Ghana’s unemployment situation is worsening with no immediate solution in sight, says Prof. Sam Afranie, Provost of the College of Arts and Social Sciences (CASS) at the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST). He believes that academia has to play a leading role in empowering young graduates to face the professional world through knowledge and skills in entrepreneurship. The CASS is partnering with the KNUST’s Centre for Business Development (CBD) to host the 2nd Entrepreneurship Clinic at the KNUST from February 1 to March 8, 2013. Prof. Afranie is confident that such programmes could help reduce the rate of unemployment. “The problem of unemployment is getting worse; even we have an Association of Unemployed Graduates... we in the universities must contribute in solving this problem and one of the solutions is this entrepreneurship clinic,” he stated. The six-week programme targets final year students in tertiary institutions by imparting skills and creating opportunities for successful entrepreneurship and value addition to enterprises. CBD Head Ralph Nyadu-Addo says students will be empowered through the requisite knowledge in all aspects of the entrepreneurship and small business management as well as professional and business ethics. He tells the Luv FM Biz Report that previous seminars have had a significant impact in breeding a crop of students with an entrepreneurial mindset. “We have been overwhelmed by over 50 students coming in with their business plans for us to help them straighten up and even some have over ten registered companies in one area or another”, noted Mr Nyadu-Addo. According to him, “the idea is not to necessarily help them to immediately start their businesses but also to be able to work in other companies by way of preparing themselves to launch their own business.” Mr Nyadu-Addo, who chairs the programme’s planning committee, says areas of interest include managing and sustaining a business in Ghana, understanding the business environment and opportunities and threats it presents, discovering and utilizing potentials in life and coping with life after school as well as understanding Ghana’s business financing systems, including micro financing. The programme will be crowned with “Mentors Day” and will see renowned Ghanaian entrepreneurs and captains of industry sharing experiences and interacting with participants. Airtel Ghana Managing Director Philip Sowah was the first corporate leader to take the students through some of the tenets of establishing successful ventures and excelling in organizations. He enjoined the youth to explore the political, economic, social and legal environment before founding a business.