Embrace entrepreneurship - Minister urges GTUC graduates

Kwabena Okyere Darko-Mensah, the Western Regional Minister has advised graduates of the Ghana Technology University College (GTUC) to consider embracing entrepreneurship as part of efforts to generate wealth.

He said there were a number of opportunities within the private sector, hence, the need for graduates of the nation's universities to embrace entrepreneurship.

Mr Darko-Mensah made the appeal over the weekend during the 23rd Congregation of the GTUC in Accra, on the theme: “Becoming a Productive Graduate: The Role of Entrepreneurship and Technology in National Development”.

The ceremony witnessed the graduation of total of 233 (Diploma, undergraduate and masters) students, with Barbara Anne Defortse emerging as the overall best graduating student.

Mr Darko-Mensah who was the guest speaker for the occasion, cited that the Western Region had gold mines, oil and gas, timber, coconut industry, which was receiving a boost; tourism industry; agriculture and manufacturing; all receiving great attention and desired talents such as theirs.

He noted that the role of entrepreneurship in providing innovative solutions for community issues, such as transport, education and provision of amenities, could not be understated.

He added that increasingly, the collaborative role of entrepreneurship in providing technological solutions had become a prevalent feature of 21st-century life.

Mr Darko-Mensah said with respect to Ghana’s development, education and the provision, thereof, continued to take centre stage, and it was prudent that, in tandem with technology, it also served as crucial driver of entrepreneurship and business in general.

He said increased access to education, the successful interplay, promotion of entrepreneurship and technology was the key to accelerate Ghana’s development.

“In doing this effectively, the onus is on tertiary institutions to leverage on the power of research and professional development to promote the theory and practice of both technology and entrepreneurship”, he added.

Mr Darko-Mensah said it was encouraging to note that GTUC did not only have a thriving centre for professional development but had recently launched its own International Journal of Technology and Entrepreneurship.

The journal seeks to promote innovative cutting-edge technology, development policies in information and communication technology, engineering and business and enterprise culture to enhance the delivery value to stakeholders.

This he said would go a long way to tailor a more dynamic curriculum that would develop students to function even more effectively in a world that is built on the rapid advancement of technology and business enterprise.

Mr Darko-Mensah tasked graduates to thrive through challenges, adding, “with respect to both technology and entrepreneurship, they are centred largely on creativity and innovation, hence, the ability to think outside the box, is the key to solving life’s problems”.

Professor Emmanuel Ohene Afoakwa, Acting President of GTUC, said the theme for the 23rd congregation, focused on the GTUC graduate and it emphasised the role tertiary entrepreneurship and technology played in producing graduates that could support national development.

He said the University remained committed to training graduates to be critical thinkers; intellectually disciplined, able to skillfully analyse, conceptualize and evaluate situations to provide alternative solutions.

He said GTUC continued to place emphasis on academic excellence, nurturing of personal values and ethics that would become the standards of communities, country and the world at large.

Prof Afoakwa encouraged graduates to continuously aspire to improve themselves, challenge themselves, build new knowledge and most of all, should not accept the status quo as it is.