Performance rating of companies should
transcend financial success - Aliu
Accra
(Greater Accra) 13 September 2002- The Italian Government is to give Ghana 10
million dollars to support the private sector, Finance Minister Yaw Osafo Maafo
said on Thursday.
He said a
proposal has already been submitted to the Italian government, while a team
comprising Ghanaian and Italian experts are working on the project document and
modalities for the disbursement of the fund.
Mr Osafo
Maafo announced this when he signed a 516,000 Euro Food Aid Agreement with the
Italian Ambassador to Ghana in Accra. The Food Aid, which is the first from the
Italian government since 1995, comprises of rice, cooking oil, tomato
concentrate, wheat flour and sugar.
The Italian
government, he said, has also agreed to support Ghana's Poverty Reduction
strategy. The Finance Minister asked Italy to reconsider the training of staff for
the financial sector to enable them to perform better. Mr Giancarlo Izzo, the
Italian Ambassador said Italy would reconsider the training of staff for the
financial Sector.
He said the
food aid is not to compete with Ghanaian farmers and urged the government to
put the proceeds into a special fund to help farmers produce more and export.
Proceeds from the previous food aid packages were used to fund various micro
projects in the country.
GRi…/
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Accra
(Greater Accra) 13 September 2002- Vice President Aliu Mahama on Monday said
the success of corporate businesses should not be measured by financial
strength alone, but also by how they address the environmental impact of their
operations and meet their social responsibilities to their employees and
communities.
Vice
President Mahama, who was opening a two-day workshop on Corporate Social
Responsibility (CSR), therefore, tasked the Ghana Investment Promotion Centre
(GIPC), Publishers of Ghana Club 100 and other sponsors to review their
performance rating criteria to reflect this.
Additionally,
he challenged the media to institute a league of table of corporate performance
that would consider financial, social and environmental performance to honour
those to excel in those undertakings.
"At
present, the financial indicator, which, is the sole criterion for evaluating
corporate performance, does not reveal the social and environmental performance
of the company," he said.
"It
creates the impression that it is alright to achieve financial success at the
expense of employee and workplace exploitation of irresponsible social and
environmental practices," the Vice President pointed out.
He noted
that corporate social responsibility, driven by globalisation and the need to
promote sustainable development, enjoins companies to protect and enhance the
environment, set standards for employee health and conditions and to contribute
positively to the quality of life in the communities they operate.
Vice
President Mahama asked companies to regard it as an obligation to identify the
diverse needs of their clients, employees, partners, communities, shareholders
and the environment and fully integrate them into corporate strategies.
He,
however, noted that their efforts would be constrained by macro-economic
difficulties, deficient legal and regulatory systems and other challenges and assured
the companies of legal and other reforms to motivate them.
The
workshop, which was organised in collaboration with the Association of Ghana
Industries, is part of the programme to formulate and plan implementation
strategies to close the gaps in Business-Community Relations.
Research
conducted by a Business-Community Relations Specialist, Joe Boateng, revealed
that, in Ghana, companies' response to social responsibility was very weak,
while regulatory and enforcement agencies were ill equipped to monitor the
performance of companies.
It is
against this backdrop that the, United Nations Volunteers and New Academy of
Business, United Kingdom, are jointly implementing an action research project
on current trends in business-community relations and corporate citizenship in
Ghana, alongside six developing countries.
Vice
President Aliu Mahama advised boards of companies to ensure greater discipline
and accountability in their organisations and act in the best interest of their
employees. The boards, he said, should also be responsible for any damage
companies cause as a result of their failure to perform or negligence in the
pursuit of their functions as required by law.
The Vice
President tasked employees to assist their managements by discharging their
obligations and avoid waste of resources and time, and also respect rules at
work places. "Our companies in both the public and private sectors must
also recognise and accept the need to audit their institutions and protect the
rights of minority shareholders," he said.
Mr. Kwamena
Bartels, Minister of Private Sector Development, said corporate responsibility
has emerged as a top management concern, which was good for societal
development. He said a number of forces have pushed businesses into taking
their societal responsibilities seriously noting that “over the past decade,
privatisation and trade liberation have transferred substantial state assets to
the private sector, thus shrinking the role of government in development.”
He said;
"the net result is that the influence of private enterprise and their
leaders in determining economic, social and environmental progress in almost
every country has increased immensely."
According
to Mr Bartels, who also is also acting Minister of Tourism, demands by a
variety of groups, within society for companies to disclose their environmental
performance have made these business concerns more proactive. Other factors,
which have contributed to this, are increased customer interest and the growing
investor pressure plus competitive labour markets.
He said
government aimed at building a dynamic and proactive private sector, which was
professionally managed to defocus its vision of serving and harmonising the
interests of the stakeholders, namely, corporate bodies, the government,
workforce and communities in which they operated.
Mr. Kwesi
Abeasi, Chief Executive, Ghana Investment Promotion Centre (GIPC), said
corporate societal responsibility (CSR) was simply the obligations that corporate
entities owed society. "I am informed by my legal advisors that CSR is an
age-old concept in national law, and that its origins have been traced to the
rise of modern corporations whose shares are freely traded on stock
markets," he said.
He stated
that companies are no longer regarded as being responsible to the shareholders
alone and that these obligations are now being extended in the light of present
day challenges by imposing on corporate entities the obligations to take active
and responsible steps to minimise pollution, protect consumer and workers
interest, refrain from illicit business practices and to observe fundamental,
ethical and human rights standards."
GRi…/
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