Alfred Adams and Zambaga Rufai Saminu
12 October 2009
Accra — Goldfields Ghana Limited (GGL), a mining company operating in Damang and Akyimpim, has, in partnership with Junior Achievement Ghana, organised a youth entrepreneurship development programme dubbed, 'The Goldfields Innovation Camp 2009 Business Challenge.'
Junior Achievement is the world's largest organisation dedicated to educating students in grades about entrepreneurship, work readiness, and financial literacy, through experiential hands-on programs.
The purpose of the achievement is to inspire and prepare young people to succeed in a global economy.
The day's Innovation Camp programme saw six senior high schools in the catchment area of Goldfields, compete in a business challenge programme for a prize.
The schools were the St. Augustine's Senior High School, Benso Senior High School, Fiaseman Senior High School, Tarkwa Senior High and Hunni-Valley Senior High School.
The schools were tasked to address specific business challenges on how to set up a business venture and measure its success.
The students worked in teams, and were to come up with ideas which best contributed to the solution of the challenge. The Innovation Camp is an intense experience for the students, since they would have to propose a solution within a limited time, access tools, information and resources.
The programme, which was sponsored by Goldfields Ghana Limited, through the Goldfields Ghana Foundation, at a total cost of GH¢ 20,000, saw St. Augustine's Senior High School emerge winners of the challenge.
They scored 423 points to beat their closest rival, the Tarkwa Senior High School.
Addressing the students earlier on, the General Manager of GGL, Mr. Peete Van Swalkw, challenged them not to give up in life, but rather confront every challenge.
The Managing Director of Goldfields, whose speech was read on his behalf by Dr. Tony Aubyn, noted that the GGL motivation for supporting the Junior Achievement, stemmed from the company's interest in developing their communities, and the importance the company placed on enhancing the entrepreneurial skills and potentials of the youth.
"We are aware one of the biggest problems in Ghana, particularly with the youth, is the lack of entrepreneurial appreciation. The scanty efforts to run programmes that seek to develop the entrepreneurship skills of the young people, particularly those in high schools, remains appropriated in the city, and urban centered."
To him, the GGL shared in the strong belief that the spirit of entrepreneurship should be inculcated in the youth right from the senior high school level.
Ghana's quest of achieving middle income status would be a complete mirage, if effective efforts were not made to inculcate and harness the spirit of entrepreneurship in the youth.
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