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KNUST Graduate Students Association develops entrepreneurial strategy

KNUST Graduate Students Association develops entrepreneurial strategy

The Graduate Students Association of Ghana (GRASAG) branch of the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST) has developed a strategy to assist its members to ensure that they become great entrepreneurs, hire others and reduce graduate unemployment in the country.

Dubbed “GRASAG Entrepreneurial Clinic”, it takes the form of an entrepreneurial training support and business accelerator programme which seeks to provide business development, mentorship and financial support to members of GRASAG in KNUST.

The President of GRASAG-KNUST, Mr Kusi Boakye, who announced this at the inauguration of the clinic at the KNUST, added that this was the way to “provide momentum for business start-ups, support existing ones so as to address the unemployment among graduates.”

The programme, which is the brainchild of GRASAG-KNUST, is being supported by Kumasi Hive, a business development entity, and KNUST Centre for Business Development.

Mr Boakye noted that the move had become necessary because most times a lot of graduates had very creative, innovative and feasible ideas but did not know how to bring them to fruition, while others managed to start but lacked the resources to progress and expand.

Addressing challenges

He added that it was to address that challenge that the association decided to put the programme together to allow as many graduates as possible to present their ideas, and those that would be selected by a panel, would be given technical and financial support.

Explaining the process to the Daily Graphic, Mr Boakye said the students would be taken through training to ensure that those with ideas would be supported to put them together and start operating, while those who had started would also be assisted to progress.

He said after that all the applicants would be given the opportunity to apply in teams, and for a start, 15 teams would be assisted, and as and when funds were available, more teams would be given assistance to grow their businesses.

The teams would be paired with successful entrepreneurs for mentorship and expert guidance for a start, before they would be allowed to be on their own. 

He appealed to corporate entities, political parties, the government and non-governmental organisations, to lend a hand in supporting the programme to offer support in growing businesses and “creating the next Steve Jobs, Bills Gates, among others in Ghana.”

The Director of the KNUST Centre for Business Development, Mr Samuel Akomea, said every KNUST student went through at least a semester in entrepreneurship, but most of the others who went through graduate school needed to be assisted to unearth the entrepreneurial talents.

He noted that although not every unemployed person could be made to become an entrepreneur, the opportunity and assistance must be offered for those with an interest and acumen to lead the way in industrialising the country.

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