Tamale, July 30, GNA – Three students of the University for Development Studies (UDS) have emerged tops in the third edition of the Vice-Chancellor’s Business Innovation Award qualifying them to receive GH¢15,000.00 funding support each for their businesses.
Ms Fuseini Hannatu Bawre, a final year Early Childhood Care and Education student, Ms Alhassan Nimatu Amban, a level 300 Early Grade Education student and Ms Naa Ayeley Tagoe, a final year midwifery student, won the first, second and third positions in that order.
They were declared winners out of 12 individuals and groups, who pitched their business ideas on food, nutrition, poultry production and aquaculture.
The awardees would undergo business incubation sessions and support from the Business Innovation and Incubation Centre (BIIC) of UDS to nurture their entrepreneurial capacities and sustain their businesses.
This year’s Vice-Chancellor’s Business Innovation Award formed part of the activities lined up to commemorate the University’s 30th anniversary celebration as well as the BIIC’s effort to inculcate the sense of entrepreneurship in UDS students and the youth.
It is an initiative under the BIIC of the University’s Business Directorate (UDS-BD) aimed at developing the business acumen of students to enable them take advantage of available opportunities.
The event, sponsored by the UDS Alumni Association, adb bank, Yara Ghana, Ghana National Petroleum Corporation, Ecobank, Agrisolve, Stanbic Bank and Amaati Company Limited was on the theme: « Unearthing the Potentials of the Youth for Job Creation: The Role of Academic Institutions ».
Professor Gabriel Ayum Teye, Vice-Chancellor of UDS, speaking during the event at the University’s Tamale Campus, said the award sought to provide financial support to enable UDS students and alumni to implement their business ideas, which would put them in positions to support the school’s development.
He noted that it was important for academic institutions to be creative to empower graduates to move from job seekers to job creators, adding « This doesn’t mean that academic institutions must depart from their academic roles of providing knowledge and skills. »
Professor Felix Kofi Abagale, Pro-Vice-Chancelor of UDS encouraged the awardees to be more diversified to reflect the objectives of BIIC’s imitative of identifying innovative and viable business ideas among students and alumni.
Mrs Salma Abdulai, Chief Executive Officer of Amaati Company Limited and an alumnus of UDS, urged the contestants of the award scheme to define their business purposes and persevere to achieve target goals.
Ms Fuseini Hannatu Bawre, who placed first with the business name « Manare snack » with a packaged powdered « sobolo » concept, expressed her excitement over the gesture and said it would enhance her ability to establish her business and employ others.
Rosemary Wayo/Widat Jambeidu
