespread exposure to cross cultural environments across Africa including Tanzania, Kenya, Uganda, Rwanda, Burundi, Ethiopia, Eritrea, Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), South Sudan and Somalia in Eastern Africa/Central Africa and Ghana, Niger, Mali, Burkina Faso, Mauritania, Senegal, Guinea, Cote d’Ivoire, Liberia and Sierra Leone in West Africa.

He is currently the Regional Managing Director for SGS Anglophone West Africa covering Ghana, Sierra Leone and Liberia which appointment took effect in July 2019 and has direct oversight for 2 Country Managers & Managing Directors, 28 Business Managers & Functional Heads and responsible for nearly 464 employees across the sub-region. Until that, he was the Regional Managing Director for SGS Eastern Africa (October 2012 – June 2019)  based in Dar–es– Salaam, Tanzania with direct oversight of 7 Country Managers & Managing Directors, 35 Business Managers & Functional Heads and responsible for nearly 1,660 employees across the sub-region.

Among the litany of several senior roles Mr. Gyan held include Managing Director Tanzania – SGS Tanzania Superintendence Co Ltd, African Assay Laboratories TZ & SGS Ethiopia from March 2009 – June 2019, Regional Manager – West Africa Geochem Minerals & SGS Laboratory Services Ghana Limited, Accra, Ghana between December 2006 – February 2009 and Branch Manager, Minerals Manager and Laboratory Manager for SGS Tanzania Superintendence Company Limited between January 2000 – November 2006.

Mr. Gyan holds a Bachelor of Science degree from the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology in Metallurgical Engineering (1989) and Master of Business Administration degree (MBA) from the Henley Business School, University of Reading, UK IN 2008.

Patrick Yaw Nimo, represents the Ministry of Trade and Industry, on the GCNet Board, and is the Acting Chief Director of the Ministry following his appointment on March 4, 2019. He supports the implementation of the Ministry’s Industrial Transformation programmes.

As a Management Consultant with over 25 years of experience in private practice, specialising in development policy and programme management services to government and its development corporation partners, Mr. Nimo has lead teams which have designed and implemented cutting edge strategies to enhance private sector development, trade capacity building, industrial policy and entrepreneurship development.

He led Technical teams in Ghana and Missions fielded to other foreign countries to implement consulting assignments for multilateral agencies and bilateral development corporation partners including UNDP, World Bank, UNCTAD, International Trade Centre (ITC-Geneva), DFID, DANIDA and Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA).

He began his career at GRATIS Foundation, working as a Publications and Research Officer from 1990 to 1995 and at Empretec Ghana Foundation as Clients Services Manager from 1995 to 1999. In 2000, he was appointed as Regional Programmes Coordinator for the UN Office for Project Services (UNOPS) responsible for overseeing entrepreneurship initiatives funded by UNDP in East and Southern Africa under the UNDP Enterprise Africa Project which was completed at the of 2005.

Mr. Nimo’s consulting relationship with the Ministry of Trade and Industry began as the National Coordinator of Ghana’s Trade Sector Support Programme from 2006 to 2010, coordinating technical support for sector MDAs, business associations and project teams on trade facilitation, export development, industrial and investment facilitation, SME development, standards, intellectual property rights and other legal and regulatory reform initiatives.

He also served in other important advisory capacities, including as Advisor on M&E to the Head of Trade and Pro-poor Programmes at the International Trade Centre (ITC) in Geneva, member of UNCTAD team responsible for drafting the National Entrepreneurship Policy and Action Plan for The Gambia, a member of the Advisory Board of Enterprise South (Tshwane Project), Tshwane City Metropolitan Authority, South Africa, and more recently until assuming the Ag. Chief Director position at the Ministry of Trade and Industry, Mr. Nimo was a Technical Advisor for the DFID/GoG Business Enabling Environment Programme (BEEP), and was very instrumental in the formulation of the Business Regulatory Reforms (BRR) Programme of the Ministry supported by BEEP.

Mr. Nimo holds a Masters’ Degree in Development Planning and Management from the Centre for Development Studies, Swansea College of the University of Wales (now Swansea University), and a Diploma in Journalism from the Ghana Institute of Journalism.

Mr. Emmanuel Darko is Deputy General Manager, and one of the executive directors on the GCNet Board. He is a graduate of the University of Ghana, Legon and also holds a Masters Degree in Business Administration from the University of Birmingham, United Kingdom. He also has a post-graduate certificate in project analysis and management from the University of Connecticut, USA and a diploma in economic management from the International Development Centre of the University of Tokyo, Japan.

