Tertiary students urged to have innovative entrepreneurial mindset

An Assistant Lecturer at the Department of Marketing under the Faculty of Public Relations and Marketing, Ghana Institute of Journalism, Nii Nookwei Tackie, has urged university students to have innovative entrepreneurial mindset to set them apart from their contemporaries.

He said unemployment increases every year, and it is time for new brands to emerge, adding “Ghana is in an ICT-driven age, and geopolitical barriers cannot more or less slow us down”.

He made this call during an interview with the Daily Statesman yesterday on innovative entrepreneurial initiatives university students can leverage to help restore economic stability and reduce the unemployment rate in the country.

Dynamic, young minds

Nii Nookwei noted that Ghana has dynamic young minds at her disposal, stressing that “those with the potential to change the world must first condition and recondition themselves to believe in their abilities in innovative entrepreneurship to market Ghana globally.”

“Our classrooms are full of capable students with dynamic ideas that need to be given the daily support and encouragement. Students just need to comprehend that they are venture capitalists, and must take advantage, especially when the concepts can generate profits,” he noted.

Nii Nookwei stressed the need to start building “our own Ghanaian Facebook, WhatsApp, Gucci, Nike brands, and we have to start pushing for the Ghanaian brand that can take over the world and employ a lot more people”.

He encouraged students to take risk, and explore in the entrepreneurial space, saying: “Ghanaian students must embrace the research methods taught in school in order to find ways and means to understand what customers want, who their customers are, where they are, and how to reach those customers? Remember it is only when you offer value to customers that they will pay for something. So, in the long run, the risk of putting your money into a business that you know might work or might not work will be put to use only if you undertake your feasibility analysis, your customer behaviour analysis and competitor analysis,” he noted.

Entrepreneurial competition

He observed that it will go a long way to reignite the entrepreneurial passion among students, indicating the recent competition organised at GIJ as impactful. Nii Nookwei said an innovative business idea aimed at projecting the theory practice pedagogy is currently being implemented at the Ghana Institute of Journalism.

“The Rector, Professor Kwamena Kwansah-Aidoo, had mentioned in a number of reports on his belief in the power of entrepreneurship and how students should take advantage, see the opportunity, learn in order to implement it for their benefits,” he stated.

He further commended the passion of the Marketing Department, headed by Dr. George Asamoah, and the Dean, Dr. Mrs. Mavis Essandoh, who had tasked their Departments to push for a more pragmatic approach in lecturing.

The Department started this year with the first ever entrepreneurship fair, which was named after the Enterprise Development Fair, for Degree and Diploma students, testing a Business Idea Presentation Competition.

“We want to make sure that it’s not only the theory they learn that matters in entrepreneurship. Impact opportunity-spotting skills, be it PR or Journalism, can spot opportunities and see how best to organise themselves as a business or a new brand and shine in whatever they’re doing. Last week’s competition saw G5 creation, Kaya Pro, Shrooms, Internit, Palmil Oil and Alpha Mobile placing first, second, third, fourth and fifth respectively,” he stated.