Ghanaian graduates offered extra training to meet industry needs

The founders of a new project aiming to train Ghanaian STEM graduates to work in industry have said its model could help solve Africa’s employment problems.

The Ghana1000 initiative – a collaboration between non-profit organisation Industry Immersion Africa (iiAfrica) and business school ESMT Berlin – represents the latest attempt to combat issues raised by the continent’s booming youth population and an education system that often falls behind the changing demands of the global job market.

Nick Barniville, board member of ESMT’s “Circle of Friends” – an organisation that supports social initiatives – and a non-executive director of iiAfrica, told Times Higher Education that youth unemployment on the continent increases with the level of education.

“Education isn’t really solving the employment problem in Africa,” he added. “The reason for that is that many of the public universities have not yet adapted fully to the needs of industry in their local context.

“What we’re trying to do is show how to bridge this gap and leave the experience on how to do it in-country.”

The initiative offers free education and training to get Ghanian STEM graduates business-ready, learning skills such as data analysis, business intelligence and management reporting systems.

Mr Barniville said institutions such as EMST are judged a lot on their career outcomes for students, but the same incentives are perhaps not as present in Africa.

“The evolution of university systems in Africa has been less industry-focused than university systems in places like Germany,” he added. “They don’t have the same level of input from industry into the curriculum.”

The scale of the challenge is “immense”, he admitted, with the project part of a wider ambition by iiAfrica to train a million graduates across Africa by 2035.

The creators hope that those who learn new skills, developed in collaboration with local industry, will utilise them in their home countries.

“We’re not going to change the world but we’re going to show a model that can work,” added Mr Barniville. “Our aim is really not to get glory, it’s just to see whether we can have some real impact.”

Faculty from ESMT Berlin will provide academic content for the programme, with help from Canada’s University of Victoria and South Africa’s Stellenbosch University.

David Attipoe, chief executive of iiAfrica, said the project aims to help transform the continent’s young population from “more than a statistic”, to a driving force in economic growth.

“This programme demonstrates how targeted educational initiatives can turn a demographic challenge into an economic opportunity,” he added.

patrick.jack@timeshighereducation.com