A&C Development Company in Accra and its Chief Executive Officer, Mr Andrew Kwabena Asamoah, have been rewarded by the cfi.co for inspirational and corporate leadership.
The cfi.co is an international capital finance organisation based in London, United Kingdom, that handles print journal and online resource reporting on business, economics and finance. It receives many nominations of individuals and companies for the consideration of their judging panel.
The panel felt that Mr Asamoah is a true example of a corporate leader and should be seen as an example to youngsters struggling to get through school and an example to successful members of the African diaspora who are thinking of bringing their skills back home and therefore decided to bestow the 2013 award on him.
The citation accompanying his award stated that under Mr Asamoah’s leadership the company is now a key player in developing the country’s multi-purpose shopping mall sector. It further said having attracted investment from the International Finance Company in 2012, A&C is set to further help improve Ghana’s economy.
Mr Asamoah said his company remained sharply focused on its core markets.
"Our overall approach includes a sustained effort to keep the development pipeline fully activated in order to improve our balance sheet and create shareholders value," he added.
He further sated that his company's achievements stood out as an example of what tenacity could be deliver and his life story provided inspiration to others of what could achieved through hard work, education and ambition.
The first shopping mall built with this vision by A&C Development is almost 10 years old and opens for business in the East Legon suburb, about 12 kilometres to the north-east of the Accra city centre. The facility which includes a shopping mall, a business centre, fitness and leisure centre is a multi-million-dollar development project undertaken by Mr Asamoah's company.
Mr Asamoah who began his career as a brick-and-mortar man likes real estate and loves the construction process and has a passion for anything with walls that is topped by a roof, preferably an elegantly looking one.
He might have become a builder, architect or developer but instead he went to law school and eventually collected a slew of post-graduate qualifications in public administration, human resource development and public relations and journalism.
He worked at a local market from the age of 12 to fund his education and at the age of 22 was accepted by the World Health Organisation (WHO) to work in a regional office.
Mr Asamoah assumed a pattern of studying while working and his academic achievements allowed him to further develop his career at the WHO. This culminated in Mr Asamoah qualifying as a barrister and then becoming a director for the WHO in Geneva.
Upon retiring from the organisation, Mr Asamoah returned to Ghana and risked everything he had built up during his career to create Ghana’s first shopping complex and founded A&C Development.
Under Mr Asamoah’s leadership the company is now a key player in developing the country’s multi-purpose shopping mall sector.