By Lawrencia Akoto Frempong
Tema, Sept. 25, GNA – The Data Link Institute of Business and Technology (DLIBT) has organised a techno-preneurship fair for students, exposing them to nouvelle ideas in business.
Professor Stanley Moffatt, the President of the institute, noted that the techno-preneurship fair is an application providing a combination of technology and entrepreneurship for the promotion of business ideas, describing it as a hallmark of the institution.
He reiterated that most students with brilliant ideas after completing their education flounder without knowing what to do, so, the institution started career counseling for them.
He stated that the career counselling brought forth a more realistic opportunity to organise a fair where students with innovative ideas will be pushed to make their ideas a reality.
He said, “You can teach entrepreneurship, but until you help the students to birth ideas they have, that is when they realise the very realistic importance of whatever they have.”
Prof. Moffatt said the theme for this year’s fair, “Sustaining Entrepreneurial Drive through Digitalisation and Innovation,” was meant for the students to share their technological solutions to beat poverty while encouraging more young entrepreneurs to act for a better future.
He added that entrepreneurship is about innovation, breaking barriers, taking risks, and showing the new world and generation that a new business model can tackle long-standing problems.
“Too many young people in Ghana are caught floundering, languishing in poverty, and struggling just to eat, therefore, it is important to provide them with a peaceful environment where they can cultivate their skills and contribute to society,” he added.
He urged leaders in the entrepreneurship space to do well and nurture young people who have innovative ideas and open their prospects for the future.
Prof. Moffatt called on the government to foster an enabling environment for young entrepreneurs, build the capacities of the local institutions, facilitate access to finance with youth-friendly services, and coach young entrepreneurs beyond the start-up phase so they can maintain their success, while urging students not to be discouraged by others.
Mr Sherif Ghali, the Chief Executive Officer of Chambers of Young Entrepreneurs Ghana, noted that the journey of a young entrepreneur is often hard and challenging, needing the right directions and help to birth their ideas.
He added that the Chamber of Young Entrepreneurs aimed at ensuring that young people are able to do business, whether it be a start-up or an already existing one, mentioning that they have embarked on a lot of research that revealed that young entrepreneurs sometimes lacked access to funding and the capacity to build a sustainable business, coupled with the lack of access to markets.
He added that to be able to solve unemployment challenges in Ghana, stakeholders and the government must start looking at entrepreneurship by encouraging young people to go into business as it is the surest way to solve unemployment.
He advised young people to strive hard and be ready to take risks in their business, no matter how small it is working towards its betterment.
GNA