Mr. Rockson Dogbegah, the President of the Institute of Directors (IOD) Ghana, has been unanimously elected as the Chairman of the African Corporate Governance Network (ACGN).

Dr. Mike Eric Juru, President of the Institute of Directors, Zimbabwe (IoDZ)was also elected as Vice Chairman, Victoria Silutongwe, a past President of the Institute of Directors Zambia, as Secretary.

This was in a press statement made available to the Ghana News Agency on Sunday.

It said 19 members and nine affiliate members from 19 African countries, representing over 20,500 senior executives and directors across the continent participated in the election.

The statement said the new leadership was given a two-year mandate to realign ACGN governance structure, grow the Network, create synergies, and enhance its impact at the Pan African level.

It noted that the growing trend of intra and inter-continental business transactions as triggered by the Africa Continental Free Trade Agreement (AfCFTA) and the increase in the flow of Development in Financial Institutions (DFIs) in Africa was giving rise to the importance of Corporate Governance on the continent.

It is, therefore, "imperative to develop initiatives that guide the formulation of Africa-specific guidelines to corporate governance that champion the business dynamics of the continent and capitulate with global standards."

The statement noted that corporate governance was a universal language cutting across borders and continents and that ACGN was formulating a standard continental Code of Corporate Governance to incorporate Sector-Specific Codes.

It said in accordance with the International Monetary Fund, Africa would host seven of the top 10 fastest-growing economies in the world in the next five years, adding, "With the current focus on growth and development in Africa, good corporate governance and capacity building in this area is crucial."

ACGN was founded in 2013 to provide policymakers and market participants with an important forum to exchange experiences and best practices to address ongoing corporate governance challenges in Africa.

It has the support of World Bank and International Finance Corporation and formed to develop the institutional capacity of ACGN members for enhancing effective corporate governance practices towards building private and public sector organizations and corporate citizens in Africa.

Institute of Directors Ghana is a non-political, non-profit organization in Ghana that believes in Corporate Governance as a prerequisite for a vibrant economy.

Mr Rockson Dogbegah, its President, is the Founder and Executive Chairman of Berock Ventures Limited, a Construction company.

He won the Best Entrepreneur in the Building and Civil Engineering category (3rd UT) Ghana Entrepreneurs award in 2012 and the International Nobles Award in the same year and also won the Emerging Entrepreneur of the Year-Ernst and Young Entrepreneur Awards West Africa in 2013.