He said a huge gap existed in the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) and the entire African continent when it came to waste management, for which a partnership with Columbus, which had the infrastructure to develop the best ways to deal with the situation, was very welcome.

Mr Agyepong was addressing a 15-member delegation from Columbus after their tour of some of the companies in the group yesterday.

The delegation, which was led by the President of Sister Cities International, Mr Tim Sword, also included the current Mayor of Columbus, Mr Andrew J. Ginther; the immediate past Mayor, Mr Michael B. Coleman; as well as some Ghanaians resident in Columbus.

Symbiotic relationship

Responding to a comment by Mr Coleman of the delegation’s readiness to assist the Jospong Group invest in the United States, Mr Agyepong said it would rather be beneficial if the group’s capacity was boosted with skills, ideas, research and technology transfer from the US.

He said while there was a lot of potential in the sanitation sector in Africa, the US had the rules, regulations, strategies, mechanisms and the required infrastructure in place.

He, therefore, asked that the team took advantage of the environmental issues in Ghana to foster partnerships.

While citing that the World Bank this year alone gave US$150 million for toilets to communities, Mr Agyepong stated, “The donors are giving the money but the implementation has been the problem.”

“By targeting the businesses in Africa, you are taking research work and also taking the business there,” he told the delegation, adding that turning waste to energy and the management of electronic, hazardous, industrial and medical waste were all issues calling for attention.

“You have the skills and ideas but we lack them, but we have the manpower so we can foster a very good relationship. Build capacity, develop potential and we will be very happy to establish a team that will work with you,” Mr Agyepong said.

He also told the visiting team to use Ghana as a hub to reach the rest of Africa, as his group of companies had already made forays into other African countries.

Earlier, Mr Coleman told the management of Jospong; “You are a conglomerate. You are engaged in a diversity of businesses, have over 40 companies and 200,000 employees in Jospong but my question to you is; do you have a strategy for future investments in the United States? If so, we want to be part of it. If not, we want to help you develop the strategy so that Jospong can be across the oceans,” he said.

Reason for visit

The US delegation is in Ghana as a result of a sister city collaboration struck with Greater Columbus Sister Cities International and for which reason the Chief Executive Officer of the Accra Metropolitan Assembly (AMA), Mr Alfred Oko Vanderpuije, visited Columbus last year.

Mr Ginther said the delegation’s visit to the Jospong Group was to share in their leadership successes and also share their experience as a city internationally noted for public private partnerships (PPPs) with the group.

He stated that the delegation was impressed with the extent of work at Jospong and the sites visited, which included the soon-to-be-inaugurated Mudor waste water treatment plant and the offices of Dredge Masters, a subsidiary of the group.

The Jospong Group Head of Communications, Mrs Sophia Lissah, took the delegation through the work of the group in 12 sectors of the economy and how they had impacted lives by offering employment to thousands of Ghanaians to clean the environment.