The Executive Chairman of the KGL Group, and Board Chairman of the Ghana Investment Promotion Centre (GIPC), Alex Apau Dadey has been awarded the Group CEO of the Year for Conglomerate Business at the 7th Ghana CEO Summit and Excellence Awards.

The event, which took place at the Kempinski Hotel in Accra, saw KGL Group also crowned the Diaspora Business of the Year.

This was in recognition of the company’s outstanding performance in the year under review and its massive contribution towards enhancing diaspora relations.

The two awards were presented by former President and newly-elected presidential candidate of the National Democratic Congress (NDC), John Dramani Mahama.

Speaking on the topic, “Economic Sovereignty: The role of the Ghanaian diaspora in achieving economic sovereignty and good corporate governance,” Mr. Dadey stressed on the need for government to put in place more policies and take specific actions to remove obstacles hampering economic sovereignty.

"Today, you will find distinguished Ghanaians in executive positions here and abroad in every sphere of life - science, research and development, medicine, technology, law, education, religion, banking, and enterprise.

"The Ghanaian diaspora who has gained valuable skills, knowledge, contacts and experience abroad should be incentivized directly to transfer more than remittances home. Everyone in this room, like me, has a story to tell.

"We should commit to seeding businesses, training and mentoring, partnering and opening new opportunities together."

Touching on government's ongoing deliberations with the International Monetary Fund (IMF), Mr. Dadey said, “We welcome the Three Billion bailout negotiated by the Government with the IMF. We have been here before.

"The team that led the successful negotiations are Diaspora Ghanaians who have returned home and demonstrated tremendous capacity. This is our opportunity to implement coherent diaspora engagement policies. The mantra is, and should be, DDI (Diaspora Direct Investment) for economic sovereignty”.

The Board Chairman of KGL Group concluded his speech by reiterating his call for a collective effort to ensure economic sovereignty.

“In my opinion, achieving economic sovereignty requires a careful, and coherent approach to engaging the Ghanaian Diaspora.

"The KGL Group and I remain committed and optimistic that the formal coherent inclusion of our own Diaspora with good corporate governance, a robust public-private partnership, the right application of technology can enable Ghana to achieve economic sovereignty”.

“I am excited about our future. A Ghana that is brave, bold and fearless, investing in and leveraging off the capacity and expertise of our own tried and tested Diaspora, first, to be self sufficient.

"We must transcend the age old practice of leaning on returns of natural resources as staples for economic growth. In the new fast paced global world, we must lean on the Ghanaian Diaspora”.