Prior to joining GCNet in 2000, Mr. Darko had worked with Messrs SGS S.A. as Contract Manager (head of SGS’ Liaison Office in Ghana for the implementation of its pre-shipment inspection service for Ghana). He also had brief stints with SGS, UK and SGS, Tanzania.

Prior to joining SGS, he had worked at Ghana’s Ministry of Finance and Economic Planning, where he served in various positions, including holding the position of Head of the Americas Desk, and Head of the ACP-EU / ECOWAS Secretariat.

Mr. Alwin Hoegerle is the General Manager (GM) of the Ghana Community Network Services Limited (GCNet), a position he has held for the past fourteen (14) years with a wealth of expertise in strong management, good understanding of the commercial business environment, operational matters and IT experience.

He has had overall responsibility for all management aspects of GCNet established in 2000 as a Public Private Partnership between Government of Ghana, Ghanaian Private Sector Companies and SGS Société Générale de Surveillance S.A. (SGS S.A.)

Dr. Nortey Omaboe is an Economist, and Corporate Strategy/Investment Consultant. He is the Chief Executive Officer of ENOA Ltd, a firm of corporate strategy and investment advisors that collaborates with a wide range of International Clients with strategic business interests in Africa. ENOA Ltd., is a member of the 03 Group, a group of companies with equity holdings in several business sectors in Ghana, including Manufacturing, Shipping, Banking, Finance, Advertising and Agro-processing, Oil and Gas, IT among others.

In Ghana, he also serves on corporate Boards, such as Prudential Bank Ltd, where he is a founding shareholder, New World Securities Ltd, Nowak Limited, Reiss & Company Limited, S.G.S Group, Dufry & GTDC, and as Executive Chairman of Ghana Community Network Services Ltd (GCNet), an innovative Public Private Partnership involved in providing strategic B2G services to mobilise Government Revenue and Facilitate International Trade in Ghana. He is also a member of the Board of the Roman Ridge School in Accra.

Prior to his activities in Ghana, Dr. Omaboe was based in Geneva where as Senior Vice President (Directeur) of Societe Generale de Surveillance S.A., (SGS) of Geneva, Switzerland, the global industry leader in inspection, testing and verification services, he had overall responsibility for the Operations and Strategy of their Government Services and Programmes spanning the continents of Europe, Africa, Asia and the Americas.

Dr. Omaboe holds a B.A. Honours degree in Economics and Accounting from Leeds University UK, an M.B.A. with a Finance and International Business major from Columbia University, New York, USA as well as a D.B.A. from ISM, Paris France.

In addition to his professional responsibilities, Dr. Omaboe is the Akyempemhene of Amanokrom, under the stool name, Nana Awuku Sakyi.

Dr. Nortey Omaboe is the Executive Chairman of GCNet and brings on board a wealth of experience and expertise spanning several years of practice as an international corporate development consultant. In Ghana he serves on several corporate boards such as Prudential Bank Ltd, New World Investments, S.G.S Limited and the Credit Reference Bureau.

Dr. Omaboe is currently the Managing Director of ENOA Ltd and leads a team of strategy and investment consultants offering strategic advisory and management services to a wide range of International Companies with strategic business interests in Africa including an array of equity holdings in several sectors in Ghana, comprising Manufacturing, Shipping, Finance and Agriculture.

Dr Omaboe is an Economist with a BSc honours degree in Economics and Accounting from Leeds University, an MBA in Finance and International Business from Columbia University as well as a DBA accreditation from ISM, Paris.

Mr. Roger Kamgaing is Executive Vice President for Governments and Institutions, a role to which he was appointed in April 2014. With a solid academic background, professional experience in the sphere of audits and certification for Ernst & Young, and commodity training in Africa,

Roger joined SGS in 1996 as Regional Sales Manager for East Africa. His expertise saw him promoted to Global Sales and Marketing Head for SGS. In 2012, Roger established and managed Kamgaing Associates, a network of consultants providing services to corporations and to governments, as well as launching an African business incubator. He rejoined SGS in 2014 to bring his considerable expertise to his current role of EVP for Governments and Institutions Services.

Mark Davidson is an experienced manager with a background in the mining and natural resources sectors. He has held the position of Managing Director for SGS Ghana since November 2016 and has worked in Africa since 2011 in several senior executive management positions.

