Africa-Press – Ghana. Golden Exotics Limited, a subsidiary of Group Companie Fruitiere, with its headquarters based in Marseille and also the largest fruit producer in Ghana on Tuesday, 28th March 2023, donated an amount of GHC 85,339.03 to the Nene Akakposu Educational Fund in Kasunya in the Shai Osudoku traditional area of the Greater Accra Region.
This exercise became necessary as a result of Golden Exotics’ commitment to fulfilling its corporate social responsibility in the area and also to contribute its quota to the United Nations Sustainable Development Goal 4 with a focus on ensuring inclusive and equitable quality education and promoting lifelong learning opportunities for all.
Led by Nene Narh Yobo Otutoto Akakposu V of the royal Tetteman family of Kasunya, and in their quest to deliberately raise inspiring leaders in the community, established the Educational Fund which was launched on 29th October 2016 with an initial capital of GHC 30,000.00 to enable brilliant but needy young people in the community to have access to quality education. This, the family believed will improve lives in the community in the near future.
In a short ceremony held at the Church of Pentecost , Kasunya Assembly, Mr. Mark Achel, Corporate Affairs Manager and Leader of the Golden Exotics delegation, in a remark noted that Golden Exotics became the sole contributor to the Educational Fund in 2018, following the need to give back to the society they operate in, which he believes is an ethical way of doing business and in line with the organization’s core values.
Mr. Achel indicated that his outfit will continue to support development in the area and urged parents and elders of the community to encourage their wards to take their studies seriously to make the best out of the scholarship opportunity and also seek help in choosing courses that are employable on the job market, to avoid high rate of unemployment in the area. However, he hinted that Golden Exotics is open to beneficiaries who meet the requirement to work towards productivity.
Mr. Ezekiel Dotse Masi, one of the fund managers, in a remark expressed gratitude to Golden Exotics Limited for the kind gesture offered to the many beneficiaries through the Educational Fund. He assured the managers of the sponsoring institution that with integrity, they should rest assured of a fair disbursement based on the allocations.
Mr. Christian Fiawoyipe, representative of the Chief at the ceremony also expressed his excitement and noted that the scholarship initiative is of great importance to the chief because the fund has been of immense help to the community and it is their prayer that someday the community will produce a lot more graduates to change the poor narrative of the area.
Bernice Gozah, a beneficiary who’s a continuing student at the University of Education, Winneba, in a statement, lauded the initiative of support to the fund which she’s currently benefiting from and expressed how exciting it is for her to be undertaking her internship based on the foundation of the support offered to her.
Bright Hobor, a beneficiary graduate from the University of Education, Winneba also expressed his joy and profound gratitude to Golden Exotics Limited for supporting the fund which he benefitted from and also added by saying, ‘’I’m happy, from the scholarship support, I currently have a job with my sponsors at the Fairtrade office, this is my appreciation to the company’’ I encourage all my colleagues not to waste this good opportunity. He also appealed to the management to consider supporting students at the Master’s level for them to further their graduate studies.
Pastor Gabriel Gatroh, the resident pastor of the church of Pentecost, Kasunya Assembly in a remark commended the scholarship initiative and admonished the fund managers to be fair and transparent in the disbursement of funds to bring peace and harmony.
Golden Exotics has since its establishment contributed greatly to the development of the Shai Osudoku traditional area and beyond, including a Six Unit classroom block for the Kasunya community with the intent of building more units, a Science Laboratory for the Osudoku Secondary Technical School in Asutsuare, an ultra-modern Creche, primary and JHS classroom blocks for Kewum and Atrobinya. So far the Educational Fund sponsored 128 young people and and counting.
Also in partnership with the Oye Foundation and support from Compagnie Fruitiere Foundation in Masseile, a Literacy Project for basic schools in the area was undertaken to improve the reading capability of the pupils in the surrounding communities.
Golden Exotics Limited, being the largest fruit producer in Ghana with not less than 90,000 tons of bananas (70,000 tons of conventional +20,000 tons of bio) is committed to promoting exemplary working conditions throughout its entire value chain as well as encouraging sustainable agriculture and activities with less impact on society for sustainable development.
Also present at the ceremony were Mr. Francis Amanortey, Community Relations Officer, and Ms. Lilian Yvonne Karikari, CSR and Sustainability lead from Golden Exotics among other well-wishers.
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