THE International Facility Management Association (IFMA) has held a national stakeholders forum in Accra to create a unified national conversation around the strategic importance of facility management in Ghana’s socio-economic development.

It additionally seeks to foster collaboration among built environment professionals, to ensure that facilities are not only designed and constructed well, but are also sustainably operated and efficiently managed throughout their lifecycle.

The forum is to further engage government and policymakers in recognising facility management as a critical driver of productivity, public sector efficiency, infrastructure protection, and national resilience.

It was on the theme: ‘Facility Management as a Strategic Partner in Business Continuity, Efficiency and Nation Building,’ and attracted participants including engineers, surveyors, architects, academia, representatives of government and industry players.

The President of the association, Sampson Opare Agyeman, speaking at the ceremony said the time had come to build a strong partnership between academia and industry so that the next generation of professionals were equipped with the right skills, standards, and global best practices.

He said the association in its efforts to achieve these goals would champion the development of a national framework that positions facility management as a strategic enabler of the country’s growth by supporting businesses, safeguarding public infrastructure, optimising resources, and enhancing the quality of life of our citizens.

Mr Agyeman indicated that, “facility management is no longer a back-office function, nor just about maintenance, cleaning, or space allocation but has evolved into a strategic discipline that integrates people, place, and process to ensure operational resilience, cost efficiency, sustainability, and long-term value creation.”

“In a rapidly changing environment, nation building cannot happen in silos, but marked by economic shifts, technological transformation, climate concerns, and emerging risks organisations that survive and thrive for business continuity and operational excellence,” he added.

He indicated that when hospitals function seamlessly, schools operate efficiently, public offices deliver uninterrupted services, and commercial spaces remain safe, sustainable and productive, then facility management was really at work.

The Deputy Minister of Works, Housing and Water Resources, Mrs Gizella Tetteh-Agbotui, in a speech read on her behalf, said the ministry was gradually integrating facility management into all stages of project planning to curb asset decay and promote long-term fiscal discipline towards improving policy and operational sufficiency.

Her outfit, she indicated, would engage with the association to explore measure to improve performance, sustainability, service continuity of government infrastructure targeted at nation building.

Mrs Tetteh-Agbotui assured of government’s commitment to develop a robust built environment as well as create an enabling framework of sustainable policies and regulations to guide infrastructure delivery in the country.