The National Petroleum Authority (NPA) has commended PETROSOSL Ghana Ltd, a leading Ghanaian Oil Marketing Company (OMC), for investing in building the capacity of women working in PETROSOL and also empowering them to take up leadership roles in the company.
The Deputy Chief Executive of NPA, Mrs. Linda Boamah Asante, expressed the Authority’s commendation when she addressed the Women in Leadership Conference, organised by the PETROSOL Women Network, a female leadership empowerment initiative of PETROSOL Ghana Ltd, aimed at developing the leadership capabilities of their female staff as well as equipping them with the skills to nurture responsible families alongside building enduring careers.
The event, which was held to commemorate the International Women’s Day, was on the theme, Investing in Women; Energizing for the Future.
Mrs. Asante, who was the Guest of Honour for the occasion, used the opportunity to admonish the female staff of PETROSOL to take advantage of the PETROSOL Women Network as well as other women networks by subjecting themselves under the guidance and mentoring of senior women corporate leaders who have made it to the top through diligence and ethical conduct.
According to Mrs. Asante, “you should disabuse your minds of the perception that women are their own enemies because I continue to mentor several young career women and also know several other senior corporate women leaders who invest their time and energy mentoring several young women in the corporate world.”
In a related development, the Chief Executive Officer of Cirrus Oil Services Ltd, who is also the Board Chairperson of the Chamber of Bulk Oil Distribution Companies (CBOD), Mrs. Ivy Apea Owusu, lauded PETROSOL for its Women Network initiative, indicating it is a trailblazer as far as women empowerment in the industry is concerned. She congratulated the company for winning the Employer of the Year Championing Diversity and Inclusion in the energy sector during the 2023 Wowen in Mining and Energy Awards (WIMEA).
She urged young female executives to “strive for excellence and also to be ready to take up roles in the energy sector that are perceived to be the preserve of men since a number of women have excelled in such roles.” She shared her personal experiences of taking up challenging career assignments both in and outside Ghana and having to find ways of combining the demands of the roles with the demands of the family and excelling.
Mrs. Owusu also made a passionate appeal to companies to invest in the wellbeing of their staff, especially the female staff, because some of them go through a lot of psychological challenges which tend to affect their productivity and career growth.
The Chairperson of the occasion, Dr. Mrs Stella Agyenim-Boateng, who is the Vice Chairman of the Public Services Commission and also the former Deputy CEO of the Volta River Authority (VRA), also commended PETROSOL for its strong commitment to women empowerment. She was delighted to know that 46% of PETROSOL’s staff are women, especially given that this is happening in the energy sector, which is generally male-dominated. She urged the company to work towards achieving 50% or even higher.
Dr. Agyenim-Boateng also shared her personal experience working in large organisations in the telecom and energy sectors, where she had to apply diligence and tenacity as well as humility to seek the support of her family, when she needed it, in order to excel in her career. She therefore encouraged participants to aim at excelling in their assigned roles and not to be giving excuses for mediocre performance since the survival of businesses depend on high productivity of staff.
The following senior business leaders, who were panel members, also shared their experiences with the participants: Dr. Gillian Hammah, the Group Chief Marketing Officer of the Databank Group and also the Founder, Fairbanks Consulting; Fatoumata Doro, the Managing Director, Tex Styles Ghana Ltd; and Israel Laryea, Executive Head, Influencer Africa and Ace Broadcast Journalist.
The Chief Executive Officer of PETROSOL Ghana Ltd, Michael Bozumbil, expressed his delight at the great contribution of PETROSOL’s female staff to the growth of the company and used the occasion to honour 10 female staff of PETROSOL for excelling in their roles. The Chief Finance Officer of PETROSOL, Lawrencia Himans, received the Outstanding Female Leadership award.