Western Union Holds Regional Conference in Accra

Western Union International has held its annual Marketing and Operations conference in Ghana. The 4-day event dubbed "Western Union Accra 2002 Conference", brought together Western Union representatives from all over the world to Accra.

Among those at the opening ceremony were Mr. J.H Mensah, Senior Minister and Leader of Government Business, Mr. Vanlare Dosoo Deputy Governor of Bank of Ghana, Dr.

Konadu Apraku, Minister of Trade and Dr. Kofi Amoah CEO, Progeny Ventures.

The focus of the conference was service quality to the customer.

Mr. Dosoo who was the guest of honour said inflow of foreign currency into Ghana through remittances amounts to approximately 400 million dollars, approximately 20% of Ghana's export earnings and is equal to approximately the expected earnings from cocoa export for 2001.

The money transfer business is therefore not only a big business for Western Union but for the economy as a whole.

"To promote a sound banking and financial system, the Bank of Ghana will exercise vigorously its regulatory oversight responsibilities to protect service providers and customers in the financial sector from excessive risk. It also means greater selectivity in the licensing of new institutions, to attract international competitive and respectable institutions that have the capital and product innovation track record needed to deepen the financial system, increase its dynamism and provide an effective link to the global market place," he said.

Mr. J.H. Mensah said the transfer of 150 million dollars in one year is a remarkable achievement because takes it thousands of workers in the mining and cocoa industry to achieve that. He encouraged Western Union to find innovate ways to turn the money transfer into savings funds.

The President of Western Union International Mr. Bill Thomas, said meeting the Agent Partners presented an opportunity to appreciate and understand the various issues they face as business partners.

He said Western Union was first introduced in Ghana in 1994 as the first country in Africa through the efforts of Dr. Kofi Amoah, CEO of Progeny Ventures Inc. Western Union is now available in 188countries.

He said in his travels around the world, he has realized that all the Agents Partners have a dedication to their customer, and Africa presents a success story.

Western Union Agents/sub agents in Ghana now include Agricultural Development Bank, Ecobank, Ghana Post and Global Access Limited.