Appoint Competent persons to Boards-Pianim(Centre Spread) October 23, 2008

Story: Michael Donkor
AN economic consultant, Mr Kwame Pianim, has called on the government to ensure that persons appointed to chair the boards of state enterprises are competent and have the requisite expertise for such positions.
He said most board chairmen lacked adequate managerial skills, resulting in the poor performance of state enterprises.
Mr Pianim, who made the call when he delivered the 10th anniversary lecture of the Central University College in Accra last Tuesday, said “until the government learns to put round pegs in round holes”, state enterprises would continue to perform below expectation.
He was speaking on the topic, “Training Transformational Leaders: Paradigm shift in tertiary education; developments in the national economy; implications for tertiary education”.
He said the country lacked persons with the requisite skills for the transformation of the economy from an agriculture- dominated and raw material and commodity exporting nation into a modern and diversified economy capable of improving living standards.
He said the recent discovery of oil had exposed the gap in human resource development and added that that needed to be filled.
“We need the skills required to shift the centre of gravity of our economy from agriculture to non-agricultural activities,” he added.
Mr Pianim called for the institution of credible measures to meet the manpower needs of the new oil industry in the form of engineers, ICT and accounting personnel.
He said there was the need to develop managerial competence to manage economic affairs in such a way that the oil industry would not crowd out the non-oil sectors but rather become the generator of resources for transforming the economy into a technology-intensive, modern, resilient and agile economy capable of delivering improved living standards and protecting them from future external shocks.
Mr Pianim said the country needed the skills and tools of the emerging knowledge economy if it intended to participate fully and effectively in a digitally driven world economy.
He stressed the need for biotechnology research to be included in the curriculum of tertiary education.
He said participation in that strategic area was of critical importance for the economic and social progress of the nation and the development of the Savannah belt in particular.