I humbly present to you, 40 facts about the last "JOHN" of the 4th Republic.
• That, Alan is very knowledgable person. He entered the prestigious Adisasel College at a record age of 9 years, proceeded to the University of Ghana, Legon for his first degree, and later, LLB. Thus, Alan is a lawyer, businessman, diplomat, and more importantly, economist.
• That, Hon. Alan John Kyerematen, acts as the bridge between the young and the old as he turns 61 years by October 2016. He could be sworn in as president in 2017 at age 62, which is the same age as then Prez Kufuor.
• That, Alan was a senior corporate executive with UAC Ghana Ltd, a subsidiary of Unilever International, where he worked in various managerial positions with distinction until 1984.
• That, in 1998, Alan was appointed by the UNDP as the first Regional Director of ENTERPRISE AFRICA.
• That, under that framework, he established enterprise support institutions and programmes in 13 Sub-Saharan Africa countries, including Botswana, Nigeria, Senegal, South Africa. Over 4,000 African entrepreneurs and small businesses have benefited from these programmes.
• That, between 1984 and 1990, he participated and managed a number of major private and public sector consulting assignments in Ghana, as a Principal Consultant and Head of Public Systems Management with the Management Development and Productivity Institute (MDPI).
• That, Alan is a member of the Council of Governors of the British Executive Service Overseas (BESO) in the UK.
• That, in 1994, Alan was listed by the TIME Magazine as one of the Hundred (100) Global Leaders for the new millennium, alongside Bill Gates (Microsoft Corporation), John F. Kennedy Jr., and others.
• That, he has served as a trade advisor at the UN Economic Commission for Africa (ECA) in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.
• That, he has headed the African Trade Policy Centre (ATPC); a centre created by the ECA to strengthen the human and institutional capacities of African governments for sound trade policies.
• That, he was designated as a Special Envoy of the African Union to hold consultations with selected African Heads of State prior to the 18th African Union Summit of Heads of State and Government in January 2012.
• That, Ghana on 17th December, 2012, nominated Alan for the post of WTO Director-General to succeed the then current Director-General, Mr Pascal Lamy, whose term of office was to expire on 31 August 2013.
• That, Alan's candidature received the backing of the Africa Union (AU), but he did not make the final shortlist for the position.
• That, Alan established the US-Ghana Economic Council, a high-level advocacy and advisory group meant to deepen economic relations and bilateral trade between Ghana and the United States.
• That, Alan coordinated Government’s re-negotiation of the Westel agreement with Western Wireless, and Valco Agreement with Kaiser Aluminium Company. In the end the government of Ghana purchased VALCO at $20m during the Kufuor regime.
• That, Alan was instrumental in the coordination and implementation of the first Investment Forum in the United States to showcase the economic potential of each of the 10 regions of Ghana. This has increased foreign direct investment in Ghana.
• That, Alan established the first web-based Ghana Skills Bank, a database designed to facilitate access to Ghanaian professionals and experts worldwide.
• That, Alan initiated the Ghana Cultural Centre in the United of States to promote the country's culture in the US, especially among Ghanaians living abroad.
• That, Alan developed an “Operation Save Your Schools Programme” for Ghana residents in the United States to assist their alma mater (primary/middle school) back home.
• That, it was through Alan's negotiation skills that Cosmos Energy came to Ghana to discover oil in commercial quantities. The oil find gives Ghana $2billion a month.
• That, Alan started the negotiation on the release of $547m from the US government through the Millennium Challenge Accounts (MCA) to alleviate poverty in Ghana. The 14km George Walker Bush road is a living testimony.
• That, in 2003, Alan was appointed as the Cabinet Minister with responsibility for Trade, Industry and the President’s Special Initiatives (PSI).
• That, Alan built $8.5 million state-of-the-art factory, which produces high grade industrial starch from cassava for export to key markets in Europe, Africa and Asia.
• That, the starch initiative created over 10,000 jobs and piloted a new innovative approach in rural industry development based on the concept of Corporate Village Enterprises.
