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Ghana
The gateway to west Africa. |
 Accra International Conference Centre (AICC)
Interview with
Mr. Kwabena Baah-Duodu ,
Former Director
July 15th 1999
Contact :
P. O. Box C 1054
Cantonments, Accra - Ghana.
Tel: (233 2)1 66 96 00/66 97 00
Fax: (233-21) 66 98 25
E-mail: gepc@ighmail.com
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Q.1 Could you tell us about the origins of the Accra International Conference Center?
A.1 It all started in 1989 during the ninth summit of the Non-Aligned Movement meeting in Belgrade, when a decision was taken that the Ministerial Conference should be held in Accra. At that time we did not have any conference center of this stature so the government decided to build a conference center to be the venue for the meeting. Works started in 1990 and were completed in 1991. The ministerial meeting was held in 1991 and since then this place has been the host of about 350 conferences.
We needed a meeting place not only for government to government business but also for the private sector.
I also think this came in a very good time. Before the conference center we had the State House which is just opposite. It was used for the OAU summit in 1965. But the conference facilities there are very small. It is now being used as Parliament House.
Q.2 Could you just give us some statistics about the center? Could you tell us how many rooms it has and what its services capacity is?
A.2 It took us about a year to build i.e. 1990 to 1991. Built by Yugoslav contractors, the conference center has a main auditorium which can take close to 1600 delegates for a conference. And when it is time for musical shows or concerts it can take over 2000 people. It is a multipurpose center. In addition to that we have 2 halls which have a seating capacity of 280 delegates and there are 3 meeting rooms, 2 with a seating capacity of 54 and one with a seating capacity of 34. There is also a separate press center where pressmen sit and cover anything that they want. In fact during the visit of President Clinton all the pressmen were based here and they were transmitting to their various witnesses.
Q.3 So it has all the means for communication?
A.3 Yes, it has all the means for communication; phones, e-mail, fax, etc.
Q.4 How many people work here when you have events going on for example during the African African-American Summit?
A.4 There was a national planing committee which was based here and they were about 120 members. In addition to that there were the ordinary workers who are here; the cleaners, the technical people, we have about 16 technicians, 4 engineers and then the administrative staff. The administrative staff are just 4; myself, my administrative assistant, the accountant and the secretary. Apart from conferences we also host other things like seminars and exhibitions, depending on what the client wants.
Q.5 Are you competing with the National Theater?
A.5 No. We do not see ourselves in competition with the National Theater. We give them what we cannot take.
Q.6 Most people come to you first?
A.6 Most people come to us first. And if we think what is going to be held does not befit our status we give it to them.
Q.7 Talking about status, the African African-American Summit was held two months ago, what other important conferences have taken place here?
A.7 We have had the UN Environment conference for Africa, we have had the ECOWAS summit and the Ministerial summits, the OAU ministerial meetings, and a host of other meetings. It has also played host to personalities like Nelson Mandela , and some other important people.
Q.8 President Clinton?
A.8 President Clinton was not in this hall as such. It was the pressmen and the assistants and those who were doing the negotiations behind the scenes. It was a one day visit so most of their meetings were rather in the castle.
| Q.9 Can you tell us who sponsors all these conferences?
A.9 We make our money by directly charging the organizers of the conference. There is not a permanent structure which manages this place at the moment. I am seconded from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. But if the Ministry of Foreign Affairs is organizing something I charge them for it.
Q.10 Architecturally, the building itself is quite impressive, it is a real landmark in Accra. What does it represent for Ghana as a whole?
A.10 It represents the new Ghana. It represents a nation in a march towards what we are trying to do for ourselves, a march towards our Vision 2020. It provides the platform for some of our initial discussions and negotiations which have to be undertaken on either government to government bases or business to business bases or vice-versa.
Q.11 Are you proud to be director of this institution which brings people from all over the world to Ghana?
A.11 I am. Because we directly see the translation into fruition of some of the things that we are about to do. If you are not able to get the business you see that you cannot pay your bills. But if you are able to attract more business then you will be able to make it and put something aside for the government.
Q.12 What are your projects for the future?
A.12 I want the center not only to be a host of meetings. We want to be a host of meetings but we should also be able to provide accommodation for delegates so we are thinking about the future in terms of having a very decent luxury hotel just across. And we want the private sector to take that up.
We are trying to get investors interested in it because this is a prime area. Others have come and talked about it but we have not seen any movements yet. We do not want a 3 star kind of hotel. We want a 5 star hotel.
Q.13 Who has approached you so far?
A.13 We have been approached by some companies and the government has done a study to prove that. The door is still open for more investors. We are looking at a situation where in the near future if the hotel is built and manned by a reputable firm then it could even take over the management of the conference center. Because we want to ensure that this place is well managed all the time. Since the private sector has a vital role to play in the development of this nation, we want to pull the private sector in because when it is government owned there are certain impediments that we cannot always tackle. We would probably have made more money than now. But then we have to walk the straight line. I think if it is in the private sector they can do certain things we cannot do.
Q.14 As a final question, what would be your final message to Forbes readers in the United States?
A.14 Ghana has for the past many years been trying to get out of poverty, we have been trying to build ourselves a country which we can all be proud of. And we have put in place some economic structures which we think will do well in both business and the private. We think investors both foreign and local can make good money here and this place is an ocean of stability and peace in the sub-region and so investment is safe and our constitution guarantees that. We have an independent provisionary , we have a vibrant government and press so your investment is safe. If you look around we are trying as much as possible to improve the conditions as much as possible for investors, that is why we have the Gateway Project in existence. So we want to see Ghana in the future with more business because it means we would have more meetings, more conferences, more investor-trader or investor-investor meetings and also government to government meetings. |
© World INvestment NEws, 1999.
This is the electronic edition of the special country report on Ghana published in Forbes Global Magazine.
March 20th 2000 Issue.
Developed by AgenciaE.Tv |
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GHANA
