Ghana

Knutsford University College (Knutsford) is a private liberal arts, science and technology University College, established in September 2007. Knutsford College has two campuses, one in Accra and another one in Kumasi.

Programs offered in the Accra campus are BSc. Business Administration, BSc. Information Technology, BSc. Computer Science, BSc. Communication and Media Studies, BSc. Nursing, and BSc. Economics. The programs available in the Kumasi campus are BSc. Business Administration and BSc. Information Technology.

The founder is passionate about education and he acknowledges that there are struggles and challenges, so he offers scholarships to students to reduce this burden. In 2019, 60% of students received scholarships, in 2020 this figure increased to 65% and in 2021, 51% of students were offered scholarships. Usually, most scholarships are granted to first year students, however, in 2020, the founder decided to extend this to sophomore and junior students due to the pandemic.

Workshops are organized for students interested in entrepreneurship. Knutsford also believes in leadership and contribution to society – students create awareness on environment and sanitation issues through outreach activities. Knutsford won the Ghana Environmental and Sanitation Award, 2022 for their efforts in this regard.

THE ENTREPRENEUR

John K. Essel is an astute self-developed businessman and leader in entrepreneurship development and creativity. A graduate of the UST School of Mines, now University of Mines (UMaT), Mr. Essel diverted his attention from engineering into creation of enterprises. He has helped create and develop some SMEs in Ghana and beyond. Mr. Essel also served as the founding Deputy Registrar and Acting Registrar of one of the first private university colleges in Ghana.

THE PARTNERSHIP WITH I&P

Through its I&P Education to Employment program, I&P is committed to working with Knutsford University College to:

⇒ support the acquisition of 50 desktops thereby improving the desktop-to-student ratio by 50%.

⇒ purchase manikins that can simulate real-life health situations, speech recognition ability, and other features for the Nursing Program

⇒ support the university to establish a Career Services Department.

EXPECTED IMPACTS 

⇒ Boost the employability of young people

⇒ Improve the quality of training provision through the acquisition of new equipment.

Founded in 2009, Jackson College of Education (JCE) is a teacher-training college that focuses on providing degree and diploma programs in education. JCE’s aim is to instill discipline and hopes for a brighter future in all, regardless of age, race, education, professional, social, and religious backgrounds and provide specialized education training and most importantly extend this training into underserved areas to improve education access.
JCE offers two major programs: Bachelor of Education (B.Ed), and a Post Graduate Diploma in Education, all via distance learning. JCE uniquely delivers a rare opportunity to beneficiaries to actively work while pursuing their academic ambitions with their distance or online learning modus operandi. Due to its mode of operation, Jackson College of Education utilises campuses of the regular colleges of education during the weekend period. The college meets students every fortnight either in an in-person class or in an online synchronous session.
Jackson College of Education is arguably one of the prominent private colleges of education amongst the eight (8) private colleges of education in Ghana. The relentless drive for quality and improvement continues to inspire it to provide top-of-the-range teaching and learning to produce world-class professionals. JCE students and graduates are highly considered in job and school applications. Jackson operates a distance learning program and has no permanent campus. The unique nature of this model has allowed them to build a presence in 13 regions, with 31 centers in 13 regions.
With multitudinous awards to their credits, JCE is locally and internationally recognized for business and educational excellence, quality, innovation, technology and leadership, among others.
 

THE ENTREPRENEURS

Professor Jackson is the former Provost of the College of Engineering, KNUST an Electrical Engineer and a retired Associate Professor with over 40 years teaching experience at KNUST. He holds a B.Sc. and M.Sc. Degrees in Electrical and Electronic Engineering, KNUST, Kumasi. PhD in Automatic Control, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, USA. He has lectured and help develop curriculum for most Polytechnics in the country now (Technical Universities). He developed the first GPA and CWA software (grading software) for KNUST and other universities in Ghana.

Theodosia Wilhelmina Jacksonhas over 40 years of education experience in various capacities within the public sector and is still going strong in the private sector after her retirement, 15 years ago. She is particularly active in transforming lives of girls especially in prostitution and young teenage girls with children or pregnancies by training them in vocational and small enterprising skills to cater for themselves and their children. She pursued a 3-year specialist program in Agriculture at Bagabaga College of Education in Tamale.

