The Pro Vice-Chancellor of the University of Cape Coast (UCC), Prof. Rosemond Aboagyewa Boohene, has said graduate unemployment is a threat to the country’s security.

 

To wardoff the looming danger, she counselled Ghanaian youths to explore the rich opportunities in entrepreneurship to fight unemployment, saying that was the only solution to the graduate unemployment situation in the country.

 

 

" Remember I always say that if we have a lot of graduate unemployment, it is a national security issue. And therefore, entrepreneurship can come to the rescue," the Pro Vice-Chancellor added.

 

Prof. Boohene was speaking at her inaugural lecture on the topic: "Entrepreneurship and Enterprise Development in Practice: Tracking the Pathways."

 

She identified Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (SMEs) as the engine of economic growth and job creation in any economy.

 

The Pro Vice-Chancellor said she had developed a two-stage model for entrepreneurship training for both second cycle and tertiary institutions.

 

According to her, high school students would have to acquire skills in military training, agricultural training, digital literacy, entrepreneurship training, among others to  succeed in the model for entrepreneurship training.

 

She pointed out the initiative that would equip tertiary students with essential entrepreneurial skills crucial for succeeding as future nation-builders.

 

Prof. Boohene explained  she had worked on a lot of projects aimed at  fostering an entrepreneurial mindset in students of the UCC, including university wide entrepreneurship course, Business incubator, among others.

 

 

These projects, she added, were empowering  students to unleash their potential as future business leaders and change-makers.

 

Prof. Boohene called on government to put in place sustainable policies targeted at small businesses in the country to help them grow.

 

The Pro Vice-Chancellor underlined the need  to support persons living with disabilities (PwDs) to undertake business ventures, pointing out that PwDs had special skills and talents, which if given the needed support, could be unleashed to better their lot and  contribute more to the development of the country. 

 

Prof. Boohene admitted that the entrepreneurship sector was fraught with problems and recommended the creation of specialised agencies, financial support programmes, capacity-building initiatives, and policy reforms, to revamp the sector.