Alhaji Osman Abdel-Rahman, Executive Director of Ghana Developing Communities Association (GDCA), an NGO, has been honoured with the Leadership in Capacity Building and Organisational Development award at the Africa Corporate Summit/Awards, 2025 (The African Giant Edition).
The Award, powered by Imperial Leo Network Limited, was in recognition of Alhaji Abdel-Rahman’s prominent roles in advancing inclusive governance, community-led development, civic engagement and youth capacity-building across northern Ghana.
He has over 24 years of experience in the NGO sector and 16 years in public service, leading and overseeing a project portfolio worth over US $1 million annually.
He has spearheaded major initiatives including participatory governance, support for persons with disabilities, women, youth groups, and technical skills development in northern Ghana.
Alhaji Abdel-Rahman, in an interview with the media shortly after receiving the award in Accra, said  “The award is a very big moment to celebrate. The little that we have been doing over the years; we are happy that it is being recognised.”
He said, “I see it that it is because of our interventions, the approach that we are using and that people are really satisfied; they are looking at what we are doing, the impact that we are making in the communities is what has culminated in this award.”
He dedicated the award to his colleagues and “Those, who have supported me in many ways, we have systems in place, we have a Board that is dedicated, hardworking staff and volunteers at the community level. Everybody has contributed to this success and I say that we are very satisfied with it; we are able to make the impact that people are seeing and they gave us this award.”
He touched on GDCA’s interventions over the years, saying “We believe that every community has the capacity to change its situation for the better if they are aware of their conditions and when they get the resources. So, we work to ensure that communities are able to take initiatives to engage local government authorities to ensure that the issues that confront them are actually factored into the planning process and addressed.”
He added that “So, we are looking at how to engineer development from the bottom-upwards so that people can be satisfied with whatever the government delivers for them.”
The Africa Corporate Summit/Awards, 2025 was designed to identify and publicly recognise an elite select group, who are leading contributors in Africa, who have a proven record of supporting Africa’s trade, investment and socio-economic renaissance, and whose activities have contributed in an extraordinary way to their countries’ ongoing improvement in economic and social governance, and consequently the quality of the lives of the people.
There were awardees from other African countries including Togo, Nigeria and South Africa.
Dr Paul Boachie-Ansah, Chairman and Group Chief Executive Officer, Imperial Leo Network Ltd, said the awards initiative was to celebrate not just corporate excellence but the spirit of innovation, resilience and transformation that defined African enterprise.
He said, “To all the nominees, your achievements are a testament to the power of leadership, creativity and perseverance. Your work inspires hope and fuels the momentum for a striving Africa.”