THE PARTNERSHIP WITH I&P

Through its I&P Education to Employment program, I&P is committed to working with Jackson College of Education to:

⇒ purchase network routers with adequate internet data for all of its learning centres to help students access learning materials and tools.

⇒ provide scholarships to 160 vulnerable young women covering their tuition and the provision of one laptop device each.

EXPECTED IMPACTS 

⇒ Boost the employability of young people

⇒ Improve the quality of training provision through the acquisition of new equipment.

Riohs College of Design (Riohs) was founded in 2010 as a creative art service provider and training company in Accra. Riohs equips students with the necessary skills in fashion design and illustration after 6 months of training. Riohs started from humble beginnings offering training to a small number of students. Subsequently, an open studio was set up in a one-bedroom apartment. The institution then moved to a three-bedroom apartment as the number of students increased. Riohs wants to be known as the center that transforms lives, giving opportunities and skills and encouraging the expression of creativity under the guidance of professional artists. Over the years, Riohs has nurtured the skills of many creators who have established their brands in Ghana and West African countries especially Ivory Coast, Nigeria, Liberia, and Togo.

THE ENTREPRENEUR

Prior to entrepreneurship, Richard Ohene Sika was a fashion design instructor and talent manager. He taught in different fashion schools. Richard has a passion for teaching and fashion and this would lead to a remedial course where he would tutor students who required additional help. Thanks to his skills and worthwhile tutoring, the number of students grew from one to five, and then ten through word of mouth and referrals. Richard did not charge students for extra lessons, instead, he asked them to donate. The impact he generated far outweighed the monetary rewards for him.

THE PARTNERSHIP WITH I&P

Through its I&P Education to Employment program, I&P is committed to working with Riohs College of Design to:

⇒ Set up a digital studio and introduce a new course called Digital Fashion which would enable students to illustrate digitally.

⇒ Give the learning center a facelift and replace old and inefficient domestic sewing machines with 50 industrial sewing machines.

⇒ Complete the development of an application for online learning.

⇒ Develop a career framework and training for two staff members.

EXPECTED IMPACTS 

⇒ Boost the employability of young people

⇒ Improve the quality of training provision through the acquisition of new equipment.

2nd Image International Skills College (2nd Image) was founded in 2000. 2nd Image offers short vocational training courses, higher national diplomas and certification programs in the fields of beauty, hairdressing and fashion design. 2nd Image is authorized to administer the International Therapy Examination Council (ITEC) exams, a certification which offers students the possibility of finding employment abroad. The school has 3 campuses across Ghana, in Accra, Kumasi and Denu.

THE ENTREPRENEUR

Nikki Phillipa Kuenyefounder, a biochemist by profession, moved to Ghana from the UK, where she owned a hairdressing salon, in 1984. After identifying an opportunity in the beauty and wellness sector, she founded 2nd Image, a beauty and wellness company, in 1986. To meet the growing demand from professionals, she developed an apprenticeship system based on practical training, which was formalized with the creation of 2nd Image.

PARTNERSHIP WITH I&P

Through its I&P Education to Employment program, I&P is committed to working with 2nd Image to:

⇒ Improve the quality of education by acquiring 30 computers and setting up an electronic library.

⇒ Boost the employability of young graduates, with the help of an expert to support the development of the alumni network and the setting up of a career service.

⇒ Support 50 female students with scholarships and business start-up kits after graduation.

EXPECTED IMPACTS 

⇒ Boost the employability of young people

⇒ Improve the quality of training provision through the acquisition of new equipment.

⇒ Enable 50 young women from disadvantaged backgrounds to access appropriate training through a scholarship scheme

The JACCD Design Institute Africa was established in 1993 as Vogue Style. 
JACCD DIA's mission is to prepare and train emerging talent for design excellence by stimulating disruptive innovations, developing interdisciplinary and collaborative projects, and driving the creative economy. The institution's pillars are youth development, support for the needy, business excellence, and entrepreneurship.

JACCD provides training in fashion design, graphic design, animation, film/television, interactive design/game development, visual effects, fine art, textile design, and photography.

