e explained that Ghana, in its current state, needed a leader with bold vision and policies who would utilise the available national resources to grow the economy between 15 and 20 per cent per annum.

Without a strong leadership, Prof. Richardson said, it would be difficult to change the system which was gradually becoming inimical to growth and prosperity.

Prof. Richardson, who is also an international management and leadership consultant,  was speaking at the 2024 graduation ceremony of the China Europe International Business School (CEIBS) in Accra last Saturday.

In all, 91 students from Ghana and Nigeria graduated in executive education programmes at the institute.

The programmes included Advanced Management Programme (AMP), Owner Director Programme (ODP) and Women Entrepreneurship and Leadership for Africa programme (WELA).

In attendance were the Executive Director of CEIBS Africa, Prof. Mathew Tsamenyi; European President of CEIBS, Prof. Dominic V. Turpin, and the Chinese Ambassador to Ghana, Tong Defa.

Good leadership

Prof. Richardson, who is a Ghanaian based in England, and a visiting professor at CEIBS, also said that “when you carry on doing the same thing, you get the same result until you decide to change. And if you want to change any system, the key ingredient you need is leadership.

“Without leadership, nothing will work. Leadership offers the ability to actually design the future, or look into the future and say, this is the way we need to go for this country,” he added.

The lecturer urged Ghana to learn from the Indian example which, after securing independence in 1947, experienced a slow growth of one per cent per annum until it had a new leader in 1991 who changed their policies and transformed that country.

Prof. Richardson further advised the graduates to be ready at all times to give up what they were to what they had become. 
Deepening relations

The Chinese Ambassador to Ghana said the relationship between China and African countries had deepened.

He said in 2023, China-Africa trade volume reached $282.1 billion, making China Africa’s largest trading partner, contributing more than 20 per cent to Africa’s economic growth.

“By the end of 2023, China’s direct investment stock in Africa exceeded $40 billion. African countries are endowed with rich natural and human resources, and are actively seeking economic transformation from overly being dependent on the export of low-value primary products to higher level of industrialisation.

“China’s industrialisation has entered a mature stage, with many advanced high-quality and green production capacities, which will meet the development needs of Africa,” the ambassador added.

Training

For his part, Prof Turpin said it would take only skilled labour to be able to add value to natural resources and maximise gains for societal uplift from poverty, hence the commitment of CEIBS to train skilled business executives in the best possible learning environment.

"Our programmes provide all round knowledge in business and leadership to ensure students receive holistic training to be very responsible business executives," he said.