By Amadou M Jadama
The Minister of Finance and Economic Affairs, Amadou Sanneh, said henceforth only competent Gambians will be made directors of state owned enterprises.
Minister Sanneh was speaking yesterday at the closing ceremony of a Corporate Governance and Board Leadership training for board of directors of state owned enterprises (SOEs), at the Law Faculty in Kanifing.
“As the state’s shareholder representative, my ministry’s role includes ensuring that only people of sufficient caliber, fit and proper will be assigned and retained as SOE directors and managers to ensure the achievement of the vision and mission of the SOE,” he stated.
He said directors must be accountable for the “achievement of the financial and nonfinancial objectives of the SOEs as agreed by shareholders performance contracts coming soon, as well as to implement business practices for the interest of all stakeholders.
“Board of directors will be held more accountable for supervising the policies of, and giving advice to the senior management in relation to the management of the enterprise. They should ensure that the shareholders are advised on the performance of the SOE and about the performance of the board of directors in managing the SOE towards achievement of its objectives,” he said.
He advised them to work together for the sustainable development of the country.
He also commended them for their participation and the MDI “for quality course delivery”.
Amie Bensouda, a legal expert, said of the training: “The main purpose of the public enterprise reform was to rationalise government commercial activity to prepare public enterprises by turning them into reliable companies and improve on their performance and productivity.”
The training started on 3 April and ended yesterday, May 17.