THE ENTREPRENEUR

Joyce Ababio graduated from Texas Women's University with a degree in fashion and design, after which she worked in the fashion industry in the United States until her return to Ghana in 1993.

PARTNERSHIP WITH I&P

Through its I&P Education to Employment program, I&P is committed to working with the JACCD Design Institute Africa to:

⇒ Implement a scholarship assistance program to support 28 vulnerable students

⇒ Implement a student safeguard policy

EXPECTED IMPACTS 

⇒ Reinforcing social inclusion

Incas is a medical diagnostics social enterprise based in Ghana, which seeks to save lives through the design and production of low-cost, easy-to-use, point-of-care diagnostic test kits designed specifically for Africa. Since its inception, Incas Diagnostics has been committed to ensuring that all persons enjoy good health and wellbeing, by making available effective, efficient, and easily accessible test kits at affordable prices for various purposes.

The entrepreneur

Incas was founded by Laud Anthony Basing, who has 10 years of experience as a microbiologist and over a decade of experience in molecular-based research. Laud was previously a Laboratory Auditor for the African Society for Laboratory Medicine (ASLM) in Ethiopia where he audited African laboratories enrolled in the SLIPTA Programme, a framework for improving the quality of public health laboratories in developing countries to achieve the requirements of the ISO 15189 standard. Laud worked as a Lecturer at Kumasi University of Science and Technology (KNUST) where he taught Medical Diagnostics and Microbiology before founding Incas.

Partnership with I&P

Incas is supported by I&P through I&P Acceleration in Sahel. In Ghana, the monitoring and the implementation of the program is lead by Wangara Green Ventures. 

This partnership aims at :

• Complete formalization of business (accounting and financial support, implementation of administrative, accounting and HR procedures)
• Review and implement waste treatment procedure
• Support Business development and capital raise

Expected impacts

• Increase in innovation in the Ghanaian and African biotech space
• Directly contributing to the increase in good health and well-being of individuals
• Contribute to decent work and economic growth

Coliba is a Ghana-based company specializing in the recovery and resale of plastic waste at home. Since its inception, the company has been committed to providing environmentally friendly business solutions that leverage technology and innovation to address plastic waste challenges in West Africa, including Ghana.

The entrepreneur

Prince Agbata is the Chief Executive Officer and Founder of Coliba. Prince created Ghana's first plastic community buyback scheme and built one of Ghana's leading plastic recovery and recycling start-ups. Prince was previously a Circular Economy Consultant for Norfund where he rendered advisory and consulting services for the client on Ghana's plastic waste value chain. He led the creation of a Plastic Recycling app termed the “Uber for plastic recycling.” The promoter previously served as a Project Lead for the Digital Movement for Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) in basic schools. He also served as Project Manager at IDEA Africa for 2 years managing a team of 17 people in Ghana & Liberia.

Partnership with I&P

Coliba is supported by I&P through I&P Acceleration in Sahel. In Ghana, the monitoring and the implementation of the program is lead by Wangara Green Ventures. 

This partnership aims at :

• Improving warehouse and logistics management
• Integrating management of financial data, customer data from sales, and all auditing tasks.
• Automating supply chain assistance solutions to improve efficiencies and streamline processes within supply chain operations
• Strengthening the corporate governance practices by the company

Expected impacts

• ​Increase jobs from 98 to 200
• Directly contributing to the increase in good health and well-being of individuals 
• Contribute to decent work and economic growth
• Contribute to clean water and sanitation
• Contribute to climate action

Founded by Elliot Agyare, in 1996, Smartline Publisher is a Ghanaian book publishing company that also offers other services including publishing services, educational resource services, supply, and library consulting.

It offers a variety of genres such as picture books, textbooks for junior high school, senior high school, and tertiary, biographies, fiction, and non-fiction.

With over 1.5 million units sold, 350 titles published, a network of 120 secondary schools across the country, and displays on renowned e-commerce platforms such as Amazon, Amazon Kindle Store, BookNook, Jumia, African Books Collective, etc.), Smartline is well on its way to achieving its ambition of becoming a leading publishing house on the continent.

