The President and Chairman of the Board of Directors of the ECOWAS Bank for Investment and Development (EBID), Dr. George Agyekum Donkor, has urged graduates to use their knowledge to help create economic solutions.

Delivering the keynote address at the 2022 graduation ceremony at the Nobel International Business School (Nibs), the President of EBID was full of praise for the graduands for completing their journey even amid hard times.

According to him, the graduands should be responsible for making use of the knowledge they have acquired to solve problems in the country and the world.

"Mr Chairman, let me take this opportunity to, first of all, congratulate the graduands, on their determination and perseverance to go through a rigorous academic discipline. Certainly, they have made very telling sacrifices, some at great personal cost, to come this far. I am a living testimony of this, and that explains why I am taking my time to acknowledge their efforts.

"To the graduating class, it is my hope that you will leverage the knowledge you have acquired to bring solutions to your immediate surroundings to make our world a better place to live. "Make it your responsibility to lighten rather than compound the burdens of individuals and society as a whole," said Dr Agyekum Donkor.

Focusing on the theme "Thriving Under Economic Crisis: The Way Forward," he stated that the world has been hard hit by what has come to be known as the "twin external shocks" -- the pandemic and the war in Ukraine -- as the fallout from these events has been obvious and telling.

Referring to attempts by the Bank of Ghana to address inflation through monetary policy rate hikes, he said that was not yielding the expected results.

In his view, there is a need for inflation to be addressed structurally through policy coordination.

"While the monetary policy tweaks are deemed necessary to an extent, it is very important to underline that the cause of inflation is structural and not monetary. It is critical to focus on resolving the factors that got us here—the supply-side factors - rather than being overly fixated on the monetary factors. This can only be resolved through effective monetary and fiscal policy coordination to resolve the supply-side issues," Dr George Nana Agyekum Donkor said.

Insisting that this is not the first time the world has been faced with an economic downturn, he stressed that innovation at this point is very key to dealing with the crisis.

He recommended that central banks be less hawkish in increasing the monetary policy rate while urging banks to partner with governments to invest in the growth poles of the economy to facilitate a rebound from the economic downturn.

On Saturday, November 26, the Nobel International Business School (NiBS) held its 2022 doctoral graduation ceremony, with the theme "Thriving in Economic Crisis: The Way Forward."

At the graduation ceremony, 31 graduands were awarded Doctor of Business Administration (DBA) degrees for completing the course.

In an address at the graduation ceremony, the Founder and President of NiBS, Prof. Kwaku Atuahene-Gima, also charged the graduands to put the knowledge and skills they had acquired at the Nobel International Business School to good use to help grow not only their companies, but the communities they live in, and the country at large.

"From today, use your knowledge to innovate to help the country...Innovate for your companies to become better companies, and hopefully, the country will become a better country," Prof. Kwaku Atuahene-Gima urged the graduands."