The founder and business development lead for norvanreports, Norvan Acquah-Hayford, has been inducted as a member of the Institute of Directors Ghana.
Mr. Acquah-Hayford was among some 42 new members inducted after they had gone through training, orientation and passed the exams to have them admitted to the membership of the esteemed institution.
Speaking at the induction ceremony which was done virtually, President of the Institute, Rockson Kwesi Dogbegah, congratulated the new members on behalf of the Governing Council and management for successfully satisfying the key requirement in becoming a member of the Institute.
“It’s always a great joy for me and members of the Institute, anytime we have the opportunity to induct new directors.”
“As you get inducted today, I want to leave you with two admonitions- firstly, to be crusaders of good corporate governance wherever you find yourselves and secondly to know that the world is seeking more accountability from you and you can no longer be a passive board member or director,” he said.
According to Mr Dogbegah, the Institute aims at nurturing more professionals to play important roles in the boardrooms and in management positions.
This objective he says arises from the need of high-quality human resource which is becoming the number one tool to turn around companies and countries.
“Companies and countries who have no place for such high-quality human resource in charge of affairs, continue to retrogress.”
“So, if companies in Ghana and Ghana itself, will develop, then we need to place emphasis on getting quality people to be in charge of affairs, otherwise we are going nowhere,” he added.
For him, good corporate governance is “unfortunately rare in our part of the world,” hence the need to induct directors who will “create an environment, which gives employees and managers, the encouragement to fly.”
He further stated that, “at the Institute we will continue to push for good corporate governance and will also continue to aggressively grow our membership, because we need that critical mass, to change the conduct of business in this country for the better.”
Mr. Rockson Kwesi Dogbegah also used the opportunity to advice the new inductees and some responsibilities expected of them in their line of duty.
Some obligations he listed include:
- Directors must receive approval for major transactions from shareholders.
- Board Meetings should be held at least once in every six months.
- Directors should ensure that an interest register is kept.
- Directors’ report must include steps taken by the board to build the capacity of directors in the discharge of their duties.
- Directors must appoint qualified persons as secretaries of the company.
- Directors must ratify pre-incorporation contracts within 18 months after incorporation.
- Directors are to ensure that Auditors do not hold office for a term of not more than six years.
In conclusion, he wished the Institute’s new members well in their new and privileged positions.
“I pray that you will be light and salt to corporate governance,” he added.
The Institute of Directors-Ghana after today’s induction ceremony has a total membership of 1,192.
About Norvan Acquah-Hayford
Norvan Acquah – Hayford is currently the Public Relations Manager of Ghana Link Network Services Ltd with oversight responsibility of the firms Public Relations, CSR, Media Relations among others.
Before Joining Ghana Link in April 2020, Norvan was an Assisting Editor at Joy Business (Multimedia Group Limited). With a distinctive and passionate outlook on business development, he has spent the last 14 years of his working career in various leadership roles growing and developing businesses in the Media, Revenue Generation, Financial Engineering and the Restructuring of businesses.
This he has done in the Media, Energy, Oil and Gas and Environmental sectors in Ghana. He is the founder and Business Development lead for norvanreports.com, but again has also spent quite amount of his time developing and working documents in regulations and revenue generation as a consultant for some private businesses.
His current role with Ghana Link Network Services Ltd entails highlighting trade and economic opportunities for the customs management system known as the Integrated Customs Management System (ICUMS) which was deployed for the Customs Division of the Ghana Revenue Authority (GRA) to aid it in revenue collections and helping to reduce the cumbersome nature of clearing goods at Ghana’s Ports.
A key part of his job is presenting ICUMS, a product of Ghana Link as the best trade facilitating tool and assist other stakeholders (Freight Forwarding Community, Importers/Exporters and MDA’s) to understand the new customs management tool.
In terms of education, Norvan has been trained and educated in various disciplines by the Ghana Institute of Journalism, Rhodes University – Grahamstown, South Africa, University College of Management Studies, Graduate Institute of Management Studies and Institute of Commercial Management in the UK.
His new membership with the Institute of Directors-Ghana, means he can be appointed as a director to the boards of companies where he will be part of strategic management ensuring good corporate governance is adhered to by the firm to ensure business continuity.
