GHANA
When Bright Nimako completed his undergraduate degree in materials engineering at the Ghana-based University for Development Studies, he was excited about joining the professional world.
But Nimako encountered stiff competition from other graduates for the few available jobs in the country when he sought employment. The fierce competition made it difficult to also obtain a placement for his national service. Due to the challenging job market, he was compelled to pursue graduate studies.
However, he heard about a new initiative in his country called Ghana1000 that aimed to enhance the employability and entrepreneurship skills of science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) graduates in Africa. Nimako enrolled in the programme.
Enhancing employability
The initiative, implemented by Industry Immersion Africa (iiAfrica) in collaboration with the German Business School ESMT Berlin, has now trained 750 STEM graduates. The second cohort of 250 participants started in March 2024. Participants are equipped with data analytics and business intelligence skills to enhance their employability through eight weeks of interactive virtual sessions.
The University of Victoria in Canada provides tutorial support to local tutors who are being trained to teach content through a cooperation agreement with Academics Without Borders, a Canadian NGO, while South Africa’s Stellenbosch University provides participants with the business skills needed to make the workplace thrive.
“I realised that the skills I learned in the programme significantly increased my value in the job market, putting me ahead of my peers and giving me a competitive advantage in obtaining employment opportunities. This newfound confidence stemmed from the practical skills I gained in the programme, which are highly valued by businesses and institutions,” Nimako told University World News.
Through the programme’s projects, Nimako learned data analysis skills, allowing him to effectively work with organisational data to support and improve decision-making processes. As a result, he felt more confident in his ability to make a meaningful contribution to potential employers and navigate the job market with ease.
Students’ confidence increases
His colleague, graduate and intern at Development Bank Ghana Adwoa Yeboah Asante Afari, said: “I gained a collection of valuable skills that I can leverage to benefit any organisation. I am especially proud of my data-driven insights and well-informed decision-making abilities.”
Additionally, the programme prepared Afari to make substantial contributions to the bank’s success by exposing him to different facets of financial analysis and company operations. “This showcased my ability to utilise data for practical insights and impactful decision-making. I am well-prepared, with a solid foundation in data analytics and business skills that can benefit any organisation. These abilities allow me to effectively contribute to an organisation’s operations, ultimately driving success,” he said.
Nimako said he has gained expertise in business, data analytics and critical thinking, allowing him to analyse complex datasets, draw actionable conclusions and evaluate information to devise novel solutions to problems.
Soft skills are also cultivated
Dr David Attipoe, chief executive officer of iiAfrica, said the initiative is keen to develop essential skills that are in high demand in the labour market, including proficiency in the use of industry-specific tools and technologies, expertise in data visualisation, mastery of business analytics, and the development of soft skills critical to business success.
“We also prioritise fostering critical thinking, problem-solving abilities, effective communication, teamwork, adaptability and instilling a strong work ethic in our participants. These competencies, taken together, provide them with the skills they need to advance in their careers and thrive in fast-paced business environments,” Attipoe said.
While university education frequently emphasises theoretical knowledge, Attipoe said Ghana1000 looks at real-world application and industry relevance by working on industry-specific projects and collaborating with industry partners, which allows graduates to gain first-hand experience and develop skills that will be directly applicable in their future careers.
“We integrate academia and industry seamlessly into our projects by exposing students to industry-specific data and challenges. Our international partner lecturers facilitate projects like Microsoft Power BI assignments and design-thinking whereby candidates address real-world business issues. This hands-on approach enables them to not only expand their theoretical knowledge, but also apply it in practice to solve industry-specific problems,” Attipoe told University Word News.
More local programmes needed
Through industry-academia collaboration, he said, the project remains relevant and in line with current industry practices and expectations while students also benefit from mentorship and guidance from industry professionals which allow them to make valuable connections and learn about best practices in the industry.
According to ESMT Berlin, Africa needs more in-country programmes to guarantee developing nations benefits from the skills and knowledge of their citizens as opposed to traditional inbound scholarship programmes that may only benefit individual students, but often lead to this talent no longer being available to their home markets.
Nick Barniville, board member of ESMT’s Circle of Friends and non-executive director at iiAfrica, says the initiative is committed to supporting talented scholars from Africa to follow their professional aspirations to wherever in the world they take them.
Whereas, it is important that all students, including those at ESMT, should have classmates who reflect the diversity of the world’s population, Barniville said data shows that, while traditional inbound scholarship programmes benefit individual students, they often lead to this talent no longer being available to their home regions. “This means more in-country programmes are required to ensure that countries in the Global South can also benefit from the knowledge and skills learned by nationals of those countries,” Barniville said.
Few graduates return home
ESMT Berlin’s annual data since 2012 shows that a relatively low number of MBA and MSc graduates from Africa who studied at the school on full tuition scholarships returned to their home countries. After completing their studies in Germany, only 30% of MBA graduate scholarship recipients and a paltry 5% of MSc graduates returned to their home countries.
The initiative’s initial experience, he said, was gained through a pilot programme called the Industry Immersion Program (IIP). The Ghana1000 programme is based on the IIP, a pan-African initiative running as a cooperation between ESMT Berlin and the African Institute for Mathematical Sciences (AIMS) since 2017 (with annual cohorts in South Africa, Ghana, Rwanda, Cameroon, and Kenya). Under the IIP, Barniville said, post-programme employment rates exceeded 80%, yet scaling internships with industry partners is very challenging.
“When the opportunity came to partner with a government organisation … the National Service Scheme in Ghana … where work placements were already guaranteed, we jumped at the opportunity and immediately began searching for funding to be able to deliver the programme at no cost to the government,” he said.
Barniville said the aim is to complete the first two years in Ghana and assess the impact of the programme on employment outcomes.
“Together with academic faculty from ESMT and other partners, we plan to conduct a randomised control trial during the second year to see empirically what difference the programme makes in the workplace and use this data to make changes to the programme format and content. We have a clear aim to enter other countries within three years … our overall ambition is to improve employability and employment outcomes for one million STEM graduates from across Africa by 2035.”
While the first cohort of the programme has already graduated, the official launch to industry will take place in Accra with the Industry Engagement Forum on 22-23 May 2024.
Source link : https://www.universityworldnews.com/post.php?story=20240407221320775
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Publish date : 2024-04-18 07:00:00
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