Mark is a Fellow of the Australian Institute of Management and a Member of the Australian Institute of Company Directors. Mark holds graduate and post graduate qualifications in Management and Business. Mark is also a qualified Assayer with qualifications in chemistry and assay laboratory operations.

Mr. Ebenezer Padi Adjirackor is currently the Coordinating Director, Technical and Chief Commercial Officer of Ghana’s Ministry of Trade and Industry. Mr. Adjirackor has also acted as Chief Director of the Ministry between January 2018 and March 2019 and Director, Policy Planning, Monitoring and Evaluation from December 2015 to February, 2018.

He was once the Minister Commercial, Trade and Investment Section, Ghana Mission, Washington between July 2011 and December 2015 among other high profiles portfolios he assumed. As a Trade Economist, his deep depth of experience includes formulation and implementation of trade, investments and industrial development policies and programmes such as the establishment of GCNet, the Export Trade Development Administration, the Export Trade Planning and Promotion, the Free Trade Zones and Customs Data Management and Trade flow Analysis among others.

Mr. Emmanuel Kofi Nti is a banker, economist, statistician, accountant and tax expert with experience spanning over thirty (30) years in Development Finance, Rural Banking, Banking Supervision and the Treasury.

He once worked at the Ministry of Finance and Economic Planning as a consultant and was instrumental in the setting up of the Tax Policy Unit (TPU) in 2006 with objectives that include: providing a platform for developing and maintaining an effective tax policy making framework. He is a Fellow of the Institute for Fiscal Studies, Ghana; Fellow of the Association of Chartered and Certified Accountants (ACCA); United Kingdom and Member of Chartered Institute of Taxation, Ghana.

Ray Sowah is the Managing Director of GCB Bank with over 30 years as banker in the City of London, having worked extensively in the erstwhile Ghana Commercial Bank London Branch, Ghana International Bank London and Bank of Montreal Capital Markets, London. He is an astute business banker & lawyer with a consistent record of success in optimizing the market, revenue, profit and service performance of organisations operating in challenging environments. He has held senior management positions in Compliance, International Trade Finance, Retail Banking, Business Development and in the UK Capital Markets.

He has also interpreted various financial legislation and their effect in practice, built relationships with the Prudential Regulatory Authority and Financial Conduct Authority, UK, played a lead role in the annual syndication of Ghana Cocoa Board´s receivables backed loans and developed new correspondent banking relationships throughout West Africa as well as built significant relationships with money transfer companies and structured finance for the purchase of oil for Ghana.

Mr. Daniel K. Sackey was appointed as the Managing Director of Ecobank Ghana Limited and Regional Executive for the Anglophone West Africa region with effect from 1st September 2016. He is an accomplished Banker with extensive banking experience across East, West and Southern Africa.

He has played various key roles within the Ecobank Group since he joined the bank in 1995. He previously served as Managing Director for Ecobank Zimbabwe and Cluster Head for the Southern Africa Development Community (SADC) zone comprising Zimbabwe, Zambia, Malawi, Mozambique and Democratic Republic of Congo. Other positions he has occupied include Managing Director of Ecobank Rwanda, Deputy Group Risk Manager and Regional Risk Manager

Ms. Bismarck is the Chief Executive Officer of the Ghana Shippers’ Authority, a position she has held since June 2017 and is one of the Directors of the GCNet Board. She has vast experience and expertise in marketing, business development and Operations.

Ms. Bismarck’s international career experience and expertise in market research, communication and programme management, business and finance management and investment guidance has seen her work in a number of blue chip organizations in the UK and USA such as T. Rowe Price Associates, Owings Mills, MD. U.S.A, Visa International, Baltimore, MD. U.S.A and Marketing International, London, U.K. between 1995 and 2005. She has a track record of adding value to organisations.

About SGS

SGS is the world’s leading inspection, verification, testing and certification company. We are recognized as the global benchmark for quality and integrity. With more than 94,000 employees, we operate a network of more than 2,600 offices and laboratories around the world.

Our core services can be divided into four categories:

• Inspection: our comprehensive range of world-leading inspection and verification services, such as checking the condition and weight of traded goods at transshipment, help you to control quantity and quality, and meet all relevant regulatory requirements across different regions and markets.

• Testing: our global network of testing facilities, staffed by knowledgeable and experienced personnel, enable you to reduce risks, shorten time to market and test the quality, safety and performance of your products against relevant health, safety and regulatory standards.

