Executive Director of the UK-GHANA Chamber of Commerce (UK-GCC), Adjoba Kyiamah, has bemoaned the effects of the British Airways’ cancellations on business transactions.
According to her, the cut down of flights to 5-days has led to a slow pace in business, stressing that not all members who transact business across the diaspora are able to afford a direct flight. She was speaking at the UK-UCC’s first Ascot Ladies Day Event in Ghana to commemorate the annual UK cultural event.
The British Airways has reportedly cancelled hundreds of flights, while cutting down its Accra-London-Accra flights to five days.
This means that passengers travelling on this route through British Airways can only do so on Tuesdays, Wednesdays, Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays.
“Feedbacks from our members are quite mixed. The current economic environment has not had the same effect on all of our member businesses. Some are in a bit of difficult time, business has been slow and quite challenging but, for some, it’s a good time. So, for us at the Chamber, we are looking forward to positive times ahead and prosperity for our members in the near future,” she said.
She noted that the situation is not peculiar to Ghana but is hopeful and believes it will be resolved in due time.
“British Airways is a member of our chamber, so we’ve had a conversation with them about this and it’s not peculiar to Ghana. It’s part of the restructuring of their global operations, so flights have been cut all over the world and as soon as the tie turns for the business, we would be back to seven flights.
For us at the chamber, we’re looking forward to positive times ahead and prosperity for our members in the near future,” Ms. Kyiamah added.
Royal Ascot Event.
Commenting on the maiden edition of the Royal Ascot Ladies Day event, Ms. Kyiamah noted that the purpose of the event is to commemorate the UK’s popular tradition as well as raise funds for the University of Ghana Medical School.
“We were looking for an event that we could tie to a charitable course that the chamber can champion and we thought if we are to promote the UK in Ghana, then, why don’t we host an ‘Ascort’ experience on the ladies’ day, because ‘Ascort’ racist has been running all of this week in the UK and today is ladies day at ‘Ascort’ in the UK, so we’re replicating it here,” she commented
Dr. Christian Owu, Head of Intensive Care Unit (ICU), Korle Bu and National Coordinator for the University of Ghana Medical Centre (UGMC), reiterated that the purpose for the donation was to help provide quality health treatment to the university community.
“This would give the UGMC the opportunity to monitor the treatment of patients and modify the treatment to suit our conditions. If you have a chronic disease and you are taking medicine, it’s probably not been tested on somebody like you, so you may be adversely reacting but not be aware that it’s the medicine that is causing the reaction.
With this clinical trial unit, what would happen is that even for our traditional or herbal medicines, we all know there is no literature on the treatment regime manifest in patients, but with the clinical unit, it gives us the opportunity to record this and put it in literature so that even future generations can benefit from it,” he said.
