Mrs Kate Papafio-Quartey, the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Reroy Group, has urged students of Achimota Senior High School to learn hard and pursue their goals with determination to succeed in life.

Mrs Papafio-Quartey, who emerged the 2017 Female Energy Personality of the Year, said determination, discipline, consistency and strong focus were crucial to one's success and that it behoved on them to have a focus and work towards achieving those goals.

She gave the advice at the 2017 Energy Personalities Outreach Programme on the theme: “Preparing the Minds of Future Leaders,” organised by the Ghana Energy Awards.

Mrs Papafio-Quartey urged them not to give up in life since life was full of challenges and the road to success was not smooth.

She recalled her experiences as she strived to make it in life, selling kerosene at age nine for instance, but it took determination and persistence to overcome the challenges that came her way.

She expressed the belief that power was everything as far as economic activities were concerned, urging them to start looking at opportunities since there were lots to tap and spend more time on their greatest strengths than their weaknesses.

Mrs Papafio-Quartey said the company was an indigenous cable manufacturing one with a trademark to produce quality products to serve the markets.

She said the company produced over 6,000 metric tonnes of aluminium and 2,000 metric tonnes of copper cables annually, serving the local and international markets.

She urged the students to be ready to make the necessary sacrifices in order to realise their goals.

Dr Ofoso Ahenkorah, the Executive Secretary of Energy Commission, charged the students to start brainstorming on their future aspirations since that would be the beginning of their success in life.

He advised them to consult people in any decision they intend to take for good counsel and make the best out of it. Dr Ahenkorah, who won the Male Energy of the Year 2017, advised the students to conserve energy at their homes, since it was key to ensuring a safe, reliable, affordable and sustainable energy system for the future.

He said it was the quickest and least costly way of addressing energy, security, environmental and economic challenges.

Dr Ahenkorah spearheaded and led the implementation of the Ghana Efficient Lighting Initiative, which resulted in the mass replacement of six million incandescent lamps, an exercise that resulted in the reduction in electricity demand by 124MW in 2008.

He also led the introduction of Appliance Standards and Labelling in Ghana and the development and implementation of energy performance standards and labels for electrical appliances including refrigerators, deep freezers, air conditioners and lighting devices.

Dr Kwame Ampofo, the Chairman of the Ghana Energy Awards Panel, said the event was to afford the students the opportunity to interact with the personalities to serve as their mentors in determining their future careers.

He said the Awards aim to recognise the efforts, innovation and excellence stalwarts within the energy sector and to celebrate the tremendous work of the players competing under the various categories.