Over nearly two decades, A&C has earned the reputation for creativity and innovation in the building industry, and is perhaps best known for its flagship project A&C Mall – the first mall in Ghana, which evolved into the first mixed-use center, with a gross leasable area of 30,000m² laid out over five acres of prime land in the heart of Accra’s largest residential mid- to high-end community of East Legon.
Mr Asamoah is the founder and executive chairman of A&C Development Co. Ltd, which is comprised of, inter alia, the A&C Mall, A&C Corner and A&C Village. He is a barrister-at-law and a former director of the World Health Organization (WHO) headquarters in Geneva, Switzerland. Upon his return to Ghana in 2002 he conceived and built the first shopping mall in Ghana, known as the A&C Mall. Since then A&C Development Co. Ltd has become a fast-growing real-estate and construction company, building and managing properties in many parts of the capital city.
Mr Asamoah is a lawyer by profession with post-graduate qualifications in public administration, human resource development, public relations and journalism. He has written several extensive articles and reviews on a wide range of management, administrative and legal issues. He is a Fellow of the UK’s Royal Society of Arts, and is also a member of several professional associations and societies, including the Ghana and Nigeria Bar Associations, the American Society of International Law, the British Institute of Comparative Law, and many more.
He spent 30 years with the WHO, a specialized agency of the United Nations. He rose through the ranks to the top of the professional ladder occupying many important positions, including Chief of Personnel, Director of Career Development, Global Security Coordinator, and Director of Administration and Finance. He also served as an adviser to the WHO’s regional director for Europe, and a special adviser to its director general on constitutional matters.
He was also the chairman of the committee overseeing WHO staff health insurance worldwide, and served on the WHO Pension Fund Committee. He did coordination for the WHO Executive Board Review of the Constitution and Regional Arrangements and assisted the task force for the regional office for Africa. In addition he was a member of the working group to review the report of the Executive Board on the role of the WHO’s country representative.
Since returning to Ghana, he has served and continues to serve on a number of national and international bodies as well as non-profit organizations. Some of the boards include:
In recognition of the above he has been the recipient of several prestigious awards both locally and internationally. Among others, these include:
Andrew is married to Cecilia Asamoah, with whom he has three sons and a daughter. His hobbies are reading, sporting activities, listening to music and dancing.
Mrs Cecilia Asamoah is the wife of Andrew Asamoah and mother of their four children. She has joined her husband on their many global journeys, and is a pillar of strength to the whole family. Her calm and patient but firm demeanor complements her excellent management skills, high work ethic and top-quality customer service as the company secretary.
Edmund oversees the operations, project development and strategic growth divisions at A&C. He has been instrumental in developing A&C Mall –from concept through to implementation – and the transformation of the center to a mixed-use facility.
For 10 years he worked as a financial software professional specializing in enterprise resource planning (Oracle’s PeopleSoft) for US Fortune 500 companies. Having served in diverse positions as a consultant, business analyst, software developer and project manager, he has more than 15 years’ experience in real estate – from hotels, construction and commercial projects, to retail and commercial property management in Ghana.
Edmund has a BS degree in Finance and a BA in History from the University of North Carolina.
George is an economist, management scientist and population expert with over 25 years of experience in the planning, design, implementation, management, and evaluation of development policies and programs, especially in the areas of population and reproductive health. Considerable technical skills and experience in budgeting and programming gives him authority in high-level negotiations on national and regional development policies and programs, including on sensitive subjects affecting national development. He has substantial experience in representing the United Nations in countries with diverse complex situations, such as South Africa, Kenya, Lesotho, Sierra Leone, Somalia and Liberia.
Martyn Mensah holds a bachelor’s degree in Electrical and Electronic Engineering from the University of Bath (U.K),an MBA and a Diploma from Imperial College, London. He is a management professional with a passion for organizational strategy, business optimization, leadership, innovation and brand building. Over a career spanning some 30 years, he has accumulated a wealth of knowledge in the theory and practice of management. His experience has exposed him to the business environments in 14 African countries, 5 European countries, the USA, China, India, Taiwan and Australia. In addition to vast experience in working at the strategic level with a variety of organizations, Martyn has a strong track record of hands-on management and it is this that combines with his knowledge of management theory to make him an effective business leader and advisor.
Martyn has been instrumental in the development, growth and transformation of a number of companies in Africa. He has advised and/or led companies in the service, manufacturing, finance, agri-business and technology sectors. He played a significant role in the development of the strategies that transformed and modernized the tertiary education sector in Ghana. A few years ago, he was ranked 3rd on the PriceWaterhouseCoopers list of Ghana’s Most Respected CEO’s, which is decided by a poll of peer Chief Executives.
