The First Lady says the new Mother and Baby Unit of the Komfo Anokye Teaching Hospital that is under construction will be ready for inauguration before the end of 2017.

Rebecca Akufo-Addo said the "next stop" of the Rebecca Foundation after the completion of the KATH building will be the Korle-Bu Teaching Hospital.

Speaking during a meeting with the staff of Ghana Embassy in China Wednesday, she urged the workers to project the good image of their country.

The wife of President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo also charged them to seek knowledge and skills that can help to speed up the development of Ghana.  

“There is a lot to learn from China, therefore, those of you here should learn and bring the knowledge back home to improve the country,” she said.

Works on the new one-storey maternity block at KATH is progressing steadily, contractors Africa Building Partners have said. 

According to them, the project will be completed on schedule.

Project Engineer, Stephan Coret said a new technology deployed for the construction that involves the use EPS (expandable polystyrene), will speed up the pace of work.

The use of the polyesters will conserve energy, he added.

The project is under the auspices of the Office of the First Lady and The Multimedia Group.

It is aimed at addressing the needless death of children and women at KATH due to the lack of space at the existing Mother and Baby Unit.

Two separate fund-raisers organised in Accra and Kumasi saw individuals and corporate entities contributing over GHS10 million towards the project.

The project was an outcome of a documentary by Joy News' Seth Kwame Boateng, which highlighted the plight of nursing mothers and their newborn babies at the largest hospital in the Ashanti Region.

But the Office of the First Lady partnered The Multimedia Group to get the project completed.

Gov't promises to Ghanaians

Mrs Akufo-Addo said her husband “came to office with a lot of promises and he is working hard to all of them” adding “he has achieved quite a lot” since taking office."

She noted with a determined and focused person like her husband steering the affairs of the country, there “is a lot of hope for Ghana and things are already looking good for Ghana.”

On his part, Ghana’s Ambassador to China, Edward Boateng, assured the First Lady he and his staff will “not disappoint the president, but work hard to bring more investment into the country. 

He also promised to make "the well being of Ghanaians in China” his priority. 

The First Lady is in China with a group of women entrepreneurs, some members of the Association of Ghana Industries (AGI) and academics to explore investment opportunities for women businesses and investment for the people and government of Ghana.