The Jospong Group of Companies (JGC) has formalised a partnership with Ghanaian Scholars in the Diaspora (GSD) in a move aimed at harnessing global academic expertise to support Ghana’s socio-economic development.

The collaboration was sealed with the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on Friday, January 2, 2026, in Accra, bringing together the Jospong Group and Ghanaian postgraduate scholars studying in countries including the United States, Germany, Japan, South Korea, India, Hungary and China.

Speaking after the signing ceremony, Dr Joseph Siaw Agyepong, Executive Chairman of the Jospong Group, said the initiative goes beyond corporate interests and is intended to serve the broader national good.

“This is not just for Jospong; this is for Ghana,” Dr Agyepong stated, stressing the need to translate academic research into practical solutions that can drive development.

Under the agreement, the specialised knowledge and research outputs of Ghanaian master’s and PhD students abroad will be channelled into innovative, real-world applications across the Group’s diverse operations, which span sanitation, waste management, manufacturing, ICT, banking support services and agribusiness.

Dr Agyepong announced plans to establish a dedicated office to coordinate the work of the scholars, noting that the unit will be independently run but fully sponsored by the Group. “Jospong will not manage them, but only sponsor and facilitate their work,” he assured.

He described the partnership as a potential national platform that could attract more Ghanaian scholars globally and revealed plans to engage other leading Ghanaian businesses, including Ibrahim Mahama, Kasapreko and Despite Group, to support and sustain the initiative.

President of the Ghanaian Students Association in Hungary and Secretary of GSD, Mr Peter Worlasi Adanu, welcomed the partnership, describing it as a major step towards linking academic research with national development needs.

“We are very grateful and excited by this significant step, and on behalf of the GSD, I pledge our full commitment to ensuring that the objectives of this MoU are achieved for the positive transformation of Ghana,” he said.

Mr Adanu also called on government and other stakeholders to support the initiative to maximise its impact.

Earlier, Chief Operating Officer of the Environmental Service Cluster of the Jospong Group, Mrs Florence Larbi, said the partnership reflects the Group’s belief that sustainable business growth is driven by purpose and innovation, not profit alone.

Addressing the scholars, she traced the Group’s journey from a small printing press in 1995 to a conglomerate of over 60 companies, attributing its growth to continuous learning and diversification. She noted that the collaboration was inspired by Dr Agyepong’s exposure to Japan’s structured and hands-on academic-industry training model.

Mrs Larbi challenged the scholars to ensure their research leads to tangible outcomes. “Every idea and every research project should aim to solve a problem or build a new product or service we can grow and scale,” she said.

The partnership comes at a time when Ghana continues to explore ways of leveraging diaspora expertise to accelerate industrialisation, innovation and job creation, in line with broader national development goals.