• That, the Ayensu Starch factory has been bought by the Guinness Ghana Breweries Limited (GGBL) this year to produce beer for consumption.
• That, Alan constructed a multi-million dollar enclave within the Tema Free Zone, for the manufacturing of garments for the export.
• That, the enclave is also being extended and converted to accommodate similar facilities for Furniture Manufacturing and an ICT Park, thus converting part of the Free Zones into a Multi-purpose Industrial Park.
• That, the revival of the Oil Palm industry in Ghana, achieving a phenomenal growth in seedlings' supply from 250,000 seedlings per annum in 2001 to 4 million as at the end of 2004, from twelve nursery sites was Alan's initiative. Over 102,000 hectares Oil palm plantation have been cultivated.
• That, he expanded the Salt mining operations in Ghana to provide a stable raw material base for the development of a caustic soda industry to feed other manufacturing industries.
• That, Alan implemented the Districts Industrialization Programme, a comprehensive programme for rural industrialization involving the setting up of at least one medium-sized factory in each administrative district in Ghana. Thus, districts that grow oranges would have Orange Factory, those with coconut, tomatoes, shea-nuts would have similar factories.
• That, he initiated, directed and managed the preparations for the hosting of UNCTAD XII in Ghana, and introduced for the first time in the history of UNCTAD Conferences, the World Investment Forum which has now become a major calendar event for UNCTAD.
• That, he coordinated and supervised the hosting by Ghana of the Sixth United States-Africa Summit in 2006, and played a key role in negotiating changes in the Africa Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA). The AGOA has enabled Ghanaian exporters to enter the US market.
• That, Alan has been promoting Made-in-Ghana products through campaigns such as the highly successful “National Friday Wear” programme, giving jobs to many dressmakers and tailors.
• That, Alan's PSI on Distance Education has enabled many Ghanaian workers to acquire higher degrees. This has improved productivity and living standards.
• That, he led the process of preparing a $200-million implementation blueprint, called the Trade Sector Support Programme (TSSP), which was launched in Ghana in October 2005.The major component activities being implemented include the establishment of Export Trade Houses, the establishment of a “Furniture City” at Tema - an enclave for manufacturers of wood export products, the establishment of product galleries to promote Made-in-Ghana goods and the establishment of a Technology Innovation Center for Capital Goods Manufacturing.
• That, Alan negotiated a $45 million loan facility with the World Bank to promote SME development in Ghana.
• That, he was the Chairman of the ECOWAS Council of Trade Ministers at the critical stages of launching the EU-ECOWAS EPA negotiations.
• That, he was the only Trade Minister from Africa to have been selected as a panelist on Trade during the 2006 World Economic Forum in Davos.
• That, Alan played a key role in shaping Africa’s Trade Policy agenda in the WTO Multilateral Negotiations and the EU-ACP Economic Partnership Agreement Negotiations. He was one of the lead negotiators for Africa in the WTO Ministerial Conference in Cancun in 2003, and also participated in the high-level “Green Room” consultations during the Hong Kong WTO Conference in December 2005.
• That, Alan wants to provide result-oriented leadership for Ghanaians. He intends to harness the talent and capability of everyone to create equal opportunities for Ghanaians. He has an integrated development plan that will utilize our natural resources to solve our problems. Who thought of converting cassava into a commercial product in Ghana? His vision is to create jobs for the people, and modernise mother Ghana.
With the above, I believe Alan stands tall among his compatriots to lead both the NPP and Ghana to economic independence. Kindly, join the Get Alan Kyerematen Elected (GAKE) in our quest to make this dream materialise. GAKE; one more change for power!
Think Alan! Think Power!
Katakyie Kwame Opoku Agyemang, Asante Bekwai-Asakyiri. (National Coordinator) Email: katakyienpp@yahoo.co.uk
Mobile: 0547851100 : 0264931361 : 0202471070
"Vision, coupled with persistency, results in true success"
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