At the 2nd Ghana Agribusiness Excellence and Leadership Award ceremony held in Accra recently, the West Africa Centre for Crop Improvement (WACCI) stood tall as they received an award for Outstanding Agribusiness Academic/Research Leadership, 2019 for their contributions in the field of research and Agribusiness development, while the International Leadership Personality of the Year, 2019 was awarded to Prof. Eric Danquah, Director of WACCI in recognition of his tremendous contributions and leadership to Agribusiness development in the country.
The event, chaired by Marjorie Quest Abdon, Vice-Chair of the Federation of the Association of Ghanaian Exporters, was attended by about 300 game changers in the Agribusiness field. The prestigious awards programme seeks to recognise and reward excellence and leadership across the Agribusiness value chain in Ghana and beyond. The Awards also provides a platform to recognize individuals and institutions that play significant roles in the growth and development of the Agricultural sector and the incredible way of promoting growth and sustainability.
Congratulating the Director, the Vice-Chancellor, Prof. Ebenezer Oduro Owusu said that the awards are indications of the continued academic/research excellent programmes rolled out by WACCI under his able leadership. He advised him to eschew complacency; rather for these awards to spur WACCI to greater heights. The Director of WACCI, Professor Danquah, obviously elated at this, dedicated the awards to the youth of Africa and charged them to revolutionize the agribusiness space for economic transformation of the continent.
Over a decade now, WACCI has been pivotal in the sub-region for training PhD and MPhil students in plant breeding and seed science & technology. These graduates have become game changers who are championing the transformation of Agriculture in the sub-region. Under the leadership of Professor Danquah, WACCI is charting a new path to become an African Centre of Excellence for Agricultural Innovations and Entrepreneurship. In line with this new vision, WACCI recently launched the Kofi Annan Enterprise Hub for Agricultural Innovations (KAEHAI) to equip young graduates with the knowledge and skills needed to birth and grow ideas into Agri-businesses.
