Maiden Retreat of GIFEC’s Board of Trustees, Audit Committee and Management Staff Held
The Ghana Investment Fund for Electronic Communications (GIFEC) has held the maiden retreat of its Board of Trustees, Audit Committee and Management Staff from December 2 – 5, 2021, at the Rock City Hotel in the Eastern Region.
Under the theme “Strengthening GIFEC to deliver its growing mandate”, the purpose of the retreat was to bring together members of each party to brainstorm, discuss and define measures to address challenges and find solutions to strengthen the internal processes and systems, in order to ensure optimal productivity.
The event, chaired by Mrs. Ursula Owusu-Ekuful (MP), Minister for Communications and Digitalisation and Chairperson of the Board of Trustees, brought together members of the Board of Trustees, the Chairperson and members of the Audit Committee, the Administrator, Deputy Administrator, Directors, Unit Heads and Zonal Managers of GIFEC.
In his welcome address, Mr. Prince Ofosu Sefah, Administrator of GIFEC, highlighted some key achievements and activities undertaken over the three-month period of his assumption to office. He mentioned, among other things, commissioning of the Rural Telephony and Cyberlaboratory Projects in the Central and Western North Regions, by the sector Minister. Notably, two Girls in ICT training programmes have been held in the Western North and North East Regions within the period; providing training in basic ICT and Coding for a total of 2,000 girls under his stewardship. The period has also witnessed the inauguration of a new Board of Trustees and the first meeting of same.
Mrs. Ursula Owusu-Ekuful(MP), maintained the need for effective Monitoring and Evaluation, as well as project redesigning and prioritization in line with the legal mandate of GIFEC. She remarked that although the Fund has chalked multiple successes over the years, especially with the ongoing construction of 2,016 Ghana Rural Telephony and Digital Inclusion Project (GRTDIP), it is incumbent on GIFEC to develop the right technology to cover the remaining communities that may still not be connected by the project.
The Minister charged Management to support the development and designing of programmes for the attention of Development Partners such as the UNESCO, ITU, etc, while showcasing our ongoing programmes and achievements.
She also mentioned the need for capacity building and training of staff in tandem with career progression and output needs of the various roles. Finally, she encouraged every Unit Head to freely articulate challenges and issues affecting all in the discharge of their respective duties for the requisite actions to be taken.
The retreat featured presentations by Directors and Unit Heads on their objectives, goals, achievements and challenges over the last 3 years since the approval and implementation of GIFEC’s current 5 year Strategic Plan in 2018. This was followed by questions and feedback from Board and Audit Committee Members, as an attempt to find solutions to the challenges.
The second day also witnessed breakout sessions for brainstorming on ideas to proffer solutions to challenges from day 1 and develop plans for the ensuing 2022. Participants and Units were divided into 4 groups, each chaired by a Members of the Board of Trustees: Group 1 had Programmes, Research, and Sustainability and Partnership Units. Group 2 was made of Corporate Affairs, Human Resources, Administration and Procurement; while Group 3 had Stores, Audit, Finance and Monitoring & Evaluation Units, finally, the fourth group looked at Zonal Operations.
In his closing remarks, the Administrator entreated all Management Staff to continue to reflect on the theme and work towards moving GIFEC to the next stage. He added that “GIFEC is a growing organization with equally growing needs, mandates and expectations, thus the need to strengthen our structures and streamline our internal processes to maximise productivity” from all sectors.
He also admonished members to help build and maintain the right corporate culture and attitudes; and always ensure professionalism, and the implementation of robust digitized systems for Procurement processes, Finance, Human Resources Management and Stores/ inventory management. He highlighted the research and adoption of new technologies as a means of delivering relevant and cost-effective solutions to our beneficiaries.
