Accra, Dec 13, GNA-The Female Future Programme Ghana Alumni Network (FFPGH), a network of corporate women, has been launched in Accra.
It is under the Ghana Employers Association’s (GEA) initiative to address the gender leadership gap.
The launching of the network held on the theme: “Creating Connections and Building Bridges Together” also coincided with the outdooring of an eight-member executive of the Network, headed by Madam Joyce Aseidu-Ofei, as the President.
FFPGH is being run by GEA as a professional mentoring and networking platform for career women in Ghana, and it emanated from the Female Future Programme (FFP), a brainchild of the Confederation of Norwegian Enterprise (NHO), geared towards the development of corporate women in the country.
The FFP has also been established in four key countries in Africa, namely Uganda, Kenya, Tanzania and Ghana, and currently being piloted in Tunisia.
Dr Emmanuel Adu-Sarkodie, First Vice President, GEA, congratulated the Ghanaian women who went through the FFP programme since it was introduced in 2019, saying, “it is refreshing to indicate that 63 females, made up of top and middle managers from the Banking & Financial, Insurance, Oil & Gas, Energy, Shipping & Ports sectors, among others, have successfully completed the programme.”
The ladies have been taken through all the three broad Modules of the programme – Leadership Development, Rhetoric and Board Competence.
“They have, therefore, built excellent oratory and negotiation skills, boardroom competence, discovered their inner potentials and obtained additional knowledge to lead any organisation.”
Dr Adu-Sarkodie, encouraged the members of the Organisation to expand their professional network and assist one another towards career growth.
He said the Alumni Network would promote and sustain a strong network of women leaders in Ghana with established peer platform for lifelong learning.
Dr Adu-Sarkodie said the Network would also undertake projects and programmes targeted at female leadership development in the country.
He thanked NHO, the Norwegian Investment Fund (Norfund), the Norwegian Agency for Development Cooperation (NORAD) and the Norwegian Embassy in Ghana, for introducing the concept in Ghana.
Dr Adu-Sakordie also congratulated all the ladies who had gone through all the 15 sessions of the nine months’ programme, and urged them to put the skills acquired to good use.
He commended the various member organisations of the GEA for allowing their female staff to participate in the training and said it showed the organisational philosophy towards female empowerment, gender equality, inclusion and diversity at the workplace.
Dr Adu-Sarkodie said the gesture also indicated commitment towards supporting Ghana to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), especially Goals Five and Eight, which seek to attain gender equality, productive and decent employment for all.
Mrs. Frances Adu-Mante, Board Chair of Absa Bank Ghana Limited, in a keynote address, advised women to learn to work together, mentor younger women into filling the gender gap and also aspire to acquire more knowledge, attain high performance and achievement so they could be given the needed recognition on merit “backed by the grace of God.”
She urged FFP to develop an objective system of identifying high potential young women who could be supported and encouraged to deliver outstanding results in an increasingly competitive environment.
Currently, FFG has 43 females who are undergoing training.
The goal of FFP, is to among others, increase the percentage of women in decision making processes and address the gender gap in top management, leadership and board positions.
Female Future connects people, performance, personal and organisational success as a means to increase productivity.
FFP provides a forum for women managers and women on boards to interact and exchange ideas while assisting companies to implement their gender equality policies and achieve UN Sustainable Development Goal Five.
Since its inception, it has successfully run two cohorts of 65 participants in both public and private organisations across various sectors of the country.
GNA