Cape Coast, April 6, GNA – The University of Cape Coast (UCC) School of Business has held the first edition of its CEOs’ Engagement Series aimed at deepening the relationship between academia and industry to provide entrepreneurial and employment opportunities for students.  

The meeting with hundreds of students, industry players and academics in attendance, was addressed by Mr Roni Chacko, the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Godrej Group Ghana, an Indian multinational conglomerate.  

A Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between the School and the company crowned the interactive session where a lot of the company’s products, mainly hair products, were shared.   

The implementation of the agreement, which takes effect next semester, will provide internship opportunities for 100 students of UCC with the company every semester.   

The programme will also focus on the creation of a favourable environment for critical skills development and equip students with all the hard and soft qualities required by industry.  

Industry leaders and professionals are given the opportunity to share their experiences and business insights with students in an open forum.  

Mr Chacko called for the need for businesses to prioritise value for consumers against price if they were to succeed.  

He said entrepreneurs and employees alike should possess the right qualities, including patience, to advance in their endeavours because “things do not happen overnight.”  

To achieve growth, the culture of ownership and ethics should be sustainably built by employees over the years, he said. 

“We expect that the employees will exhibit ownership and 100 per cent accountability with zero excuses. Don’t think that you can just sit and things will fall on your laps.” 

Mr Chacko said the partnership with UCC will help mitigate the unemployment situation in the country as the nature of the work was human capital intensive.  

“We have a workforce of 4,000 people already and 85 per cent of our population is female and we are expanding. Our work, fortunately, is human capital intensive and so we will forever need people,” he said.  

Professor John Gatsi, the Dean of the School of Business, said the forum was to prepare students to adapt to changes in the corporate world and industry through practicalities as a lot of business activities did not happen in the classroom.   

The CEOs and top corporate leaders’ engagements with faculty and students were acceptable avenues to learn and adapt to the world of business, he noted, adding that faculty would also leverage on the opportunity to take research interest in company activities.  

“We are nurturing global leaders, CEOs, strategists and entrepreneurs to foster intensive relationship with industry and provide opportunity for students to acquire business skills that are not taught in the classroom,”  the Dean said.  

He highlighted UCC’s commitment to reducing unemployment through entrepreneurship, citing the business incubator, design thinking hub, compulsory internship and compulsory business plan as some of the practical efforts.  

“We have made internship at the Business School now compulsory at level 200 and 300 because we want them to have enough experience with industry before they leave here so that the technical skills we are building in them in addition to some of the skills they need at the industry level will be enough.”  

He described the collaboration between the School and the company as ‘excellent’ and said it was in talks with other industry partners to contribute to the practical efforts. 

“We have almost about 3,000 undergraduate students. All of them who are interested in internship cannot get this place. That’s why we need to work assiduously to get other places that will help our students, especially those who cannot get places, to do their internship.”   

Professor Eric Amuquandoh, the Provost of the School, said: “Students need to acknowledge that having theory alone is not enough. We need to acquire practical skills and knowledge. We need champions and experts to provide us guidance and knowledge to make us complete.  

He advised the students to be confident, hardworking, respectful, trustworthy, patient and humble to learn through any opportunity because “Rome was not built in a day”.  

GNA