UG Vice Chancellor launches Entrepreneurship prize

As part of efforts to produce entrepreneurial minded graduates from tertiary institutions, Vice Chancellor of the University of Ghana Professor Ebenezer Oduro Owusu has launched an entrepreneurship prize which will be awarded to students who will be able to come out with outstanding business ideas.

Speaking after the entrepreneurship session of the Global Entrepreneurship Week, Prof. Oduro Owusu emphasized his goal was to make students who leave school become employers and not employees.

“My personal philosophy is that the students that we train should be trained to become employers, not employees... and the only way to get the best out of them is to allow them to compete among themselves.

…If we keep doing this and multiplying, it will come to a time when most of our graduates will be self-employed and that will drive the economy from that very small scale level to a very large scale” he noted.

Students at all levels in the various departments are encouraged to participate in the competition by submitting their business ideas.

The Vice Chancellor added that the goal of the exercise was to reduce graduate over reliance on the public sector and waiting to be employed after school. He stated that it was important that students in the various departments come up with their own ideas of solving problems in the society and creating businesses where possible.

He also stated that the best idea submitted by a student based on evaluations will be made to roll out with full funding.

Present at the seminar were Business Development Minister Ibrahim Mohammed Awal, Dalex Finance CEO Kenneth Thompson, A1 Bakery CEO Godfred Boateng, as well as several deans and heads of departments at the university.