Theresa Oppong-Beeko is the Chief Executive Officer of Manet Group, a notable real estate and civil engineering firm in Ghana. The perseverance of Dr Beeko propelled her to establish one of the top real estate firms in the country. Among its subsidiaries are Manet Housing, a real estate development company, Manet Paradise, a three-star hotel resort, Manet Construction, a civil engineering firm and Manet Towers, commercial development wing.
Dr Theresa Oppong-Beeko pursued a Bachelor of Arts degree in Political Science and Sociology from the University of Ghana, Legon. After graduating from the University in 1985, she made her debut in the business arena by engaging in fishing. This venture evidently did not yield in success as she felt she was under prepared for the venture and failure of the business led to an incurred debt of US$ 2.5 million at her very young age. Feeling unprepared, she furthered her education at her alma mater by acquiring a Master’s Degree in Business Administration, a place where she was declared the Best Marketing Student in 1990. Feeling amply ready, she decisively took the bold step to exact her dreams in constructing buildings.
Leveraging her accrued knowledge of the Ghanaian real estate landscape, Dr Beeko established the Manet Group in 1994 and has since built over 2,000 homes, and other developments making Manet the most diversified real estate development company in the country. Initial offshoot developments from her real estate business were the Manet Cottage, which was well received and led to the expansion of the company via the building of Manet Gardens which has a bearing to the Manet Cottage annex, located in Baatsona and the Manet Ville situated in East Airport. The new complexes offer elegant yet affordable semi-detached homes to its clienteles. Growth has been spawned by the indomitable real estate founder who has steered the company through the murky waters of Ghana’s challenging real estate sector. This has led her to complete over an immense of homes for a growing list of gratified home-buyers. Professionalism is hermetically tied to the high ethical standards, customer service and leadership in product development in her buildings.
In 1998, Dr Beeko established Manet Hotels Limited after she acquired a beach Resort at Ada, just outside of Accra and developed it into a three-star. The 48-room hotel consisted of recreational and leisure activities on offer including Aqua sport and marlin fishing. It was aptly dubbed Manet Paradise & Beach resort. This development was closed for future expansion.
Notable iconic developments dotting the capital, Accra, which has the creative emblem of Dr Beeko altering Accra’s skyline are the Manet Towers– three commercial office blocks in Airport City. Commissioned in 2010, one of the Twin Towers was occupied by the defunct UT Bank and now occupied by National Investment Bank and the other tower being occupied by Vodafone. Each office block consists of nine floors.
In October 2016, Manet 3 was completed, consisting of ten floors, which provides a commercial lease space of 7,600 square meters. The building also houses a 12,000 square meters car park.
Her climb in the industry hasn’t been without its own challenges as she describes financing as a huge problem in the country. She reckons it easier for foreigners to access loans at lower interest rates than for local companies. That notwithstanding, she prides herself in giving clients great value for money by giving them a lot more than whatever is being paid.
Theresa Oppong-Beeko justifiably has a remarkable array of awards, conferred on her in recognition of her genuine track record as an archetypal entrepreneur. The numerous accolades are too countlesst to cover in one article but a few notable ones are: ‘Property Personality of the Year’ in 2007, ‘2008 Woman of the Year Award’ by the American Biographical Institute (ABI). She won the ‘West Africa Hall of Fame Security Excellence Award’ in 2007/2008, ‘Property Personality of the Year 2010’ from the Ghana Property Express. In 2010, ‘Ghana’s Indigenous Woman Entrepreneur of the Year’, the ‘Most Outstanding Woman of the Year’ in 2013 by WOMAN 21 GAME CHANGERS, ‘Africa’s Most Influential Woman in Business and Government’ 2013, Induction into Ghana Entrepreneurs Hall of Fame 2015, “Best Office Property Developer 2017” by Ghana Property Awards, “Ghana Feminine Hall of fame 2019” by the Business Executive.
The core tenets of Manet Group in their conduct of business have been integrity, transparency, open communications, hard work and prudent financial management. Dr Beeko’s values for her company doesn’t rule out the need to consistently grow even as the business becomes more diversified. In her words, there is always the need to update corporate philosophy of the companies. This has laid the blockworks for the Group’s core values and business culture to thrive in a rather volatile real estate sector.