• Certification: we enable you to demonstrate that your products, processes, systems or services are compliant with either national or international standards and regulations or customer defined standards, through certification

Verification: we ensure that products and services comply with global standards and local regulations. Combining global coverage with local knowledge, unrivaled experience and expertise in virtually every industry, SGS covers the entire supply chain from raw materials to final consumption.

About o3Tap

O3 Technology & Allied Partners are an indigenous Ghanaian owned firm with a global network of associates. They empower their clients to build stronger businesses and maximize their competitive performance through innovative technologies and processes.

O3TAP is focused on implementing innovative and effective business solutions for private and public sector organisations. We combine unparalleled expertise with innovative thought leadership to address critical challenges, in both event-driven and long-term scenarios.Our team of professionals delivers expertise born from experience. Whether vertical market or cross-discipline, our solutions are practical, immediate and sustainable.

About Ghana Commercial Bank

GCB Bank Limited formally known as Ghana Commercial Bank is the largest bank in Ghana in terms of total operating assets and share of industry deposits, with 14.2% of total industry deposits.  In August 2017, the Bank of Ghana, the nation’s central bank, announced that it had approved a Purchase and Assumption transaction with GCB Bank Limited for the transfer of all deposits and selected assets of UT Bank and Capital Bank (Ghana) to GCB Bank Ltd.

The bank was founded in 1953, with 27 employees, as the Bank of the Gold Coast. Initially, it focused on serving Ghanaian traders, farmers, and business people, who could not obtain financing from the expatriate banks. In 1957, when Ghana attained Independence, the bank re-branded to Ghana Commercial Bank, to concentrate on commercial banking, since Bank of Ghana had been created to function as the central bank and banking regulator. In the beginning, the bank was wholly owned by the Government of Ghana. However, in 1996, when government shareholding stands at 51.17%, the stock of the bank was listed on the Ghana Stock Exchange. In 2013, the bank renamed itself GCB Bank Ltd, with a new brand identity which was launched at the end of 2014.

Today, GCB Bank Ltd serves the banking needs of large corporations, parastatal companies, small and medium enterprises as well as individuals. As of December 2016, the bank employs 1,532 staff, in branches distributed in all 10 regions of the Republic of Ghana.

About Ecobank

Ecobank Ghana Limited (Ecobank) was incorporated on January 9, 1989 as a private limited liability company under the Companies Code to engage in the business of banking. … In Ghana, Ecobank has grown consistently over the years to become one of the well- recognized corporate brands in the banking industry. Ecobank Ghana is a commercial bank in Ghana. It is one of the commercial banks licensed by the Bank of Ghana, the national banking regulator.

EBG is a member of the Pan-African Ecobank chain which operates in thirty two (32) countries. The stock of Ecobank Ghana is listed on the Ghana Stock Exchange, where its shares are traded under the symbol EGH. The bank is a fully networked commercial bank in Ghana with branches (total of 77 as of December 2016) in almost all regions of the nation.

About Ghana Shippers Authority

The Ghana Shippers’ Authority (GSA) has been at the front-line of Ghana’s maritime industry since its establishment in 1974 by NRCD 254. It has over the years collaborated with private and public organizations in the maritime industry to pursue its primary objective of protecting and promoting the interests of shippers in Ghana, in relation to port, ship and inland transport problems in order to ensure safe, reliable and cost effective cargo handling.

For about four decades, the GSA operated under the corporate name – Ghana Shippers’ Council. In harmony with the Laws of Ghana (Revised Edition), 1998 (Act 562) the name was changed to Ghana Shippers’ Authority. The change in name portends the transformation the Council has gone through over the years and brings it in tune not only with the Constitution of the Republic of Ghana but also in accord with the dynamics of modern shipping practice as far as the demand side of shipping is concerned.

The GSA operates under the ministerial responsibility of the Ministry of Transport and has a three-tier organizational structure, namely the Governing Board, the Import/Export Shipper Committees and the Secretariat.

About GRA

The Ghana Revenue Authority (GRA) is the Ghana  administration charged with the task of assessing, collecting and accounting for tax revenue in Ghana. The core mandate of the Authority is to ensure maximum compliance with relevant laws in order to ensure a sustainable revenue stream for the government as well as the controlled and safe flow of goods across the county’s borders. As part of efforts to improve compliance, the Authority is required to assist taxpayers to understand and meet their tax obligations by providing robust and comprehensive advice.

Since its inception the GRA has integrated the three revenue institutions namely the Customs, Excise and Preventive Service (CEPS), the Internal Revenue Service (IRS), the Value Added Tax Service (VATS) and the Revenue Agencies Governing Board (RAGB).