The Asantehene, Otumfuo Osei Tutu II, has challenged the board and management of Produce Buying Company Limited (PBC) to deepen its role in employment-creation to lessen the country’s staggering unemployment situation.
He said the PBC should do this through creativity to rid the streets of the youths who seem to be overwhelmed by rapid socio-economic changes, and are unable to establish themselves firmly due to rising unemployment and financial challenges.
He observed that it is the foremost responsibility of governments to create wealth, provide jobs and the basic necessities of life, and protect its citizens.
The Asantehene, who was speaking at the grand opening of the Golden Bean Hotel in Kumasi, told PBC that cocoa, which is still the mainstay of the economy and the core business of the company, should not to be a benchwarmer to any other investment PBC goes into.
He said the golden bean over the years has proved a tested and trusted cash-crop, creating employment for millions and bringing in hard-earned foreign exchange. He stated that “cocoa has proved to be a truly dependable and invaluable crop”.
He said this cash crop, being Ghana’s leading income earner, has distinguished itself as an independent and unmatched economic variable that could thrive further if farmers and research institutions are resourced for more improved crop yield.
Otumfuo Osei Tutu II advised managers of the Golden Bean Hotel to ensure that the hotel’s identity incorporates a national form to differentiate it from other industry players while taking on a global character, especially in view of the hotel industry’s competitiveness.
He however insisted that the quest to meet acceptable global standards should not be at the expense of any local cultural/traditional values, which when taken into account could set the hotel apart from others as well as contribute to its gains.
He said the hotel’s location at a pristine tourism enclave imposes a huge challenge to management in designing programmes and services tailor-fitted for clients in order to maintain competitive edge in the industry.
The Deputy Minister of Tourism, Culture and Creative Arts, Hon. Dzifa Gomashie, in her address commended PBC for diversifying its operations into the tourism sector.
She said although the company’s core business is the cocoa sector, practical economic prudence and present-day realities might have influenced the decision.
She said the move is welcome, she noting that it will thrive and increase the company’s economic portfolio and income in some years to come.
She however pointed out that, though rewarding, the hotel industry is replete with its own challenges, and urged GBH to rise above these challenges.
The Deputy Tourism Minister asked PBC to consider, as a long-term project, the offshoot of GBH into other cocoa-growing areas of the country.
She observed that the history of the Region’s hotel industry shows a picture of a non-sustainability in standards, saying several hotels in the region have collapsed due to multiple factors — notable among which has been mismanagement and failure to differentiate ownership from management.
She said this must change, and asked for clear distinct roles and responsibilities of ownership, the board and management of GBH to avoid conflicting policies, roles and instructions to staff.
The Ashanti Regional Minister, Peter Anarfi-Mensah, noted that Ghana’s nascent tourism sector needs a robust and travailing hotel business to shore-up gains made.
He said the development and growth of any nation depends on the ability of its people to take advantage of and utilise the human and material resources available to provide the critical infrastructure-growth and expansion of the economy.
Against this backdrop, he noted that opening the Golden Bean Hotel not only serves to establish a leisure-retreat, but also an avenue to open-up the area for many economic activities.
He noted the region’s much-lauded tourism potential, noting that it makes it a viable destination for all forms of businesses.
He also called for regular improvement in the programmes and services provided by the hotel in order to succeed in the hospitality industry.
The Managing Director of PBC, Kojo Atta-Krah, said the company had considered its under-utilised property and the incremental gain that could be attained with better use of the land on which it had its seven-room guesthouse.
He said establishment of the facility is expected to provide the community and patrons with first-class relaxation and comfort; offer diverse business opportunities; boost the earnings of PBC and its valued shareholders; and as well add to general development and transformation of the Kumasi Metropolis.