France Alumni Ghana elects new executive

The France Alumni Ghana, an online and professional network, has elected new executive officers to run the affairs of the Association.

The France Alumni Ghana Platform seeks to bring together as many Ghanaian professionals as possible who once lived, worked or studied in France, to form a body that would facilitate international, economic, cultural and linguistic exchanges among members.

The elected executive officers include Mrs Florence Vanderpuiye, President, Mr Maurice Mawugbe, Vice President, Ms Makafui Dordoh, Secretary and Ms Ruth Fordjour, Treasurer.

Madam Anne Sophie Avè, the French Ambassador to Ghana, in an interview with the Ghana News Agency on the side-lines of the event in Accra, underscored the need for Ghanaians, particularly students, to maximise their job opportunities.

She said Ghana was being surrounded by Francophone countries, therefore, Ghanaians having a command over the French Language would widen their communication skills for better negotiations within the West Africa sub-Region and on the global front.

Hence, Madam Avè noted that it was appropriate to raise a network of young people who could speak French, have studied in France and who were able to keep close links with the French universities, and promote the study of French in Ghana.

She said currently, there were about 250 Ghanaian students in France and only a hand full of French students, who could speak French alongside other Languages.

She noted that the network could help strengthen the French-Ghanaian relations as both nations had so much to offer each other.

Dr Eric Graham, the Co-Patron of France Alumni Ghana, said the teaching and learning of French could help solve issues concerning unemployment in the country.

He said considering the opportunities within the West African sub-region alone, doing business would require that professionals had knowledge about the Language to be able to communicate and read documents.

“Let us assume some individuals from neighbouring countries want to clear their goods at the port, and the clearing agents cannot speak French, so we all need to learn to meet opportunities that exist,” he added.

He said there were centres including the Alliance Francaise Ghana, which could help in the learning of French as it had various packages for training and effective learning.

Mrs Vanderpuiye, on her part, said her vision was to see French being spoken and as a tool for development in every corner of the country.

She said as Ghana was surrounded by French-speaking countries, learning French would imply Ghanaians were ready to compete for economic growth.