The Institute of Directors-Ghana (IoD-GH) last Friday inducted 127 new candidates into the organisation.

They comprised 97 members, 24 associates and six fellows.

Speaking at the induction ceremony, the President of the IoD-GH, Rev. Angela Carmen Appiah, said the candidates had completed their training to become members of the prestigious institution.

IoD

The IoD champions good corporate governance in the corporate world as well as the public and civil service.

Working with various stakeholders, the IoD campaigns on issues of importance to its members and the wider business community to build an environment which supports company directors.

Licence

"Once you are a member, you have the licence now to call yourself a full member, a fellow or an associate, dependent on the category of admission. "So today we inducted three main categories, fellows, members and associates," she said.

Rev. Mrs Appiah said the IOD-GH championed director professionalism.

"Once you go through the corporate governance training, you don't just sit on a board or a committee or oversee a business without the necessary skills.

So the tools that a director needs to navigate the environment in which they operate to be ethical is what they do in training," she said, and the idea was that "you get an individual who is sound in governance principles, can take good decisions, can interrogate questions and issues and is broad enough to appreciate governance."

Know, do what is right

Rev. Mrs Appiah told the inductees that the world was increasingly becoming complex because it was evolving and directors faced several challenges,  adding that that good directors were ethical directors.

She said they knew what was right and did what was right as opposed to "knowing what is right and not doing what is right. So in order to be able to operate your business or oversee or lead ethically, you need to be in tune with your governance principles".

She further stated that the acronym that was given was the "attire" they wore — accountability transparency, integrity, responsibility and excellence or equity or effectiveness. Thus, she charged them to abide by that professional ethos.

The IoD President said if the conscience of directors to oversee the operations of businesses were right, the business would be in safe hands and that "the business will make profits, operate responsibly and then Ghana will be wealthy.”