Currently, he has returned to his management consulting roots as partner of the management consulting firm he founded 15 years ago. Up until April 2017, he was the Chief Executive Officer of UT Holdings, a privately held investment company which owns a diversified portfolio of subsidiaries and in this role, he supervised business operations in Ghana, Nigeria, South Africa, Mauritius and the United Kingdom. In addition to actively leading a major restructuring and optimization process, he also initiated, negotiated and closed significant transactions to rationalize and strengthen the Group’s portfolio of investments.
He is Chairman of the Board of Petra Trust, one of the top 3 pensions trustee companies in Ghana. Until August 2017, he was a member of the board (chaired the Audit Committee) of Guinness Ghana Breweries Ltd., the local subsidiary of Diageo PLC. In addition, Martyn is a member of the advisory board of Outsized Plc, a UK based consulting service integrator with a rapidly growing number of clients in Asia, Africa and Europe. He was a pioneer in the establishment of private electronic media in Ghana as a member of the team that introduced Ghana’s first private television service (MNET/MultiChoice) in July 1993. As a member of MultiChoice’s Africa Executive team, he participated in designing and implementing the strategy that rolled its services out across Africa with significant success.
He tries to give back to society through the not-for-profit organizations whose boards he serves on, including the Zawadi Foundation and the Cardinal Turkson Fund for Health and Education. He has also assessed submissions to the Ghana Academy of Arts & Sciences awards committee in the management category. He is a member of the Institute of Directors in Ghana, Nigeria and the United Kingdom and a member of the Chartered Institute of Marketing.
Martyn possesses specialist knowledge in corporate strategy formulation & implementation, business operations improvement, business process optimization, innovation, marketing, mergers and acquisitions, transaction negotiation and structuring, change & post-merger integration, stakeholder management, organizational culture design, corporate finance and project management.
Ms Josephine Jennifer Amoah is a chartered insurer by profession, a Fellow of the Insurance Institute of Ghana, and a Fellow of the African Leadership Initiative West Africa (ALIWA).
She holds a BSc degree in Administration from the University of Ghana and is an Associate of the Chartered Insurance Institute. She had her secondary school education at Wesley Girls’ High School. Ms Amoah worked with Vanguard Assurance Company Ltd, one of the top insurance companies in Ghana, for 22 years and rose to the position of Joint Chief Executive Officer.
In 2001 she was appointed Commissioner of Insurance, making her responsible for the regulation of the insurance industry in Ghana and the day-to-day administration of the National Insurance Commission. During her tenure in office she introduced legal reforms that transformed the insurance industry in Ghana and brought the insurance business in Ghana in line with international practice.
Ms Amoah spearheaded the establishment of the Ghana Insurance College, which has brought about phenomenal changes in professional insurance training in Ghana. She has been a member of the Presidential Committee for the Promotion and Revitalisation of Industry and served on Care International’s Advisory Committee on Micro-Insurance. She was a member of the board of directors of the National Health Insurance Authority, and a member of the Presidential Commission on Pensions. She was also a member of the board of trustees for the Millennium Excellence Awards 2005, and the chairperson of the Financial Sector Regulators Meeting.
Internationally Ms Amoah served in various capacities, notable among them as an executive committee member of the International Association of Insurance Supervisors (IAIS) and regional coordinator for Sub-Saharan Africa. She was also a member of the governing council of the West African Insurance Institute (WAII), and the first chairperson of West African Insurance Supervisors (WAIS).
She is currently Chief Executive Officer of Insurance Solutions Limited and is an independent trustee for the private pension schemes of Guinness Ghana Ltd, Newmont Ghana Ltd and HFC Bank (Ghana) Ltd.
Ms Amoah has the following awards to her name:
Ernest Hanson has an enthusiasm and drive that has seen him accomplish exciting things in his 35 years. Born in Accra and raised in Aslyum Down, Laterbiokorshie and Cape Coast, Ernest finished his schooling abroad. He attended boarding school in the UK and then went on to become a graduate of the London School of Economics.
Prior to moving back to Ghana, Ernest worked in investment banking in London. His last role was as an equity analyst for Lehman Brothers. On returning to Ghana, Ernest had the vision to transform family land in Shiashi and create new modern living in the form of Asantewaa Gardens Townhouses. The success of Asantewaa Gardens, which saw Ernest take an initial investment of $80,000 and turn it into $1.2 million, meant Ernest was able to attract further financing and partner with a friend to found Clifton Homes.
