By: Franklin ASARE-DONKOH
President of Wisconsin International University College (WIUC), Ghana, Prof. Obeng Mireku has reiterated the university’s commitment to keep producing graduates who are fit for the current job market.
According to him, Wisconsin has been producing graduates who are fit for purpose since the inception of the university, and that has become its hallmark.
The President of WIUC Ghana made this assertion at the university’s maiden Entrepreneurship Week celebration held at its main campus at North Legon, Accra.
Prof. Mireku explained that the Entrepreneurship Week celebration is one of the many fora being organised by the university to bridge the gap between industries and academia.
“Today there are lots of university graduates walking around without jobs, but products from this university are out there working in various sectors. This is made possible because we prepare them to suit the current job market demands.” He noted.
Delivering a presentation on the topic, “The Role of Business Schools and Industry in Developing the Next Generation of Entrepreneurs and Innovators” the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the National Entrepreneurship and Innovation Programme (NEIP), Mr. Kofi Ofosu Nkansah admonished managers of the country’s universities to build strong collaborations with industries, especially start-ups. This he said will provide links for both students and industry.
Mr. Ofosu Nkansah again appealed to the management of universities to set up what he calls innovation support centres on campus to help students generate business ideas.
“Mr. Chairman setting up innovation support centres on campus will encourage students to come up with various prototypes which can then be commercialized into products that can be sold or even exported to the international market.” He added.
The CEO of NEIP also touched on the need for students to form partnerships which believe is one of the surest ways to set up businesses.
He hinted that his outfit is focusing on building an entrepreneurial state that empowers young people to be bold, innovative, proactive, and dynamic to contribute to the economic transformation of Ghana. Additionally that both academia and industry have critical roles to play to help the government achieve this in order to help the job creation agenda.
This will reduce youth unemployment, reduce importation through our import substitution programmes and also achieve fiscal consolidation for the country so that we stop going to the IMF for bailouts.
The event was put together by the Business School department of WIUC-Ghana with support from expressPay and friends of the Business School.
