Apart from fitting perfectly into its corporate plan and strategic moves to expand its business across the major cities in Africa, Alpha Mead Facilities Management and Services says its interest in the facilities management (FM) market in Ghana derives from the country being an oil producing country and also the growth in its economy.
The company sees the strategic positioning of Ghana as an Oil producing country attracting many international investors with other related business interests that will continue to open up the economy to global attention, thereby improve the wellbeing and general social-economic development of the people and the nation in general.
Again, the company notes that the impressive growth in Ghana’s economy, occasioned by the discovery of oil, has impacted its real estate market significantly such that the corporate, commercial, retail and luxury residential spaces are witnessing high rental income and occupancy.
Alpha Mead, Nigeria’s torch-bearer in the facilities management industry, prides itself as the leader in this industry not just in Nigeria, but also in Africa. It has a large clientele base that cuts across oil and gas, banking, telecoms, etc. It is a major player in security, health facilities management and real estate.
Given the company’s experience in providing well-tailored FM service in Nigeria’s oil & gas sector, it is convinced that it can bring this same experience to bear and support the industry in Ghana towards making it a preferred destination for foreign investors.
“This, we can do, by creating quality and enabling physical environment with adequate provision of quality standard in real estate and infrastructure assets management for businesses”, assures Femi Akintunde, the company’s MD/CEO.
Akintunde believes that “as a leading real estate and facilities management company in Africa, it’s one of our commitments to see FM rise to become one of Africa’s major employers of labour and a key contributor to its economic advancement”.
It has been confirmed from available statistics in Europe and America that FM contributes up to 5 percent of the national GDP, but according to him, the situation in Africa is not the same, as the continent does not even have any source of credible data to measure and report on this.
“These are part of the challenges that we as practitioners in this industry in the African region must be prepared to tackle and use as a means of engagement and development”, he says, noting that “what you cannot measure, you cannot improve”.
The FM industry, though relatively new, is doing well. In various ways and at various levels of interest and capabilities, the practitioners have committed to growing the industry and Alpha Mead is leading this pack, investing time, resources and energy to drive awareness and deepen understanding of the many possibilities and opportunities it has seen in the industry.
“We have seen a steady growth in the awareness and confidence level in FM professional practice over the years. Also quality and standards of practice have improved significantly, and open competition is now thriving in the market”, Akintunde says.
CHUKA UROKO
