Stanbic Bank Ghana recently hosted the second cohort of students from Georgetown University’s McDonough School of Business, Washington DC.

The visit was part of practical business experience for coursework exercise and followed an earlier project on digital banking in 2023 by students of the school.

The visit provided insights and practical prescriptions on how the Bank could improve its digital solutions.

The collaboration is a result of the Bank’s selection to partner with the University on its Global Business Experience (GBE) journey, which is part of the students’ curriculum.  

The GBE is a required course for students at the McDonough School of Business at Georgetown University.

It is designed for students to gain first-hand international business experience by conducting an actual consulting project for companies operating outside the United States.

The GBE courses have been taught since 1997. Each year, the school engages with about 90 companies in more than 10 countries for different sections of this course.

The projects address specific business or management issues, and the students are assigned to projects based on their interests and specific qualifications and experience.

Participating companies receive high-quality professional consulting services under faculty supervision while students gain valuable international experience.

The projects must address issues or challenges that the bank needs to resolve. Projects focus on a wide range of topics such as new product development, market entry for a new product or location, international expansion, supply chain, mergers and acquisitions, and organizational issues.

The outputs of the projects, once completed, are presented to the Bank’s leadership team for consideration and implementation.

Speaking on the collaboration, Darwin Mireku, Head of Strategy and Enablement said, “At Stanbic Bank, it is clear to us that, to fulfil our purpose of driving Ghana’s growth with innovative and best-class solutions.

"We must establish the right mix of partnerships with technology and funding providers, knowledge-based institutions, and other complimentary solution providers to accelerate the pace at which we build capabilities or connect our clients to third-party solutions and platforms to address their unmet needs.”

“Through the insights from these projects, we have boosted our research capability while enhancing the customer value proposition for our retail business.

"As part of the sustainability and future-ready agenda, we are willing to explore alternative perspectives in efficiently running our business.

"We, therefore, encourage such partnerships which provide us with invaluable information, insights and possible solutions in areas that may be generally overlooked in our industry,” Mr Mireku added.

Professor Anthony Annan expressed gratitude to the management of Stanbic Bank for the opportunity to collaborate.

He mentioned that “Stanbic Bank’s continued support and commitment to fostering educational growth mean a great deal to us at Georgetown University. Partnerships and friendships like these enrich the academic journey and inspire future leaders in global business.

"Our students do not only leave with just knowledge they have acquired through practical engagements but also build connections, networks and a life-impacting appreciation of the Stanbic Bank Ghana work culture.”