A Deputy Finance Minister, Dr. John Kumah, has encouraged businesses in Ghana to incorporate proper corporate governance practices in their businesses in order to build firms beyond the first and second generations.

He noted that over the years, Ghanaian-owned companies do not move beyond the first generation of owners and that does not augur well for a country seeking to be entrepreneurial and self-reliant.

Dr. Kumah made this known while speaking at the launch of Safare Tissues which is a wholly owned Ghanaian company that produces quality tissue brands in the country rivaling with foreign ones.

 “There should be better corporate governance institutions in place. I want to encourage Seabeige, if you want us to meet after 50 years when our Chairman General will be an Old man, I want to attend your 50th anniversary with everybody here testifying because by that time you’ll be a global product. If you can have that picture, then you will begin to set a certain culture right in this business for it to grow beyond us”.

“I want to encourage you, let’s get the corporate governance institutions work right from the word go. It should not be said that right after the original owners passed, the company also passed. This is a major problem many Ghanaian businesses in our country face”

He explained that Ghanaian businesses must understand how to grow businesses beyond “our lifetime and beyond our first and second generation and when we do that, we will be answering the question of job creation”.

On his part, Managing Director for Seabeige Ghana Limited, Eric Amofa, producers of Safare Tissues indicated that the product has come to stay and to legally compete on the market.

He said “our vision is to ensure Safare Tissue becomes a household name, easy-to-find and the number one choice for all tissue related needs for every home in Ghana”.

Eric Amofa said even though Seabeige has the capacity to produce products to suit demands in Ghana, they will continue to improve in order to meet all demands.

“The current capacity of Seabeige Ghana Limited can supply all of Ghana and we will continue on to make further improvement in our capacity to meet the growing market demands,” he said. 

At the launch, Media personality and businesswoman, Deloris Frimpong Manso was unveiled as the ambassador of the product which is wholly produced in Ghana.

Delay, who was very positive about the latest introduction said she agreed to join Seabeige Ghana Limited as ambassador for Safare Tissues because she wanted to chat a new path and believes a wholly owned Ghanaian company produces the product here in Ghana.

She indicated that “Safare is born to succeed and I’m very happy to be part of this success story. I cannot wait to say in the future that I can relax and say they started with me and they will stay with me. All I know is that I don’t touch something which will fail. That’s not it, there can’t be failure and Delay in the same place”.

“If there is one thing I can say, it is the fact that I’ve the Midas Touch and everything I touch it turns to gold. I can give you endless examples, the Delay show is fifteen years old and it feels like a day old. It’s moving from Grace to Grace,” she said.