Ato Afful (seond left), MD, Graphic Communications Group Limited exchanging the agreement with Professor Justice Nyigmah Bawole, Dean of the UGBS. Looking on are some management staff of Graphic and UGBS

Let’s engage through strategic partnership — Graphic MD to universities

Maclean Kwofi Business News Oct - 19 - 2022 , 11:14

The Managing Director (MD) of the Graphic Communication Group Limited (GCGL), Ato Afful, has called on universities in the country to build strategic partnerships with the media that can impact positively on the citizenry.

He explained that the GCGL saw universities as an avenue where thought leadership of the country should be generated and communicated to the public.

“It is critical that at the faculty level we can communicate and share expertise with industry. The GCGL, for its part, has the channels, such as the Daily Graphic, the Graphic Business, The Mirror and others, to disseminate information in and beyond Ghana.

“The Graphic brands are also available to the students to exhibit their talent for industry to learn,” Mr Afful said when he led a delegation from the GCGL to sign a memorandum of understanding with the University of Ghana Business School (UGBS) in Accra on October 12.

The MoU

The MoU seeks to enable the two institutions to collaborate to promote the development of joint studies, research, training and other educational programmes of mutual interest.

Other areas are exchange programmes for students, faculty and staff.

There will also be mutual access to materials, documents and equipment and the promotion of research materials of the university to enrich content of the GCGL brands.

The Dean of the UGBS, Professor Justice Nyigmah Bawole, signed the MoU on behalf of the school, while Mr Afful, initialled for the group.

The signing ceremony, which took place on October 12, was witnessed by the Deputy Registrar of the UGBS, Emmanuel Poku-Sarkodee, and a senior lecturer at the Department of Marketing and Entrepreneurship of the UGBS, Dr Raphael Odoom, on the side of the university, while the Director, Marketing and Sales, Franklin Sowa, and the acting Editor of the Graphic Business, Charles Benoni Okine, witnessed the signing on the side of the GCGL.

Satisfaction

Prof. Bawole expressed his satisfaction with the partnership, saying it would pave the way for the two parties to work together for their mutual benefit.

The dean explained that the school operated very responsive departments that developed programmes to train more students to become global leaders.

As a market leader, Prof. Bawole indicated, the school was unable to renege on the population that it served and so it had, over the years, taken steps to deliberately expand.

“We have developed a new strategy which seeks to collaborate with and leverage relations with institutions such as the GCGL to reach out, using powerful communication,” he said.

Opportunities for students

Mr Okine said the Graphic Business would soon introduce specialised slots in the paper with a focus on articles and business proposals from students.

“We will soon launch a competition where we will float a Case Study for students to answer and the best piece will attract a handsome prize,” he added.

Mr Okine said the Graphic Business Tertiary Business Sense Challenge (TBSC) has caught on well with students and expressed the hope that the Version 5.0 which comes up next year will be bigger with more attractive prizes for the winning schools.