Academic City addresses Youth Empowerment

Acknowledging years of academic process and hard work, Ghana’s premium STEAM and Entrepreneurial institution, Academic City University College, held a public lecture with the theme “Empowering the Youth for the Future” on Friday, September 15th, 2023.

The event was part of activities to commemorate the school’s 5th Anniversary. The event brought together diverse participants from corporate, academia, and students, as well as education and youth empowerment enthusiasts.

The Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Ghana Investment Promotion Centre (GIPC), Dr. Ishmael Yamson as the guest speaker, expressed his contentment with the rapid growth of the University.

“I am happy to be here. I am proud of this University. I have watched it over the last five years and I must say, I am amazed by the process it has made over a very short period of time”, he said.

Sharing his views on the theme “Empowering the Youth for the Future”, Dr. Yamson indicated that over the years, government, families, and companies have made efforts to address the problem, but they have achieved minimal success.

However, he said the issue has gained significantly more attention for various reasons, including the inability to catch up with the disruptions that have followed many of the big issues that have occurred in recent years.

“We all know about Covid-19, which our government very easily blamed all our problems upon, Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. But more especially to me, the disruptions taking place by technology (artificial intelligence). This have created major challenges for the youth which includes massive loses of jobs, growing youth unemployment in absence of the government’s inability to provide job opportunities for the youth acquiring new knowledge and new skills for the new technology driven world of work, as well as lack of opportunity for personal professional growth.

“In some cases, this have led to mental health, depression and raising rate of suicide among young people” he emphasised.

Dr. Yamson voiced his dissatisfaction regarding how young individuals are risking their lives to migrate to Europe due to their loss of hope. This he said underscores the theme’s critical significance for both governments and societies.

According to Dr. Ishmael Yamson, acknowledging the challenges young people face globally but more especially in Africa and Ghana is the starting point of empowering the youth.

These challenges he said includes educational disparities, limited access to relevant and quality education, unemployment, mental health struggles and lack of personal growth opportunities.

Bringing the public lecture to an end, Dr. Yamson encouraged the youth not to be afraid of what is seen as the significant challenge of technological revolution but to instead remain relevant, make prudent choices, and execute those choices with passion.

“Looking back to glorious past will not help. Brave the new world, understand what it takes to be an active participant and succeed in it and you will not fail”.

After the lecture, Academic City awarded Dr. Ishmael Yamson with leadership award, which was presented to him by the Deputy Minister of Education, Mr. John Ntim Fordjour.