Private businesses urged to uphold integrity, good corporate governance

The Deputy Head of Development Cooperation of Germany Embassy in Ghana, Mr Robin Cordes, has called on the private sector operators to embrace business integrity and good corporate governance in all their dealings. 

He said by ensuring business integrity and good corporate governance, the private sector could enforce trust, promote profitability, minimise corruption and create an enabling environment for business.

“It is worth mentioning that in an increasing world, corruption and integrity threaten the very survival of the private sector and by extension the global economy, this is why we have to work collectively towards the promotion of good corporate governance in countries around the world,” he said.

Speaking at a high- level dialogue on good corporate governance held on November 28  at the Labadi Beach Hotel in Accra, Mr Cordes stated that economic development was vital for the growth of every country, therefore, there was the need for good corporate governance in our institutions, especially the private sector as a key requirement for economic development.

He added that trust was a basic requirement for business as it ensured the smooth flow of transaction among different sectors in the economic system and that trust must be ensured.
 
Necessary Checks

The Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the Private Enterprise Federation, Mr Nana Osei Bonsu, for his part, said the private sector lacked a reference point needed for the necessary checks before individuals were employed.

That, he attributed to the high rise of corruption, lack of good corporate governance and integrity in the private sector as well as the public sector.

“Due to unavailability of data of employees in the country, people who lack integrity are given positions and employment they do not deserve as a result of their past records”, he said.

He, however, urged that Ghanaians embrace the Emp- verify ??? which was established by the Gavac Business Solutions to provide employee data, which would serve as a check point for employers to enforce trust in the sector and the country at large.
 
Lack of sanctions

The President of the Institute of Directors, Mr Rockson Dogbegah, called for a clearly defined sanction for individuals who do not conform to rules and regulations in the sector.

Mr Dogbegah explained that the sector lacked appropriate sanctions for individuals who violated the rules and regulations which had resulted in lack of integrity in the private sector.

He stated that the private sector needed to pay critical attention to the systems they had in place since some of these systems were not working.  

“There is the need to examine our system even though the systems are good, there is the need to improve on them to ensure that the systems are functioning properly”, he added.

Background

The dialogue was organised by the Alliance for Integrity under the auspices of the Ministry of Business Development, and with the support of the Private Enterprise Federation and Ghana Integrity Initiative to share ideas on good corporate governance and also suggest some solutions moving forward.