As I daydreamed out the conference window, I began to wonder why my Ghanaian coworkers seemed so relaxed when our clients didn’t arrive on time for an important meeting.
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My coworker Mercy and I were sitting in the International Finance Corporation (IFC) conference room waiting for a representative from the Daily Graphic, the Ghanaian Times, and the IFC.
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After a conversation about Western movies we were thinking of seeing over the weekend, I glanced at my phone to check the time. We had been in the room for 30 minutes, and no one else had arrived.
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The purpose of the meeting was to receive a better understanding of this new service the Bank of Ghana is offering, titled Collateral Registry, Ghana. In addition, we wanted to share this information with the media so they can prepare articles to be placed in their respected newspapers. Mercy and I represent Primetime Limited, which is a company in charge of promoting this new service. However, the information the Bank of Ghana gave us about Collateral Registry, Ghana made it sound like a service that only a person with a major in mathematics and economics could accomplish. Hence, the purpose of this meeting. To make the situation worse, the Bank of Ghana was unable to attend the much needed meeting.
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To make the situation even worse, if that is possible, it was the second day in a row the Bank of Ghana had to cancel. Nevertheless, the Bank of Ghana is our client, and our top priority is to satisfy their needs. So we ran the meeting as scheduled. But where was everyone else?
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It was not until a quarter to two when the first media representative arrived. Only 45 minutes late, however, Mercy seemed as if this was normal. She began presenting the information, waiting for the others to show. Shortly after he began, the second media personnel arrived. Now where was the man who owns this conference room?
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A bird flew past the window while the sun streamed into the conference room, beaming down on four individuals waiting for the owner of the building to arrive for a highly anticipated meeting. It was not until one hour after the proposed start that the meeting finally began with everyone finally present… everyone except for the client. However, I have come to learn that tardiness and cancellations are just one aspect on how Ghanaians do business.
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