The Deputy South African High Commissioner to Ghana has hailed the strong bond of friendship between Ghana and South Africa.

Thapelo Madumane expressed optimism that the relationship would continue to grow for the mutual benefit of the people of both countries.

He said the bilateral relation between the two countries has produced fruitful results over the years in the areas of agriculture, food security, institutional capacity building, science and technology, trade and investment, education and skills development.

He was speaking at the launch of the Jackson Institute of Innovation and Leadership (JIIL) in Kumasi.

The school which seeks to train and produce innovative leaders and professionals with practical, employable and quality skills set for the development and stewardship of society, is the newest addition to the Jackson Educational Complex (JEC).

It also seeks to depart from the archaic methodologies of teaching so as to produce critical thinkers for Ghana and Africa in partnership with the ADvTECH Group and the Independent Institute of Education (IIE), both of South Africa.

The ADvTECH Group is one of sub-Saharan Africa's top private education holdings group with 18 established learning brands while the IIE is also internationally accredited with British Accreditation Council and offers more than 127 registered and accredited qualifications from higher certificate to master's level.

Madumane said JEC has been known as a premium private educational brand and ADvTECH is the largest private educational investor in Africa.

"The inauguration of this project with the background of these two great institutions will produce the much needed critical skills leading to the path of self reliance, growth and progress", he touted.

"In today's world, knowledge and skills are the currency of the 21st century and an investment in this direction bears the highest yields", he added.

He said South Africa is delighted about the partnership with JIIL; particularly, its affiliation with the IIE, saying that education is the powerful tool that can change the world.

He was hopeful that the partnership would ensure continuous training of leaders and professionals for business and society in Ghana, South Africa and Africa at large.

The Deputy High Commissioner applauded the leadership of JEC for the initiative to train and produce innovative leaders which, he noted, was critical to accelerated development of the continent.

Daniel A. Jackson, the Managing Director of JIIL, said Ghana's educational focus should be channelled to training people who would be able to do the job of the future and that is what JIIL seeks to do.

"At JIIL, we believe that the 21st century student should be competent in a variety of soft and hard skills. The student should be agile and be able to think critically and have the flair for entrepreneurship and inculcate innovation and reputable leadership at all levels of society", he stated.

He said JIIL has a multi dimensional facet, explaining that it is a business and technology institute with the aim of bridging the gap between academia and industry.

"Our primary aim is for students to successfully bring innovation to business by doing things differently via creativity. We want industry to join forces with academia so that the students from our institution are not only theoretically trained but possess the practical knowhow for solving challenges".