Trade Minister welcomes focus on entrepreneurship by universities
Trade and Industry Minister, Ms Hannah Tetteh, has welcomed the incorporation of entrepreneurship education into the curricula of the country’s universities, describing it commendable.
She said to make this practically rewarding to students, the institutions needed to ensure joint collaborations adding that more research into entrepreneurship was needed to help provide solutions to challenges facing businesses and industry.
Ms Tetteh said this in an address read for her at the opening session of the maiden International Conference of Entrepreneurship Educators, Research and Entrepreneurs in Africa (CEEREA) in Kumasi.
The three-day meeting, organized by the Institute of Entrepreneurship and Enterprise Development (IEED) of the Kumasi Polytechnic, brought together participants from South Africa, Nigeria, Botswana and Ghana.
The goal was to assist bridge the gap between classroom work and the reality on the ground after school.
Ms Tetteh drew attention to the need for aggressive promotion of research publications to help address problems not only in Africa but where ever applicable.
She pledged the government’s support for any effort in entrepreneurship that was seen essential to job creation and national development.
The Minister advised the participants to take advantage of the conference to acquire new knowledge to improve on their skills in their areas of endeavour.
Professor Nicholas Nicodemus Nana Nsowah-Nuamah, Rector of the Polytechnic, attributed the growing unemployment to the rapid expansion of tertiary education without corresponding expansion in employment opportunities.
He said it was to assist tackle this that the polytechnic has established the (IEED) to raise graduate entrepreneurs who would employ themselves and others.
He said the Institute now has three divisions; Teaching, Consultancy and Business Incubation Centre as well as Centre for Entrepreneurship Research in Africa.
Started in year 2008, about 20 percent of its products have graduated into their own businesses, ranging from Agro to commerce.
Source: GNA