The Association of Ghana Industries (AGI) has committed to collaborating with the University of Professional Studies, Accra (UPSA), to enhance teaching and learning.
The partnership will focus on advancing collaborative research, knowledge transfer, organising training programs, and developing business relationships for mutual growth and benefit.
AGI President, Dr. Humphrey Kwesi Ayim-Darke, made the commitment during a working visit by the Vice-Chancellor of UPSA, Prof. John Kwaku Mensah Mawutor, on Tuesday, February 11.
Prof. Mawutor, in underscoring the critical role of academia-industry partnerships, stated that the new partnership between UPSA and AGI will drive impactful solutions that enhance local businesses while enriching academic learning with practical, real-world insights.
“The business community is faced with challenges, and the role of tertiary institutions is to provide solutions to these challenges,” Prof Mawutor said.
“So as a university, it is important that we come to you to learn about the challenges facing Ghanaian businesses and discuss how we can collaborate to address some of the challenges.”
The Vice-Chancellor further disclosed plans to incorporate business challenges as well as success stories as case studies that will be published in his proposed faculty-authored course books for students.
He explained that the initiative is aimed at enriching students’ understanding of local business needs while providing them with relevant and relatable course content.
Prof Mawutor appealed to AGI for support, revealing plans to partner with local businesses to establish a laptop computer assembly lab on the UPSA campus to provide students with practical experience in technology.
Dr. Ayim-Darke welcomed the collaboration initiative, emphasising the importance of leveraging information technology to solve challenges faced by local businesses.
He also expressed AGI’s readiness to collaborate with UPSA in areas such as applied research, granting access to AGI company data for teaching and learning, and releasing industry experts to lecture part-time at the university.
“We will provide a lot of case studies for the university’s faculty-authored course books and work together to bridge the gap between academia and industry,” Dr. Ayim-Darke said.
Seth Twum Akwaboah, an administrator at AGI, commended UPSA for its proactive stakeholder engagement and the initiative to incorporate local case studies into its academic programs.
“We need academia just as you need us. Industry-academia partnerships can always produce tangible results, and we are extremely excited about this collaborative opportunity,” Mr Akwaboah stated.
At the meeting were Mrs. Lorraine Gyan, Registrar of UPSA; Prof. Samuel Antwi, Pro Vice-Chancellor in charge of Research, Innovation and Knowledge Transfer and Mr. Freeman Kwade, a Senior Media Officer.
