The crown-prince of Ghana finance, Prince Kofi Amoabeng, has stated that because the black man has been too blessed by his Maker, he has become over-complacent in his lifestyle and in the process lost his birthright to development and prosperity. Prince Amoabeng who was recently adjudged the Most Respected CEO was speaking to Spectator on Tuesday on a range of issues, particularly his award and Ghana's development. Answering the question why the black man in continental Africa is still several light-years behind his Caucasian and Anglo-Saxon counterparts in terms of development, he was emphatic on the point that the black man cannot begrudge anybody for his perennial state of under-development. Can it be that the black man is not intelligent? "It isn't that the black man is stupid," he said. "It is because God loves us too much for our own good. We do not even have extreme weather conditions here like the biting cold, tornadoes, hurricanes, volcanoes and earthquakes. "The black man is endowed with powerful physical attributes the Whiteman envies. Blacks are tops in athletics, boxing and other physically enduring sport. Haven't we failed to see how blessed we are? We have all the resources and weather conditions for us to prosper, so the black man has no excuse. If you happen to bear the bleak winter once as a homeless person, as soon as the next winter approaches, nobody will tell you to start building a home. That is the beginning of thinking and of wisdom." Prince Amoabeng, while quoting a friend who once opined that leaders in Africa lack co-ordinated thinking, said apart from the fact that Ghana is endowed with a lot of resources, the most crucial drawback is the problems nations have with leadership. "Because various political parties have promised and failed the electorate, the electorate now demands money to put you into authority. And to become a leader, you must lie to the people to get their votes. The one-man-one-vote system of democracy isn't the best for us. People do not vote on the issues but by how well their palms have been greased. That cannot be the type of democracy ideal for a developing nation." Asked what the solution is to the Blackman’s sundry woes, Prince Amoabeng whose company UT also won the Most Respected Company award, said the kind of spontaneous uprising of the people that should have taken place years ago to protest bad leadership, was unfortunately hijacked by a lone figure. "We have had revolutions in America, France and Russia that were a spontaneous revolt of the people against all that militated against the state. In our case, it was one man who said he had come to do a revolution on our behalf. How can one man do a revolution and make it succeed? A revolution is supposed to be by a people, not one man." SPEC: If given the chance to govern Ghana, what will you do? PRINCE: For a country to succeed, we have factors like stability of state, security for the government and citizenry, welfare of the people, etc. but ultimately we must first be prepared to go back to the basics and have information about the people - proper addresses, street addresses, proper identification to make it possible to collect the appropriate taxes that will fund state projects. How many people know their house numbers, street names, area codes? Some house numbers are changed several times over. We need permanent addresses of people in the effort of revenue mobilisation, collection of tariffs and even to provide security to the people because if you're attacked by an armed robber and you don't know your own house number or street number, how can the police come and rescue you? So we have to start from the basics and I say it in every forum. If you go to London with an address like "7 Sisters Road, London" it has been there for centuries. You don't change it. Today, any Burkinabe, Ivorian or Togolese can enter into Ghana and obtain a passport, because he has no address just like Ghanaians don't have. When reminded that his achievements in business and finance have immortalised him, Prince Amoabeng was careful not to be flattered. "When people give you all the applause, it means they are also ready to applaud your downfall," he said. "And I always remind myself that it is the best swimmers that drown. Literally those who don't know how to swim well do not go far into the sea, so they cannot drown. The swimmers go far and drown." SPEC: Are you blessed? PRINCE: Of course I am, but that doesn't go into my head. Too much confidence is not good, because you tend to overlook the basics and forget the core, and that will bring you down. And falling has four stages - the Hubris period where there is success and the euphoria that goes with it: the stage of undisciplined pursuit for more; the stage of denial of risk because you think you are superhuman and finally the stage of grasping for salvation that might not materialise. SPEC:- What's the way forward for you? PRINCE: It is time to keep the feet on the ground and constantly review where we came from and where we are going. Prince Amoabeng said he did not expect to win the twin awards, but said UT had done something no other Ghanaian company has done so far. Apart from venturing into the stocks, having a new name, they also acquired a foreign bank and rebranded and embarked on merging the bank with the original financial institution. Even the Deputy Governor of the Bank of Ghana, Mr. Van Lare Dosoo, has commented that this was the first time a Ghanaian company has bought a foreign bank. About his personal qualities and idiosyncrasies, Prince Amoabeng said, "I'm someone who always puts the interest of the company above my own. So my name grows with the company. If your name grows faster than the company, you kill it; on the converse the company will grow bigger and outlive you. I don't have a life; UT is my life. Apart from golf, it is UT. "I respect people and abide by the virtues of honesty and integrity. I don’t lie to people, and unless you prove to me that you are a bad person, I won't dislike you. I'm also very principled and disciplined to a fault, believing that without a system that must work to the letter, nothing can succeed in business." SPEC: Finally Mr. Amoabeng, what is wrong with Ghana business? PRINCE: For businesses to strive, you need the right climate and structures. This brings us back to the basics; that is information about the people. You need to understand the demographics - population size of areas, district offices, addresses, lanes, houses, etc. People take these things for granted. We need institutions of government that are strong; an effective police service, an expeditious judicial system that dispenses justice in the shortest possible time. Imagine you purchased land to do business and another person comes to contest ownership and the case has to take five years to resolve. How can you do business in such a difficult environment? Source: The Spectator/Ghana