The Asantehene said this when management of SIGA paid a courtesy on him at the Manhyia Palace in Kumasi on Friday.

The visit, led by Mr Edward Boateng, the Director-General, SIGA, was to officially introduce the State agency to the Asantehene and also update him on its activities so far, a statement issued by the Corporate Affairs Division of SIGA and copied to the Ghana News Agency, in Accra, said.

It also offered the Management an opportunity to have discussions on areas in which SIGA could collaborate with the Palace for mutual benefits.

The call forms part of SIGA’s plans to engage key stakeholders to gather support for its activities and Entities.

The Asantehene said SIGA’s mandate was quite crucial to the development of the country as State-Owned Enterprises (SOEs) provided a lot of development to Ghanaians.

He said for SIGA to be effective in its mandate, it needed to be fully empowered, advising that Government resourced and empowered it (SIGA) to be able to raise funding for SOEs as well as review their annual budgets and operational plans.

“SIGA must work hard to make these SOEs profitable and eventually weaned them off government support,” Otumfuo said.

Mr Boateng updated the Asantehene on key achievements of SIGA, including negotiating performance contracts with the Specified Entities to ensure that they operated profitably and adhered to good governance practices.

Also, he said, the Authority was collaborating with other government organisations such as the Controller and Accountant General, Public Services Commission, Auditor-General to support the Specified Entities.

While thanking the Asantehene for the warm reception and his pledge to support the work of SIGA, Mr Boateng promised to periodically give him progress report.

Members of the delegation are:Mr Franklin Asafo Adjei, Board Member, Madam Hollistar Duah-Yentumi, General Manager, Operations, Madam Alexandra Totoe General Manager, Finance and Administration, Mr Kwame Agyemang-Budu. Senior Technical Advisor, Energy Sector, and Mr Stephen Asiedu, Head of Division, Corporate Affairs.

The rest are:Mr Alex Agambila, Acting Head of Department, Finance, Mr Godfred Sowah Khartey, Manager, Director-General Secretariat, Mr Musa Frimpong Manager, Governance Risk and Compliance, and Madam Araba Pratt, Assistant Manager Corporate Affairs.