COVID-19 has disrupted African businesses significantly. In this challenging time, REDAVIA enables sound businesses to reduce their operating costs with a free solar plant leasing service. REDAVIA has introduced the COVID-19 Resilience Lease, which provides solar power plants to business customers for six months, completely for free. After these six months, customers can choose to roll-over this Lease into a regular REDAVIA solar plant lease or request REDAVIA to re-deploy the plant. This offer is available to selected long-term sustainable Ghanaian and Kenyan companies on a first-come, first-served basis, while supplies last. Mankoadze Fisheries Limited in Tema, Ghana, was first to sign on to the REDAVIA COVID-19 Resilience Lease. Godfried Kwame Anafi, Director of Mankoadze Fisheries Limited (MFL), is eager to see the restart of his company’s cold store and resumption of service to the corporate and independent fishing customers as soon as possible. REDAVIA will lease MFL the solar plant six months for free, so MFL’s system-critical business gets through the crisis successfully. The Royal Senchi Hotel & Resort has also joined this unique REDAVIA program. The hotel has been especially hard hit by the pandemic and saw its occupancy rates drop precipitously. Big losses in revenue made lowering utility costs a top priority for hotel management. Gerard Schraven, General Manager, said, “REDAVIA’s solar plant will enable us to keep our energy cost as low as possible when the hotel re-opens after this global health crisis.” Erwin Spolders, CEO & founder of REDAVIA, confirmed, “REDAVIA understands the economic implications of this pandemic, and we pledge to be a true friend to our business partners in this time of need.” About The Royal Senchi Hotel and Resort The Royal Senchi Hotel and Resort is the first 4-star luxury resort in Ghana. It stands on 35 acres of lush greenery with a magnificent view of the Volta River. It offers a unique blend of fauna, flora, traditional architecture, and modernity of the highest standards. About Mankoadze Fisheries Limited Mankoadze Fisheries Ltd. is a Ghanaian-owned business. The company owns and operates, among others, a 3000 tonne cold storage facility off Harbor Road in Tema. It provides cold-storage services to the Tema-based fishing fleet and to corporate fish importers and canneries. As such, Mankoadze is a system-critical link in the fish cold-chain to Ghanaian and West-African consumers. About REDAVIA REDAVIA offers solar power for businesses in sub-Saharan Africa. The REDAVIA system is based on a pre-configured model, including high-performance solar modules and electrical components. It is easy to ship, set up, scale, and redeploy. Businesses benefit from a cost-effective, reliable, clean energy solution with minimal upfront investment. Press contact Gabriella Zeugin REDAVIA +49 89 2426 8869 Write an e-mail
Mövenpick Ambassador Hotel Accra is pleased to announce the appointment of Mr. Adnan Yucel as its new General Manager. Originally from Turkey, Mr. Yucel is an adept hotelier with over twenty-five years of experience, having worked for other properties within the Accor brand, including Fairmont, Raffles, Swissôtel and Sofitel, as well as other multi-national hotel brands such as Intercontinental Hotels Group and Hilton Hotels & Resorts. The Mövenpick Ambassador Hotel Accra, recently adjudged Luxury Business Hotel for West & Central Africa in the World Luxury Hotel Awards, is one of the most established properties in the upscale hotel sector in Ghana and has played host to numerous high level delegations and events in the city. Originally built as the Ambassador Hotel and presented as a gift the the government of Ghana in the late 1950’s, the completely rebuilt hotel begun operations in 2011 and is ideally located downtown the central business district in Accra. About 7km from the Kotoka International Airport, the hotel is surrounded by 16 acres of lush landscaped gardens giving it a resort-like feel in the bustling city of Accra with 260 rooms and suites, 5 ultra-modern meeting rooms and a grand 736 square metre ballroom, leisure facilities including the largest lagoon style pool in the city, 24 hour gym with sauna, 400m jogging trail, Thai massage as well as a spellbinding collection of over 1,500 pieces of African art. With his extensive experience in hotel management, Adnan is well placed to steer the flagship and multiple award winning 5-star hotel to further success. “I am delighted to be a part of this project in Accra and experience first-hand the famed hospitality of Ghanaians”, said Mr. Adnan Yucel on his new appointment. “I see it every day – through the eyes of my team and their warm, genuine smiles. It is no wonder that this hotel has consistently been ranked as one of the best in terms of service quality and guest satisfaction, which is why it is the first choice amongst our highly influential clientele, and I look forward to continuing this tradition of making moments with our guests”. For further information, please contact: Theodora M. Yebuah Asst. Marketing Manager Email: theodora.yebuah@mövenpick.com Tel.: +233 302 611 000 About Mövenpick Hotels & Resorts: Mövenpick Hotels & Resorts makes moments by doing ordinary things in an extraordinary way. Providing an upscale, relaxed and uncomplicated guest experience, Mövenpick recognises that small gestures make a big difference. Whether it is chocolate hour every afternoon, customised sleep technology to ensure a restful night or specially created fun and healthy kids’ menus, Mövenpick creates a human and warm environment for guests, business partners and employees. Committed to sustainable practices and caring for its local communities, Mövenpick is the most Green Globe certified hotel brand in the world. Founded in Switzerland in 1973, but with a heritage of food and beverage excellence stretching back to the 1940s, Mövenpick holds a growing portfolio of more than 80 hotels in 24 countries. Mövenpick is part of AccorHotels, a world-leading travel and lifestyle group which invites travellers to feel welcome at more than 4,500 hotels, resorts and residences, along with some 10,000 of the finest private homes around the globe.
The Ghanaian delegation was led by the Minister for Trade and Industry, Alan Kyerematen. The Summit was a follow up to a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) signed between the two countries in February 2019 to establish a Business Council as a framework to enhance Trade and Investment Cooperation. It is a forum for exchange between government representatives of the two countries as well as companies already active or interested in Ghana. It provides access to high-ranking German and Ghanaian decision-makers. Addressing the Summit, Federal Deputy Minister, Mr. Thomas Bareiß, stated that Ghana is one of the 10 fastest growing economies in the world. With regards to the Ease of Doing Business Ranking, Ghana has topped all countries in West Africa. As a result bilateral trade between the two countries reached 625 million euros in 2018, representing an increase of about 30 percent compared to 2017. He therefore noted that Ghana is a country with a lot of potential for German companies and the Joint Business Council is an opportunity to contribute to increased trade and investment by German companies in Ghana. Minister of Trade and Industry Alan Kyerematen noted that the interest of Ghana as a developing country is to be able to deal decisively with the challenge of unemployment and it is only the private sector that can lead the way to economic growth and job creation. He added that Ghana has a strong and resilient economy, offers a safe and secure business climate and has arguably the best credentials in terms of democratic governance. He therefore called on German investors to take advantage of this enabling environment to invest in the country as a way of deepening the commercial engagements between the two countries. The German-Ghanaian Business Council is the first ever joint business council between Germany and a Sub-Saharan African country. Several German investors, e.g. Volkswagen, stated their intentions to invest in Ghana and to commence or expand their activities. In the framework of the Business Council several new initiatives were launched: The Africa Business Network, which offers tailor-made advisory and support services to German companies and actively informs them about business opportunities in Africa, including in Ghana. A Competence Center: Mineral Resources will be established within the Delegation of Industry and Commerce in Accra (AHK Ghana). Germany improved conditions for export credit guarantees for German exports to Ghana. A skills expert has been installed at the Delegation in order to help German small and medium enterprises train local workers. Both sides intend to foster their cooperation via the Institutional Partnership programme of the German Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy (BMWi) to improve the business framework in Ghana through exchange between Ghanaian and German institutitions.