UPSA to help build successful businesses

The Vice Chancellor of the University of Professional Studies Accra (UPSA), Professor Abednego Feehi Okoe Amartey, has said that the newly launched UPSA Enterprise and Innovation Centre (UEIC) will help build successful and impactful businesses in the country.

He said the school was very passionate about the supporting student to create their own businesses because entrepreneurship holds the key to job creation in the country.

In a speech that was read on his behalf at the launch of the UEIC, he said he was confident that the centre would help foster the spirit of entrepreneurship by grooming and supporting students so that their business ideas would flourish, thrive and become sustainable businesses for generations to come.

He noted that the goal of the initiative was to build sucessful and impactful businesses.

“UPSA has evolved into one of the fastest growing universities in the country and this is because of our commitment to developing forward looking academic programmes and partnerships that respond to current and anticipated future needs of our nation and that of Africa.

“In the last five years, we have introduced innovative and market driven programmes that are beneficial for the growth of the country, with about 30 new programmes that respond to the urgent national needs,” he stated.

He said the centre would help students to be better prepared to create their own businesses and jobs.

“We will enable them to develop the characteristics, attributes and skills to contribute to the economy through job creation.

“In the ever changing global economy, compounded by youth unemployment, students need the skills, capabilities, financial and technical assistance to enable them succeed and that is what this centre seeks to offer,” he said.

Read; Don’t look for job, create one - Joe Ghartey to UPSA students

Create jobs

In his keynote address, the Member of Parliament of Essikado-Ketan, Mr Joe Ghartey, urged the students to free their minds and move away from the mentality of appointment to a mentality of creation.

He urged them not to look for jobs after school, but rather create jobs.

Mr Ghartey, who is the Chairman of the Advisory Board of the centre, said “some of the richest people in the world today dreamt when they were your age and today have impacted the whole world. I am sure you know I am talking about Bill Gates, Steve Jobs, Mark Zuckerberg and the likes. They are no better than you.

“When our forefathers thought about independence, they had to free their minds first. The youth of today, free your mind, the world is your canvas, use it and paint a masterpiece that we will all applaud.

“It should be said that if our fathers gave us political independence, this generation has given us economic independence,” he stated.

Laudable initiative

Mr Ghartey said as chairman of the centre, he would do his best to ensure that this laudable initiative by arguably the fastest growing public university in Ghana becomes a shining light.

He said he would also make sure it becomes an initiative to be celebrated, a program which would occupy a place of pride not only when the history of the University is being written, but also when the history of the economic explosion of country in the time of the youth is being written.

“The question is what must the State and other stakeholders do to release the energies of our youth and business community in order for them to create wealth? What must be done for opportunities for enterprise and innovation to increase?

“The answer is not far-fetched and we do not need to look or think far for the answer. There are several examples in our recent history of how various sectors have expanded to create unimaginable opportunities,” he explained.

Interaction with students

The Dean of the Faculty of Management Studies at UPSA, Dr Fidelis Quansah, for her part, said the faculty had interacted with the students and had a good appreciation of what some of them seek to pursue.

“I have seen so many student entrepreneurs walk out of here to join the search for jobs that do not exist and for others, they never get the opportunity to nurture the seed of business idea and grow it.

“I am therefore excited that our students who now decide to climb the good tree of entrepreneurship will be given the needed push from the UEIC,” she stated.

She said globally, most forward looking universities were gradually becoming business houses and incubators and the fulcrum around which high growth businesses were built

She said this was why the faculty with support from the entire university community and other partners decided to champion this initiative.