Fund Manager
Dr. Rachmeler is an American development specialist and has been working in international development since 1973. He began his career as a Peace Corps Volunteer in the Ivory Coast and has had successive long term assignments working principally on USAID-funded projects in Burkina Faso, Niger, Madagascar, Morocco, the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Ghana. Short term assignments have also taken him to Egypt, Lebanon, Jordan, Haiti and China.
His U.S. university degrees are in economics, international development, and crop science/plant breeding. His fields of technical expertise include private sector development, policy reform and structural adjustment, agricultural research and extension, international trade/export promotion, SME development, and sustainable natural resource management. He is currently the BUSAC Fund Manager (www.busac.org), working for COWI A/S (a Danish consulting firm, www.cowi.com) within the Danida sponsored Business Sector Program Support Project in Accra, Ghana. He is also the President of the Vetiver Network (International) with programs in over 60 countries (www.vetiver.org). He is fluent in French. His wife, Susan Wright is a Public Health Specialist with USAID Ghana.
Deputy Fund Manager
Judith Happy Kwawukume a Chartered Accountant and member of Institute of Chartered Accountant, with 17 years post qualification experience is the Deputy Fund Manager. She has immersed experience in financial management, accounting, auditing and taxation.
She had led teams to audit Bank of Ghana, Ghana Commercial Bank, Star Assurance and other companies. She had the sole opportunity in setting up the accounting system for Non Performing Asset Recovering Trust (Non Financial Organization-NPART). She had worked on Zone IV Urban III Project (World Bank Project) of the Local Government and Rural Development as the Financial Advisor to four District Assemblies.
She is a team worker, readily available to solve problems and level headed person. She handles the financial aspect of the fund, assist the Fund Manager in other duties and knowledgeable in all the section of the fund and can step in to handle and other work when a colleague is not in with the exception of communication duties.
Applications/Grants Manager
Laurencia Tettey is a development management professional and social worker. She has extensive experience in poverty reduction, gender empowerment and development issues through micro and small enterprise promotion and development. She has MSc. Degree in Entrepreneurial Studies from Stirling University in Scotland.
Her experience in micro and small enterprise promotion and development is based upon her work and previous service with Department of Community Development, assisting individuals and communities to improve upon their living conditions and livelihoods. She also headed the Entrepreneurship Development Department of the National Board for Small Scale Industries (NBSSI) and as part of a team she helped in the establishment of Business Advisory Centres (BACs) in the ten regional capitals of Ghana and provided support including training to entrepreneurs for establishment and expansion of businesses in the country. She was the Deputy Programme Manager and Women-in-Development Specialist on UNDP sponsored National Poverty Reduction Programme, between 1998 and 2001. She is committed to pro-poor approaches to development including women and other development issues.
Currently Laurencia is the Applications/Grants Manager with the BUSAC Fund. She is primarily responsible for promoting/marketing the programmes and activities of the Fund, training of business support providers and associations and encouraging them to work with BUSAC Fund to improve the working conditions of the private sector through advocacy.
Administrative Manager
Victoria has wide experience in general office administration and financial management. She holds MSc degree in Mechanical engineering from Odessa State Marine University, Ukraine and certificates in financial management, office administration and information technology from UK and Ghana.
Her administrative and financial career started in Ukraine where she worked as administrative assistant from 1994 – 1996. She also worked in UK from 1997 – 2000 as administrative assistant and also as a volunteer translator.
In Ghana she worked as administrative officer since 2000 and gained a lot of experience in logistics and human recourse management, preparation of financial reports, organization of workshops, seminars other events. She rose to the position of Senior Finance and Administrative Officer in 2005 with KITE.
Currently she is the Administrative Manager responsible for management and administration of BUSAC. She is married to a Ghanaian and has been leaving in Ghana since 2000.
Webmaster & Communications and Computer Skills Specialist
Emmanuel, is a Website Developer and a Designer who has been working for both local and international companies since 2002. He is responsible for branding, ICT, development and maintenance of Website at BUSAC Fund. He also works for Improving Business Practice (IBP) and SPEED Ghana as an IT Consultant in the area of Web Technology and Designing.
As a designer Emmanuel blends his design skills with programming techniques to develop unique web applications. He also provides training to team players of organizations on how to make good use of Technology for their day-to-day activities.
Selection and Due Diligence Manager
Nana Croffie is currently the Selection and Due Diligence Manager with BUSAC Fund. He is responsible for managing the evaluation & selection, as well as the due diligence processes of the Fund.
Nana has a rich banking experience spanning over 15 years with Agricultural Development Bank (ADB) and the Western Union Transfer responsible for Customer Relating Desk. He also worked briefly with Info Base Ghana Ltd. as a business development manager.
Implementation Manager
Mr. Zakaria Umar Sumaila holds BSc. Agric Economics (1989), M. Phil. Agric. Administration (1996) from the University of Ghana, Legon and a certificate in Investment Appraisal & Management from Harvard University Mass., USA (1997). His work experience includes; 11 years in the area of credit delivery & management with the Agricultural Development Bank, 3 years in private consultancy working both as individual consultant and an associate member of two private consultancy firms prior to taking up a full time job at BUSAC Fund as Implementation manager.
As Implementation Manager, his duties include: insuring that the implementation of BUSAC grants are supervised, documented and implemented according to the approved grant agreements; insure that disbursements are, to the greatest extent, used efficiently and effectively by grantees in the attainment of their goals and objectives; supervision of monitors and grantees including visits to field sites in which advocacy actions occur; reception and screening of the periodic progress and financial reports by both monitors and grantees; provide written feedback to grantees and monitors about payments under the grant disbursement schedules and any issues arising from delays and/or errors in reports; managing the monitors selection process; maintain constant contact with BUSAC monitors to insure professional and timely performance; insure appropriate systems are in place to permit proper relationships to be formed between monitors and grantees so that they work as a team; and any other as may be assigned by the Fund management.
His interest and career aspirations are in the areas of Project Management and Finance.
Capacity Building and Training Specialist
Kofi Asante-Frimpong is a business development specialist with over twenty (20) years experience in poverty reduction through the development and promotion of micro and small enterprises.
His experience with the micro and small enterprise sector began with his work with the Agricultural Development Bank where he supported the administration of credit to small holder farmers either as individuals or groups. He also worked with the National Board for Small Scale Industries (NBSSI), the public institution mandated to promote and develop micro and small enterprises in Ghana. Kofi Asante-Frimpong also has extensive experience in the management of development programmes and projects. He worked as the Programme Manager of the UNDP supported National Poverty Reduction Programme-a major government initiative to reduce rural and urban poverty between 1998 and 2001. Between 2002 and 2006 he worked as the Project Coordinator of the World Bank sponsored Community-Based Poverty Reduction Project. Under the project best practices for poverty reduction were documented for wider application throughout the country.
Currently Kofi Asante-Frimpong works as a short-term Capacity Building and Training Specialist with the BUSAC Fund. He oversees and coordinates the implementation of training programmes for and by Service Providers (Consultants) to business associations. The training programmes build the capacities of the associations to enable them advocate more effectively for improved business environment and therefore sustainable local economic development. He is the host of the BUSINESS ADVOCATE- a live, one-hour, weekly Ghana Television business promotion programme. The programme promotes interaction between the public and private sectors to ensure improved business environment and access to resources and services for business development. Mr. Asante-Frimpong holds a B.A (Hons) degree in Economics from the University of Ghana and an M.Sc. degree in Entrepreneurial Studies fro the Stirling University in Scotland.
