Dean of School of Business and Management Studies – Dr. Theophilus
Azungah
The Ministry of Business Development has launched a “School Entrepreneurship Initiatives Club at the Bolgatanga Polytechnic in the Upper East Region.
The formation of the club is part of efforts by the Ministry to have Ghanaian youth and children to start thinking about business concepts and learning the right management structures and strategies in their early years.
The club members will be trained by selected hubs that are already working with the Ministry of Business Development and the National Entrepreneurship and Innovation Programme, to prepare them for the business world after school.
The members of the School Entrepreneurship Initiatives Club are expected to think and come out with implementable business ideas that can be supported by the Ministry, while they are still in school.
Doing the launch at the Sumbrungu campus of the Bolgatanga Polytechnic on behalf of the Business Development Minister, the officer in charge of ICT and Media Relations at NEIP, Joseph Osei Oppong Brenya, assured that the Ministry is committed to helping more young Ghanaians to enter into business and manage them properly.
He said the Ministry also wants to help existing small businesses to expand so as to create job opportunities for more Ghanaians.
Initiatives Club
“To generate excitement among tertiary institutions, the School Entrepreneurship Initiative will roll out a “Business Plan Competition, detailing what businesses the entrepreneurial clubs want to pursue. Working on the business plans will foster sharing of ideas, research and finally, project execution. These are necessary for the success of businesses and will become the open handbook of management to these student entrepreneurs.” Mr. Brenya hinted.
Through the School Entrepreneurship Initiative, the Ministry intends to train and stimulate at least 10,000 students annually to think entrepreneurship and affect two million students over the next five years.
The Business Development Ministry through this initiative also seeks to get the concept of entrepreneurship directly into the tertiary institutions and help the aspiring students entrepreneurs and their businesses to meet world class standard.
“…the Ministry wants to change the narrative from “graduate unemployment” to “graduate job creation”, as an index in the employment sector within five years. I encourage the students of this institution and members of this club to take advantage of this opportunity and come up with business ideas and be assured that, government will support you to realize your dreams of becoming successful entrepreneurs.” Mr. Brenya advised.
The Dean of School of Business and Management Studies of the Bolgatanga Polytechnic, Dr. Theophilus Azungah stressed the fact that unemployment is still on the list of major problems facing countries in the world, due to the dwindling number of jobs.
“It is for this reason that entrepreneurship has become a crucial element in the growth of a country’s economy and it is recognized that, where entrepreneurial activity is high, there is equally a higher economic growth rate. Entrepreneurship provides the necessary environment for new ideas in order to generate new enterprises. …Your idea will solve somebody’s problem. Our economy and future prosperity depends on many factors, but high among this list is the ability of entrepreneurs and innovators to develop ideas into great enterprises. …the Entrepreneurship Club is a learning-by-doing environment where students can cultivate their entrepreneurship skills.” Dr. Azungah noted.
The students will be guided by selected Lectures in the school and some persons from industry will be visiting to also guide them.
FROM: Ebo Bruce-Quansah, Sumbrungu