BUSAC boss leaves Ghana
The
Fund Manager of the Business Advocacy Challenge Fund (BUSAC), Dr Dale
Rachmeler, has ended his over six years stay in Ghana working to
contribute to the creation of a more enabling business environment for
the growth and development of the private sector.
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During his stay in
Ghana, Dr Rachmeler
through the BUSAC Fund project empowered the private sector to engage
the public sector in “Public–Private–Partnership using evidence-based
advocacy to address the concerns of the sector.
When Dale joined the
BUSAC Fund in 2007, there were numerous challenges with most of the
project, which led to very few grants concluding their actions on time.
Under his leadership, most of the challenges were addressed and BUSAC
Fund became a well known brand in Ghana.
The BUSAC Fund has won the
CIMG award for the “Not for Profit Organisation for two consecutive
years – 2010 and 2011. This recognition attests to the dynamic
leadership Dr Rachmeler has provided since joining the Fund.
He has promoted the use of vetiver in many communities in Ghana to stabilise the dams for irrigation purposes, or for erosion control, soil and water conservation in communities and farmlands.
This he does using his own
resources including time and money.
Dr Rachmeler, a sustainable
agriculturalist/environmentalist having worked on long-term assignments
in mainly Francophone Africa over the past 38 years, started as a US
Peace Corps Volunteer in the Ivory Coast in 1973 and worked with the
USAID either as a long-term consultant or as a project manager within
USAID.
His stay in Ghana has impacted the lives of many people at the
BUSAC Fund Management Unit, the Business Service Providers, Due
Diligence/Monitoring and Evaluation Data Collectors, Monitors, Trainers,
Evaluators, BUSAC Fund Steering Committee, the Development Partners and
most especially the BUSAC Fund Grantees.
He says, “Ghana has taught
me about the art of the impossible, and it has shown me that all who
wish for change have but to use their voices, be persistent and know the
difference between fact and fiction. Ghana is moving forward and that
positive movement is a tribute to its people,
its leaders and its spirit. May Ghana be an example to others as the
way forward is clear, however bumpy the path may be. The world watches
and waits, as I do, and someday Ghana will join the ranks of developed
countries where health and wealth are abundant and available to all.”
Dr.
Rachmeler’s professional goal is to assist the developed world to
reduce poverty in the developing world. Overall, all his professional
experience has dealt with improving the livelihoods of citizens in
developing countries.
He admits that none of what he has achieved in life would have been possible without the rock of his existence, his wife Susan Wright, who is his guide 24/7.
Story: Suleiman Mustapha