The Entrepreneur

Elliot Agyare is regarded as one of the most respected publishers in Ghana and on the African Continent. He has served twice as the President of the Ghana Book Publishers Association and is currently the President of the Commonwealth Book Publishers Association. He was a lead facilitator of the Association for the Development of Education and African Union workshop on National Reading Policies in Nairobi, Kenya in 2018 and Kigali, Rwanda in 2019. He was a presenter at the Sharjah Book Fair in 2019 and spoke at the World Bank in Washington on procurement for books. Elliot is also a board member of the University Press and Vice Chair of the board of the Ghana Book Trust. He has always been involved in advocating for the industry and has led publishing industry engagements with various past governments on policy issues regarding the industry and literacy. He holds a Bachelor’s degree from the University of Science and Technology, Kumasi, and an MA in International Studies from the University of Salford, UK.

Partnership with I&P  

Through its I&P Education to Employment program, I&P has committed to Smartline Publisher to:  

⇒ Support the digitization strategy through equipment acquisition to support the production of e-books;

⇒ Publish textbooks adapted to the local needs, in collaboration with teachers and students;

⇒ Conduct research to ascertain the supply coverage of some textbooks in SHS, TVET and Tertiary schools in rural and urban areas and to assess the comprehension level of students to develop the offer accordingly;

⇒ Improve its practices for gender and diversity inclusion in its publications.

Expected impacts 

⇒ Improving Ghana's quality of education

⇒ Increasing education accessibility in rural and urban areas

A company supported by the partnership between I&P and Mastercard Foundation 

Since February 2021, I&P has partnered with Mastercard Foundation through its I&P Education to Employment initiative, a finance program aimed at improving access to relevant and quality education on the African continent.

The partnership between I&P Education to Employment and Mastercard Foundation specifically aims to support 30 education entrepreneurs in 3 target countries (Ivory Coast, Ghana, Senegal) over 3 years. The partner companies receive funding and technical assistance to support them in their digital transformation, resilience, and growth strategy as well as in the implementation of social inclusion and employability measurement mechanisms.

Read more about 

Read Elliot Agyare's portrait

Smartline Publisher website

I&P Education to Employment

GCUC is a private university founded in 2001 by Albert Acquah, a skilled entrepreneur. Based in Kumasi, the university is made up of a Faculty of Applied Sciences, a Faculty of Health Sciences, and a Business School.   

Through an innovative digitization strategy combined with high-quality teaching, GCUC has grown to be one of the leading universities in Ghana. With over 4,000 alumni, GCUC plays a key role in addressing the shortage of health workers in the country.   

The entrepreneur 

Albert Acquah holds degrees in social sciences (Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology), economics and international administration (Ohio University).

He worked for several years in investment consulting.  

Albert Acquah began his entrepreneurial adventure in 2001 when he founded the College of Information Technology and Management Systems, which later became Garden City University College. 

Partnership with I&P 

Through its I&P Education to Employment program, I&P has committed to GCUC to:   

• Develop a digitalization plan (e-learning platform, online courses, construction of a recording and production studio)  
• Support its decentralisation strategy, notably through the implementation of campuses in remote areas of the country and the supply computer equipment 
• Strengthen the employability rate of students and graduates through the jobs and internships center, coupled with the appropriate support 
• Implementing policies and practices to protect learners on campus 

Expected impacts

• Increasing the number of beneficiaries: GCUC's reinforced digitalisation will allow many young people to benefit from training in the healthcare field via online service.
• Promoting access to higher education in remote areas of Ghana by opening two new campuses (Akim Oda and Berekum).
• Increasing the employment prospects of young graduates.  

A company supported by the partneship between I&P and Mastercard Foundation

Since February 2021, I&P has partnered with Mastercard Foundation through its I&P Education to Employment initiative, a finance program aimed at improving access to relevant and quality education on the African continent. 

The partnership between I&P Education to Employment and Mastercard Foundation specifically aims to support 30 education entrepreneurs in 3 target countries (Ivory Coast, Ghana, Senegal) over 3 years. The partner companies receive funding and technical assistance to support them in their digital transformation, resilience, and growth strategy as well as in the implementation of social inclusion and employability measurement mechanisms. 

Read more about the I&P Education to Employment program 

GCUC’s website