Clifton Homes delivered five residential developments in Accra in three years, all of which sold out in less than a week. The work done with Clifton has had an impact in Accra, which saw a greater shift to apartment building and a new way of living for Ghanaians and non-Ghanaian residents in the country.
As Ernest’s skills grew, he sold Clifton Homes as he was interested in broadening his knowledge and property development abilities – hence Beaufort Properties was born.
Ernest continues to look at the exciting growth of Ghana and the changing needs of its population – be it high-end luxury at affordable prices, the emerging middle class, or the diaspora with a desire to connect to home.
“I think success and passion go hand in hand,” says Ernest, whose passion for providing beautiful homes to a market longing for properties that respond to their desires and financial abilities will keep him going from success to success.
As Regional Town Planning Director for Western Region Pln. Osei in 2013 supervised the preparation of a Regional Spatial Development Framework to guide development in the oil rich Western Region. The first of its kind in Ghana.
Mr K D Osei was also the National Team Leader in the preparation a National Spatial Development Framework for Ghana in 2015.
He has coordinated and/or been involved in other major national projects such as the Kotoka International Airport’s Airport City, the National Street Naming and Property Address System for Ghana, the Land Use and Spatial Planning Act,2016 ( Act 925 ) which converted Town and Country Planning Department to an Authority named the Land Use and Spatial Planning Authority ( LUSPA ).
Pln. K D Osei serves on a number of Boards including the Governing Board of the National Lands Commission and Chairman of the Eastern Region Board of the Commission.
He is currently the Executive Chairman and Chairman of the Board of Trustees of RADFORD University College.
While countries all over the world are giving their cities a face lift to meet contemporary standards, the same cannot be said about Accra. The country’s capital city, Accra is fast growing by all international standards and is aspiring to become the gateway to the sub region, but the facilities in the city cannot even be compared to that in neighboring Ivory Coast. It lacks major modern infrastructure that gives a city a good look and makes it a healthy haven for habitation. This calls for a more serious and concerted collaboration by the country’s city managers/planners to ensure that our cities, particularly Accra, are properly planned to be able to rub shoulders with their peers worldwide. But it must be noted that government alone cannot beautify Accra, let alone the country’s other cities.
Individuals as well as benevolent organizations can also help in this direction. We should remember the wise saying of former US president John F. Kennedy: “Ask not what your country can do for you –ask what you can do for your country.”
This famous adage proved an inspiration to Ghanaian philanthropist and retired diplomat Andrew Kwabena Asamoah, a former director of the World Health Organization in Geneva, Switzerland.
“Having worked with the prestigious international organization close to 30 years, I decided to return home and do something for my motherland,” says Andrew. “A&C Development was formed in December 2000 to provide shopping malls, leisure complexes and luxury estate facilities to Ghanaians and international travelers wanting to explore the rich culture and the many attractions Ghana has to offer.”
The shopping mall, which is the first phase of the multi-million dollar project, is located in the heart of East Legon, a flamboyant suburb in Accra.
He believes this concept will change the way Ghanaians and residents of Ghana shop and enjoy their time, because it is aimed at bringing the facilities to the doorsteps of suburbanites, who won’t have to travel to the Accra business district to do shopping.
This would also help decongest the perennial traffic jams on our limited roads, as well as afford residents the opportunity to take advantage of the one-stop shopping and leisure facilities as enjoyed in other parts of the world.
He says: “Cities in the world have resorted to bringing multipurpose shopping mall activities closer to the people in residential areas; in Ghana most shopping services are not within reach of consumers. Those who travel to say London or New York will note that shopping centers have been moved from the West End and Manhattan respectively to the doorsteps of the inhabitants in the suburbs.”
The lack of first-class shopping malls and leisure complexes has compelled residents in these areas to travel long distances for their shopping needs.
“My ambition is to ignite the retail sector in Ghana,” says Andrew. “After three decades in the diaspora, a conscious decision was taken to come back home and contribute positively to the development of my country. With support from my spouse and children we decided to go into construction and real-estate development. A&C is a predominantly family-run business guided by our core values of integrity, teamwork, dedication to excellence, loyalty and discipline. Our driving force is client satisfaction, and we employ the most talented team of professionals to help us deliver well planned and designed projects. Sound judgment, good planning and strong leadership has been the cornerstone of A&C since it was formed.”
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