The Chartered Institute of Marketing, Ghana (CIMG) has inaugurated the CIMG Examinations Board and the Ghana School of Marketing (GSM) Board.

This has become necessary following the recent launch of the CIMG Professional Marketing Qualifications, with the first exams slated for the last quarter of 2021.

The inauguration, which is the first of its kind, after the passage of the Chartered Institute of Marketing, Ghana Act, 2020 (Act 1021) last year, was held virtually via Microsoft Teams because of the need to observe the necessary Covid-19 protocols.

Conducting the swearing-in ceremonies, Dr Daniel Kasser Tee, National President of CIMG, intimated that there was the need for the institute to put in place the CIMG Examinations Board to take direct charge of all matters relating to examinations.

He also explained that being a regulator and examining body, CIMG should not directly be running the GSM as it has done in the past.

Therefore, the latter has been restructured under new management and requiring an independent Board to guide its affairs as an Accredited Study Centre, hence the inauguration.

Addressing the Chairman and members of the CIMG Examinations Board, Dr Kasser Tee indicated that there was no time for honeymooning, as the CIMG is in dire need of their counsel and guidance to be able to mount the maiden exams within the last quarter of the year and subsequent ones to be written semi-annually.

Dr Kasser Tee further said, “The Governing Council of the CIMG expects of you to provide the right leadership to ensure that CIMG enters the examinations market with very high levels of respect and integrity, as these are fundamental to placing value on our qualifications.

"You must work at ensuring that our exams are accepted by all stakeholders without any forms of controversy.  As Marketers, our role is to facilitate the process for learners to pass our exams and join the professional body, where they will be expected to contribute immensely to marketing productivity, wherever they find themselves.

"The CIMG professional qualification, the ProM and, ultimately, the Chartered Marketer badge must mean a lot to people who hold them and also mean a lot to organisations that employ holders”.

“As a Board, I personally challenge you to do yourselves proud by providing an enviable image for the CIMG, on the examinations and qualifications front, as the market has known the Institute for quality, fairness, transparency, credibility, among others”, concluded Dr Kasser Tee.

Turning to the Board of the Ghana School of Marketing, Dr Kasser Tee said, “The GSM was born from an audacious idea of creating a new kind of institution to train professionals in marketing and other related fields of study, targeting the Ghanaian, West African and the African markets.                      

This was at a time when professional marketing education was uncommon, available only to a privileged few. So the GSM purposefully sought to open its doors to ambitious young people from all classes and wider backgrounds, with the sole aim of creating a school with wider opportunities for all.

"Come October 15, 2021, the GSM will be 30 years, and we should be seeing the institute evolve from a tuition centre to a fully-fledged professional marketing institute in the next phase of the life of GSM”.

Concluding, Dr Kasser Tee stressed that maintaining quality standards in the training of professional marketing students must remain their primary focus, taking inspiration from the corporate mission of the GSM; "To build a modern study centre, delivering flexible and innovative tuition to learners in the middle to upper segments of the professional education market. We leverage technology and practical competencies to provide the right learning experience in a conducive environment,” he said.

The CIMG Examinations Board has Kwabena Agyekum, CEO of CIMG as Chairman, with Adam Sulley (UGBS), Idorenyen Enang (President of the National Institute of Marketing Nigeria), Professor Nathan Austin, (University of Professional Studies, Accra), Emmanuel Okyere (GCB Bank), Maidie Elizabeth Arkutu (Senior Vice President, Nutrifoods), Gabriel Kofi Baku, (Kings University) as members.

Other members are Robert Amponsah (University of Professional Studies, Accra), Akofa Ata (CEO, Ardhi Investment Group), Dr Francis Mensah-Sasraku (Head, Risk and Regulation, National Banking College), Gifty Aduamah (Head of Marketing, Transnational Academic Group), Solomon Kutu-Adu (Central University) and Godfrey Mensa-Yawson (National Business Manager, Mega Lifesciences).

The Ghana School of Marketing Board has Adam Sulley (UGBS) as Chairman, with Dr David Yaw Twum-Antwi (Director of Finance, GCAA), Senyo Appoh (Marketing Manager for Pinnacle Enterprise), Naomi Appiah (Head of Commercialisation Division, CSIR), Fatima Alimohammed (CEO, African Brand Warrior), Gyansa-Lutterodt (General Manager, Business Resource Centre, Goaso) and Esmeralda Bekono Hongla (Director, Ghana School of Marketing) as members.