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Helping Ghanaians in the diaspora execute projects successfully

Thu, 20 Jun 2013 Source: Kofi Thompson

Over the years, I have come across horrific stories of betrayal, in which close family members and friends of Ghanaians in the Diaspora, have duped those hard-working Ghanaians residing overseas - who have sent various sums of money to Ghana for projects, which never materialised.

Instead of having to go through the hassle and loss of hard-to-replace cash involved in finding reliable and honest individuals they can count on, on a trial-and-error basis, surely, there ought to be businesses in Ghana, which could specialise in overseeing sundry projects financed by Ghanaians in the Diaspora?

Currently, for example, my partner and I are committed to helping a childhood friend who works and resides in the United States of America, to successfully execute projects that have previously stalled - for lack of reliable oversight in the execution of the multi-faceted projects.

Although doing so on a purely voluntary basis, and working with a team he put together, we shall ensure that no one takes him for a ride - as our own integrity will be at stake. Being old-fashioned, our word is our bond - so we intend to help him successfully realise all his plans.

It is Ghanaians like him who will help create jobs in Ghana and help make our nation prosperous.

Perhaps the wealth management teams of financial services sector companies that cater for the high net worth individuals niche, ought to think about assisting individuals in the Diaspora such as my childhood friend - by offering them a blue-chip service that enables them successfully complete their projects from their overseas bases safe, in the knowledge that the best architects, surveyors, quantity surveyors, building engineers, lawyers etc., and the highest quality building materials will be used in the execution of their projects.

Food for thought for innovative and dynamic companies like the UT Group and Guardian Assurance perhaps? A bespoke service, with regular status reports, helping high net-worth Ghanaians in the diaspora to execute their projects in Ghana successfully could turn out to be a very lucrative niche for Ghana's financial services sector indeed.

Columnist: Kofi Thompson