On Thursday January 10th 2013, Ashesi hosted students, staff and faculty from Babson College for the annual Babson-Ashesi Business Seminar. The seminar, which is an initiative of Professor Dennis Hanno, Vice Provost and Dean of the Graduate School at Babson College, is held each year at Ashesi and allows students from both universities to engage with one another, and interact with leading entrepreneurs, business executives, opinion leaders and Ashesi alumni. The first business seminar was hosted in 2008. This year, 12 MBA students from the MIT Sloan Business School also attended the seminar.
In his opening remarks, Professor Hanno told the story of his first encounter with Patrick Awuah, President of Ashesi, and how he had wanted to be a part of the work Ashesi was doing to change Africa. Babson has since had a strong relationship with Ashesi. Each year, one Ashesi student is selected for a scholarship to study at Babson for one semester, and in 2010, Babson and Ashesi jointly launched a micro-venture fund to support small-scale businesses in Ghana.
Paul Adom-Otchere, Journalist and Communications Advisor at Brand Republic, led the first discussion on “Ghana’s Political History”, with emphasis on Ghana’s 2012 elections. Paul led the audience through a well-detailed account of the evolution of Ghana’s political society, and expressed his hopes for the future of political leadership in Ghana. Dr. Steve Manteaw, Media and Campaigns Coordinator of the Integrated Social Development Centre (ISODEC), also spoke on Ghana’s oil and gas industry, and how it is affecting the country’s socio-economic development.
The morning session of the seminar concluded on “Entrepreneurship in Ghana”, and Ernest Dzandu, Managing Consultant at CDC Consult and an Adjunct Lecturer at Ashesi, led a discussion panel of three young Ashesi alumni who currently own businesses. The alums, Charles Hansen-Quao ’07, (Head of User Experience and Support, and Co-founder of DreamOval), Fred Deegbe Jr. ’06 (Co-founder of Heel the World) and Joyce Boadi Okyere ’07 (Managing Director and co-founder of Dorotheen Enterprise). The alumni shared their experiences from starting businesses in Ghana, and the challenges that they face maintaining and growing their businesses.
After the seminar discussions and presentations, the students from Babson got a chance to watch cultural performances from a Berekuso ensemble, and learned the very popular Ghanaian ‘Azonto’ dance from Ashesi students.
“Students and graduates who are able to work in teams with diverse members and cultural backgrounds are more successful, and it is important for institutions to create platforms such as this business seminar to increase opportunities for cross-cultural engagement, networking and learning,” said Millicent Adjei, Associate Director of Diversity and International Programs at Ashesi.
(Click here to read blog posts about Ashesi from Babson students and faculty.)
Babson has gained a worldwide reputation for excellence in teaching entrepreneurship due to its innovative curriculum that requires all students to manage a business before graduation. Babson graduates have gone on to found and manage major corporations in the United States and elsewhere. Babson chose to work with Ashesi because of the similar focus on ethical and entrepreneurship leadership throughout both universities' curriculum.