President Nana Akufo-Addo has assented to the Chartered Institute of Marketing Ghana Act two months after Parliament passed it, following nearly two decades of delays.
On 4 June 2020, Parliament passed the Chartered Institute of Marketing, Ghana Bill, 2019 after the third reading.
The new law – the Chartered Institute of Marketing, Ghana Act, 2020 (Act 1021) – empowers the institute to set standards for the practice of marketing and to regulate the practice of the marketing profession.
In a press statement, Daniel Kasser Tee, president of the Chartered Institute of Marketing, Ghana (CIMG) said: “We welcome this as the best news ever for the marketing community in Ghana.
“We have been pursuing this act for about two decades, and to think that we got both the parliamentary approval and presidential assent within eight weeks is humbling and refreshing.
“On behalf of the governing council and the entire membership of the institute, I thank the president for making this a reality in his first term of office.”
Assist Ghanaian students
Dr Kasser Tee assured President Akufo-Addo that the institute will immediately redouble its efforts to roll out an agenda of localising examinations, to bring relief to the many Ghanaian students who desire to pursue professional marketing courses but cannot afford the cost involved.
This will minimise the demand for hard currency, especially pounds sterling, to pay for examination fees and subscriptions to the United Kingdom, where most professional marketing students from Ghana pursue their studies at present.
Dr Kasser Tee said CIMG has already started discussions with all public universities with the aim of forging collaborations and partnerships.
“In these discussions, we intend to make these universities tuition centres for professional marketing examinations. The second phase of the discussions is to explore the possibility of fusing the professional marketing courses into the academic programmes of the universities.
“This will enable students to acquire dual qualifications (academic degrees and professional certificates) by the time they complete their Bachelor’s or Master’s degrees, as pertains elsewhere in international markets.
“We have put together a special localisation committee, led by Adam Sulley, a chartered marketer and lecturer.
“We intend to launch the local examinations alongside the prestigious Chartered Marketer brand in the first quarter of 2021 and start the first examinations in June or September the same year,” he said.
Research and advocacy
Dr Kasser Tee also said: “We are currently working with our research team to conduct studies on various issues of marketing and national interest. In the coming days, we will be outdooring our first research report conducted to gauge the effects of COVID-19 on marketing practitioners and selected marketing organisations.
“We are also in talks with industry associations to launch the first-ever survey that will measure the levels of service quality, customer satisfaction and customer loyalty among customers in selected regulated industries, such as banking, insurance, hospitality, higher education et cetera.
“We are currently in talks with the Ghana Association of Bankers and the Ghana Insurers Association to kick-start this in earnest.
“Watch out for the launch of the CIMG Customer Satisfaction Index (CIMG-CSI) soon. It is our desire that, when launched, the CIMG-CSI will engender healthier competition among industry players and will further advance the interests of consumers.”
Protect the consumer
For his part, Kwabena Akuamoah Agyekum, executive director and chief executive officer of the CIMG, said: “For effective delivery of the mandate given us under this act, the CIMG is holding discussions with various regulatory bodies, such as the National Accreditation Board (NAB), the Food and Drugs Authority (FDA) et cetera on areas of mutual interest, for tighter collaborations to promote responsible and ethical marketing practices in ways that protect the Ghanaian consumer always.”
Akuamoah Agyekum thanked cabinet, Parliament and the Ministry of Education for their work to ensure the passage of the act.
He singled out for special mention Alima Mahama, the Minister of Local Government and Rural Development, who chaired the cabinet subcommittee, Osei Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu, the Majority Leader in Parliament, and Matthew Opoku Prempeh, the Minister of Education, who promoted and shepherded the bill through Parliament.
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