Academia, industry collaboration promote economic growth — Speakers
Speakers at the maiden edition of the CEOs Lecture Series organised by the Accra Technical University (ATU) have called on academia and industry to build partnerships that will propel economic growth.
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They explained that the gap identified between the two could only be bridged if industry players made a deliberate effort to work with academia to engage in problem solving research.
They also called on young people and students in universities to intentionally identify problems in the industry while in school, and use their dissertations to solve such problems.
The speakers were the Chief Investment Officer at Jospong Group; Noel Gyimah, the Deputy General Secretary in charge of Projects at Kantanka Group; Dr Kwesi Adjei Safo and the Head of Youth and Inclusive Banking at Access Bank, Jeffery Agyapong.
ATU @ 75
The CEOs Lecture Series organised in Accra last Thursday was part of a series of activities to celebrate the 75th anniversary of the university.The aim of the event was to create a platform for business leaders to share their achievements, challenges, expectations and encourage networking between industry players and the students.
Opportunities in sectors
Mr Gyimah stated that there were many opportunities, and urged young people to equip themselves, identify the value chain of a particular innovation and position themselves accordingly.
He also called on tertiary institutions to deliberately include skills training in their curriculum which should be tailored to meet the industrial requirements. He said the Jospong Group was embarking on such a module, known as the Technician Training Curriculum, to train people with technical skills that solved problems.
Mr Agyapong, addressing the students, encouraged them to take advantage of community projects, acquire skills while practising them as well as volunteering to build their capacities.
“The youth are the catalysts for innovation, you must cause positive change and impact your society,” he said.
Strong collaboration
Dr Safo, for his part, reiterated how crucial strong collaboration between someone with an idea, another with a skill set and adequate financing could bring any problem-solving idea into reality.
He said such collaboration, together with the adoption of technology and good leadership, was the key to the country’s growing unemployment and dwindling economy. The acting Vice-Chancellor of ATU, Professor Amevi Acakpovi, expressed the university’s dedication to nurture leaders who would build, grow and sustain businesses.
He said ATU was, therefore, empowering its students to navigate the complexities of the industry by frequently bringing the industry closer to students during their training in school.
He urged industry players to partner them to produce graduates who were fit and ready for the job market.