Accra, Oct. 11, GNA – Professor Dzodzi Tsikata, Director, Institute of African Studies, University of Ghana, has lauded AngloGold Ashanti for supporting the Institute in its efforts to expand its research into Africa’s contribution to global development.
She also expressed gratitude to AngloGold Ashanti for collaborating with the Institute to make the AngloGold Ashanti Lecture on Business in Africa series a success once again.
Prof Tsikata gave the commendation at the Seventh AngloGold Ashanti Lecture on Business in Africa.
This year, the annual event, which is being organized under the auspices of the Kwame Nkrumah Chair of the Institute of African Studies, University of Ghana, was held virtually due to the COVID-19 pandemic on the theme: « Building a Resilient, Sustainable Organisation during a Global Pandemic – Lessons from COVID-19 for Africa. »
“The intersection of interests may not be obvious to all, and we are eternally appreciative that Anglogold Ashanti had the foresight and deep understanding to see the importance of engaging with a community such as ours that studies Africa from African centered perspectives as a contribution to the regeneration of Africa and its peoples.”
Prof Tsikata said the Lecture series was instituted in recognition of Anglo-gold Ashanti’s role in endowing the Kwame Nkrumah Chair in African Studies, a chair established in 2007 with a two-fold aim.
“We are truly pleased and proud that we have been able to sustain these lecture series since the first was delivered in 2009. We have also had remarkable success in terms of the caliber of speakers we have attracted,” Prof Tsikata said.
The Institute of African Studies she said was established in 1961 through the instrumentality of Ghana’s first President, Osagyefo Dr Kwame Nkrumah, who insisted that Africa’s own thinkers in all spheres take center-stage in all conversations about their continent and that their views become decisive in shaping the narratives about Africa.
Madam Christine Ramon, Interim Chief Executive Officer of AngloGold Ashanti, who delivered the keynote address, noted that even though managing a large, multi-jurisdictional mining company through the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic had presented its own unique set of challenges, it had also provided some valuable lessons for broader society.
Mr Eric Asubonteng, Managing Director of AngloGold Ashanti, Obuasi Mine, said the forum sought to deepen the links of the AngloGold Ashanti and the noble efforts of all who sought to promote the relevance of Africa in global affairs.
Madam Karen Akiwumi-Tanoh, former Chairperson of First Atlantic Bank, who chaired the event, reiterated the need for the world to be better and stronger post-COVID-19.
