Professor (Mrs.) Rita Akosua Dickson, Vice-Chancellor of Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST), Kumasi has visited various key partners in Accra. She, together with her team, paid courtesy calls on the NCTE, ABSA Ghana, Vodafone Ghana, Ecobank Ghana, Stanbic Group and KNUST Guest House.
The Vice-Chancellor thanked these partners for supporting KNUST in various ways in the past. She asked for their support in order to enable her execute her vision for the University during her tenure of office.
The executive secretary of National Council for Tertiary Education (NCTE), Professor Mohammed Salifu praised Prof. Dickson and her team for embarking on such strategic visit. He said that they have tabled a proposal to allow NCTE to deal with technical clearance. This will give the NCTE control to replace staff deficits in a much faster way. He said that government is considering the various proposals from the universities and will be providing directions for reopening soon. He mentioned that plans are far advanced to roll out the setting up of a Digital Centre of Excellence and he expects the KNUST to take advantage of the opportunity.
In a meeting with management of ABSA Ghana, the MD Mrs. Abena Osie-Poku said that the bank is willing to bring on board clients to support the 'support one needy student with one laptop project,' (SONSOL Project).
At Vodafone Ghana, Prof. Dickson acknowledged the unique role of Patricia Obo-Nai, the CEO. The Vice-Chancellor thanked her for attending her investiture and accepting to be a guest speaker for this year’s virtual graduation.
Vodafone Ghana pledged the support for the school’s Digital Vision and SONSOL Project.
Management at the KNUST Guest House appreciated the visit by top management. They were grateful that some staff have been migrated on to the University’s payroll. They asked for refurbishment of the facility in order to attract more customers. Prof. Dickson said the Director of Works at the university has been asked to do a total audit of maintenance needs of the guest house for the attention of management. She advised that staff should take clientele services serious to attract more customers.
At Ecobank Ghana, Prof. Dickson said that though the bank has a new vision and direction, KNUST’s digitisation vision still fits in. She requested that Ecobank partners with KNUST to achieve the digitisation vision together.
The Managing Director of Ecobank Ghana, Mr. Dan Sackey lauded the healthy and long-standing relationship between KNUST and his outfit. He pledged the support of the bank in achieving the digitisation vision of the University.
At Stanbic Ghana, the CEO, Alhassan Andani said his outfit is willing to continue to work with the University and to support the various projects and initiatives. Specifically, Stanbic will support KNUST’s SONSOL Project as well as the teaching hospital project. Regarding entrepreneurship, the CEO indicated that Stanbic is committed to setting up an entrepreneurship advisory board to support up and coming graduates. Again, he said Stanbic will collaborate with KNUST regarding business incubator projects and also, committed to rolling out mortgages for staff.