Accra, Feb. 27, GNA - Mr Richard Branson, Founder and Chief Executive of the Virgin Group, a British venture capital conglomerate, has noted that "Ghana is a beacon of success in the sub-region" and should capitalize on her successes to transform society.

He said the country's institutions had significantly improved with favourable business climate and competitive market, making her to be more attractive to investors.

Mr Branson made the remark in a pre-recorded presentation played to participants at the just ended Opportunities Conference 2010, organised by Forethought, an indigenous events management firm in Accra.

His presentation was on the topic: "Effective Strategisation in a Competitive Global Market, how to Succeed in times of Adverse Challenges". The two-day conference themed "Shifting Paradigms, Shaping Possibilities" and sponsored by Zain Ghana, was to identify Ghana's business opportunities and empower participants on how to create wealth out of those opportunities for the development country.

It was addressed by personalities drawn from the corporate, academic and public sectors, who spoke on wealth creation through entrepreneurship and innovation.

Conference participants included people from academia, students, entrepreneurs and business leaders from all sectors of the economy. Mr Branson said with favourable business climate, Ghanaians should rise up to challenge and healthily compete with other business interests in order to enable them to enjoy gains of the country's success story. He advised especially young entrepreneurs not feel daunted by competition but to persevere adding that the beginning of every endeavour was challenging but those who pushed through became victors. Using himself as an example, he said, despite the global economic meltdown, he had been working to launch an airliner called Virgin Atlantic on the Accra - London route by spring this year. Mr Kwame Pianim, an Economist and Business Consultant observed that "The economy of Ghana in 2010 is at a historically defining moment with the oil find of 2007."

Mr Pianim explained that the opportunities, which the oil sector would offer would be enormous and expressed the hope that they would help to propel the country into an era of accelerated and sustainable transformational development.

Ms Joyce Aryee, Chief Executive of the Ghana Chamber of Mines said many natural resources such as Mica, Marble, Clay and Salt which had huge revenue base were under-exploited.

She, therefore, called for a carefully re-evaluated programme to mine such resources for the benefit of the country. 27 Feb. 10