Ashesi and McGill University organised a conference highlighting initial findings from a research project focused on factors influencing student and alumni entrepreneurship. The project, conducted in partnership with the Mastercard Foundation, is led by Dr. Gordon Adomdza (Associate Professor at Ashesi) and Dr. Nii Addy (Associate Director of Africa Outreach at McGill University). Since 2022, the research team has tracked Mastercard Foundation Scholars from the two universities across twelve African countries and investigated the experiential and entrepreneurial learning activities that have influenced their careers most.
Ahead of completing and publishing the report, the two universities convened the conference for stakeholders from universities, government, development agencies, civil society, and businesses to contribute their perspectives on the role of education experiences on student and alumni entrepreneurship. In so doing, the research team hopes to make the report more helpful for various stakeholders, especially other Mastercard Foundation Scholars Programme partners, seeking to help student utilise their educational experiences for social transformation and prosperity.
Presentations and conversations included a review of the research project by the two research leads, an overview of entrepreneurship ecosystems, learnings from the University of Cape Coast (UCC) by Dr. Keren Arthur (Senior Lecturer and Director for the Design Innovation Hub at UCC), and a panel discussion.
Enhancing Student & Alumni Entrepreneurship
The panel discussion was moderated by Yaw Adu-Gyamfi, Co-founder and Director at Centre for Social Innovations, with panellists being Dr. George Acheampong (Senior Lecturer at University of Ghana Business School), Gertrude Mensah (Lecturer at Lancaster University), Beauty Beatrice Kwawu (Mastercard Foundation Scholars Program Manager at the African Institute for Mathematical Sciences (AIMS) Ghana), Olufemi Adewumi (Programs Director at MEST Africa) Natasha Dadzie (Director at Boost Africa), and Emmanuel Anni Acquah (Managing Consultant at Bridge-Tailor Consulting).
“There is a need for institutions to be in partnership with industry and other stakeholders to provide students and alumni with the relevant experience needed to run a business,” Beauty Beatrice Kwawu, Mastercard Foundation Scholars Program Manager at the African Institute for Mathematical Sciences (AIMS) Ghana shared. “We need to give students and alumni the opportunity to practice, encounter challenges, fail and learn from those failures to form successful ventures.”
The panellists discussed several strategies to foster a culture of entrepreneurship within universities and beyond. Key among them was that institutions have to actively engage students in entrepreneurial activities from the beginning of their academic journey and for entrepreneurship to be integrated across all university programs, emphasising problem-solving and employability skills. The panel also agreed that it is essential for institutions to diversify their funding sources and foster strategic partnerships to ensure the sustainability of student and alumni entrepreneurship programs.
"As an institution, our goal is to educate entrepreneurs while emphasising ethics," shared the Head of Computer Science and Information Systems at Ashesi, Dr Ayorkoh Korsah, who was a keynote speaker alongside Samuel Akomea, Senior Lecturer at the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST) Business School. "We acknowledge that we cannot achieve this mission alone. Therefore, we must engage with our alumni, partners, and stakeholders within the ecosystem to collectively pursue this mission."
