CHARLOTTETOWN - RDÉE Prince Edward Island, the provincial francophone economic development network, has just hired a new officer to take on a number of major projects, including various initiatives to promote the economic immigration of Francophones to P.E.I.
Recently hired for this position was a French-speaking immigrant who studied business - Gideon Banahene from Charlottetown who was born in Ghana, Africa, but has been living in Canada for six years.
He studied at the University of Prince Edward Island to obtain his bachelor's degree in business management.
During his participation in the university's co-op education program, Banahene was able to complete work placements at the Atlantic Canada Opportunities Agency, at Industry Canada and P.E.I. Business Development/Innovation P.E.I.
As a teenager, he worked summers at one of his mother's three companies in Ghana. In addition to knowing the five dialects of his native country, Gideon also speaks and writes English, French and Spanish.
The new project officer is recruiting for the 2010 PERCÉ program before proceeding on to various other projects.
RDÉE, manager Francis ThÉriault notes that, "Gideon already has extensive knowledge of the business world here on P.E.I. as well as a great appreciation of the challenges of immigration. He will therefore be a great asset to the RDÉE PEI team and will certainly collaborate with the other officers to plan and implement various projects throughout the province."
Banahene will work mostly of the RDÉE's Charlottetown office at 137 Queen St. He can be reached at 370-7333 or by email at gideo@rdeeipe.com.
