The University of Professional Studies, Accra (UPSA) has initiated discussions with FirstBank Ghana to establish a strategic partnership aimed at fostering academic and corporate collaboration.
As part of this effort, the Vice-Chancellor of UPSA, Prof. John Kwaku Mensah Mawutor, paid a courtesy visit to the Managing Director of FirstBank Ghana, Mr. Victor Yaw Asante, on Thursday, February 27.
The visit aligns with UPSA’s commitment to actively engage corporate institutions to explore mutually beneficial opportunities.
“The practice over the years has been for universities to sit and wait for corporate organisations to come to them. At UPSA, we want to turn this around by taking our vision to them and exploring areas of collaboration,” Prof. Mawutor stated.
He emphasised that his vision includes transforming UPSA’s financial model by securing partnerships with financial institutions and corporate organisations to support infrastructure development, particularly hostel facilities on a build-operate-and-transfer (BOT) model.
This initiative aims to address the increasing accommodation needs of the university’s growing student population.
Additionally, Prof. Mawutor highlighted UPSA’s strategic move to expand beyond traditional research by promoting interdisciplinary research.
He revealed plans to convert final-year students’ project work into digital solutions and marketable products that can have real-world applications.
Welcoming the UPSA delegation, Mr. Victor Yaw Asante expressed FirstBank Ghana’s enthusiasm for academic partnerships, stating that the bank is eager to collaborate with universities on research projects.
“Academic collaboration is something we welcome as a bank. We are particularly interested in sponsoring research projects of UPSA, the findings of which can be incorporated into faculty-authored course textbooks,” he remarked.
Present at the meeting were Mr Enoch Vanderpuye, Head of Marketing and Corporate Communications at FirstBank; Mr Frank Adotey Addo, Head of Commercial; and Naa Adokailey Amofa, Head of HR.
The UPSA delegation also included Mrs Lorraine Gyan, Registrar, and Prof Samuel Antwi, Pro Vice Chancellor in charge of Research, Innovation, and Knowledge Transfer.
