As Ghana heads towards another election in 2012, the attention of Ghanaians home and abroad, is increasingly turning to the quality of leadership the nation needs for 2012 and beyond.

Ghana still has monumental challenges that must be overcome The next president must have a clear, concise vision with a well thought out strategic plan to propel the country to the next level of sustainable economic development to significantly improve the quality of life of Ghanaians, particularly the poor. An emerging economy, such as ours no doubt requires an astute leader who personally understands the dynamics of global trade and economics. As Ghana continues to experience its longest history of political stability, it needs a leader who will capitalize on this achievement to unify the nation and ensure true economic independence for all Ghanaians. It is paramount for the next president to be energetic, purposeful and visionary with personal traits of honesty, integrity, humility and emotional stability.

The person who meets all these criteria is Alan John Kwadwo Kyerematen,

Alan, an economist, management consultant and attorney of the law, has over the years proven himself in both business development and politics. Time Magazine in 1994 listed him as one of the top 100 most promising global leaders for the millennium, alongside Bill Gates and the late J.F. Kennedy Jr.

Alan has the dedication, drive and tenacity to energetically transform his vision and ideas for Ghana into reality. A results-oriented pragmatist, Alan sees opportunity in every difficult situation and is fully convinced that our socio-economic challenges can be adequately overcome by good leadership.

Now, let’s discuss Alan’s efficient and effective leadership skills in past action. In this article, I highlight Alan’s role in the creation of EMPRETEC, an international model of entrepreneurship development in small and medium enterprise.

Empretec: Ghana and Beyond.

Alan set up and served as the first national director of Empretec Ghana in October 1990, the first Empretec project in Africa under the National Board for Small Scale Industries, Barclays Bank Ghana Ltd. and UNDP sponsorship. Empretec Ghana’s record was phenomenal and was dubbed the “best practice” institution in Small and Medium Enterprises (SME) development by international leaders and experts. From the outset, Alan set out to build Empretec Ghana as an institution of excellence and a one stop entrepreneurial development service center for the Ghanaian environment. Under his dynamic leadership, Empretec Ghana rapidly expanded from a staff of 4 to 70 and from Accra to four regional capital centers of Ghana. Within three years, Empretec Ghana transformed itself into an independent business development service institution with Alan Kyerematen as its CEO. Empretec from its inception offered a comprehensive and integrated range of business development services for its clients. Through his vision, innovation and leadership skills, Alan was able to turn Empretec into a flagship program serving many small and medium size business across Ghana. It is on record that at least eighty percent of all successful Ghanaian business enterprises have at one point or the other taken part in Empretec’s business enrichment programs.

Alan was instrumental in negotiating funding support from the overseas development administrative offices of the UK, Canada, the World Bank and the European Union for Empretec. He rightly preaches and practices a highly commercial approach to sustaining enterprise development services. Alan, from his early leadership years, believed that providing business development services and facilitating access to financial capital for Small and Medium Enterprises (SME) from a variety of sources including stock markets provided the best approach for promoting private enterprise expansion and subsequent stronger national economic growth. He is quoted as saying:

“If you have stronger companies in Africa that have greater access to financial capital as well as non-financial services critical for their growth, then there is the potential for creating more sustainable jobs which can lead to poverty reduction”

Alan, with a vision of poverty reduction in mind for the greater Africa continent, in 1998 moved from Empretec Ghana to promote and implement his successful Empretec concept across the continent of Africa. Alan was appointed the first regional Director of Enterprise Africa - a regional program mandated by the United Nations Development Program to replicate the Empretec program that Alan had successfully implemented in Ghana. Over the next five years Alan went to work tirelessly to ensure the fruition of that goal. This quote of Alan speaks volumes:

“If Africa is to be considered as the last frontier of economic development, then we have to take our small and medium enterprise seriously. It has been established that any country that has achieved sustained economic growth re-engineered its small and medium enterprise sector”

Under the umbrella of the Enterprise Africa Program, Alan successfully expanded Empretec to Zimbabwe, Botswana, Ethiopia, Namibia, Nigeria, Mauritius, Mozambique, South Africa, Uganda, Cameroon and Senegal to mention but a few.

Ladies and gentlemen, the Alan you don’t know:

He is passionate about Ghana and Africa Has fresh and innovative ideas to meet the challenges of our time He is inclusive, positive, uplifting, visionary and competent Alan has the humility, temperament, and the tenacity to lead the country He is a results-oriented person with a clear and solid vision for our nation He has the integrity and courage to drive an ambitious agenda for the nation He will place the nation’s interest first above self interest pursuits He has a formidable track record of excellence and accomplishments

The Presidency is ultimately about Vision and Ideas and assembling a competent team to implement the president’s agenda. Alan’s vision for Ghana’s transformation are encapsulated in his four pillars of success; Industrialization, Infrastructural Development, Information & Communication Technology and Tourism. He has proven in his over 25+ years of service in both the private and public sectors that he has what it takes to take Ghana to the next level.

Honorable members of the expanded NPP Electoral College should do the right thing this time around and elect as its flag bearer the one man who the nation is yearning for who can create jobs not just for a few people but in all the regions of our beloved country and put cash in our pockets.

The independent voters and the silent majority in the NDC are waiting on you to do what they cannot do at this stage of the contest because of political expediency. Once you help Alan clear the first hurdle on August 7, VICTORY IS ASSURED IN 2012.

LADIES AND GENTLEMEN, VOTE FOR ALAN J.K. KYEREMATEN AS NPP’S NEXT PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE.

Collins Sarfo