A block laying ceremony to signify the construction of a GH¢12,875,250.15 office complex for the Ghana Employers’ Association was performed in Accra, on Thursday.
The three-storey office edifice was being built on a parcel of land in North Ridge, Accra and is expected to be completed in three years.
The ultra-modern office complex will comprise of state-of-the art conference (training) facility for members and non-members of the Association, a minimum of 43 offices excluding a reception foyer, board room, canteen and other important requirements of the office.
The edifice has been designed to economically optimise the value of the land and enable the Association maximise and adopt various strategies to promote a smooth private sector growth in Ghana.
Addressing the ceremony, Mr Roland Darko, President of the Ghana Employers’ Association (GEA) said the funding of the project was mainly from the payment of a special levy by members of the Association.
Mr Darko said GEA was born in 1959 as a post- independence body with the aim of bringing employers together to protect their common interests especially in their dealings with Labour and Government.
The President said, since the inception of the GEA from 1959 to the year 2000, the GEA secretariat was located at Adabraka Kojo Thompson Road.
He said the leadership in 2000 realised that the location was no longer conducive for the business of employers and so decided to relocate the office to the State Enterprises Commission building in February 2001, which was where they have been till today, inspite of threat of ejection by the Landlords.
Mr Darko said GEA acquired the site in March 2011 from the Government through the Lands Commission.
He said, the completion of the project will help improve the image and credibility of the Association; It will help improve GEA’s advocacy programmes and above all facilitate the work of the secretariat whilst members will be able to utilise the facility for their meetings, conference and seminars among others.
He said the two most critical challenges facing employers in the country are the high cost of capital and high cost of electricity.
According to him, the two challenges remain the most expensive components of doing business in Ghana.
He therefore, urged government to continue to improve the macro-economic environment in order to ease the cost of doing business in the country.
By Daniel Amoo
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