The CEO of Ghana CEO summit, Ernest De-Graft Egyir has added his voice to the debate on Ghana’s 60 years retirement age.
According to him, retirement is a good thing but in a country where we lack good succession practices, it is difficult for family businesses and corporate Ghana to pass on responsibility to young people when they have not being groomed for it.
“A president is supposed to work with people he trust, people he believe in and the president being over 60 years it is natural that his people, members he trusts to work with are over 60 years, it will be difficult for one to insist that the team the president works with, with regards to age limit because they have to be people he trust and they are delivering”.
Succession in the private and corporate sector is a very big problem, adding that they are no plans for effective succession plans.
“I have observe a trend in Ghana where the Lebanese and Indians train their children and give them opportunity to work elsewhere to gather the best practices and the discipline it takes and then they create a desk in the office of the CEO for them to take over and so they have good succession plan for their family businesses” he noted
According to him, Ghanaians are unable to do that because of trust issues and some cultural barriers.
“Because of trust issues and our inability to think ahead after the life of the CEO, we are unable to do that but we need to make succession plan a blueprint as part of the corporate governance” he said.