NiBS holds 2022 Doctoral graduation ceremony; graduands urged to impact society

The Nobel International Business School (NiBS) on Saturday, November 26, held its 2022 doctoral graduation ceremony on the theme ‘Thriving under economic crisis; the way forward’.

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

Delivering an address at the graduation ceremony, the Founder and President of NiBS, Prof. Kwaku Atuahene-Gima acknowledged the economic crisis facing the country.

To this end, he charged the graduands to use the knowledge and skills acquired from 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 county,” Prof. Kwaku Atuahene-Gima urged the graduands.

Speaking on the theme "Thriving Under Economic Crisis; the Way Forward," the NiBS founder bemoaned how Ghana is blessed with resources but the country continues to suffer.

According to him, “If it takes an economic crisis for government to know they have to ban toothpicks then it means they are not thinking.”

He argued that the country is lagging behind in terms of development due to the continued mismanagement of the many resources.

Prof. Kwaku Atuahene-Gima proposed that if the country wants to turn around its economic fortunes, then there is a need to combine entrepreneurship and innovation.

To conclude his speech, the NiBS Founder congratulated the graduands and wished them well in their future endeavours.

Delivering the keynote address, Dr. George Nana Agyekum Donkor, the President of ECOWAS Bank of Investment and Development was full of praise for the graduands for completing their journey even in the midst of the hard times.

He admonished the graduands to make use of the knowledge acquired to solve problems confronting 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 costs, 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 here 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 at large,” Dr. George Nana Agyekum Donkor said.

Focusing on the theme "Thriving Under Economic Crisis; the way forward", he said it has become obvious that the world has been hard hit by what has come to be known as the twin external shocks – the COVID-19 pandemic and the war in Ukraine as the fallouts from these events have been obvious, as they have been telling.

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

In his view, there is a need for inflation to be addressed structurally through effective monetary and fiscal 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 in time is very key to dealing with the crisis.

He recommended that Central banks should 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 quick rebound from the economic downturn.

Speaking on behalf of IPAG Business School [the Affiliated partner awarding the degree to the graduands] virtually, Dr. Raphael Lissillour said, “on behalf of IPAG I will like to congratulate the very first batch of the affiliation. Congratulations to all of you for this achievement.”

Dr. Raphael Lissillour who is the DBA Programme Director and Development Manager at the IPAG Business School stressed that graduands have worked hard for their degree and should be proud of what they have accomplished.

“You have worked hard and you deserve this…Please strive to be different to impact your life, your community, and your country,” he advised.

Giving a valedictory speech on behalf of the graduating class, Dr. Sydney Otokunor Vanderpuye described the occasion as special, adding that the graduands feel privileged to be the first batch to meet the requirements to come out successfully.

“We are eternally grateful to God for the Grace to go through the years for our course. We express our heartfelt appreciation to IPAG for the chance to take this course. We salute the leadership of NiBS for the foresight to put together this Programme. We say a big thank you to all our lecturers,” he stressed.

In a message to his mates, he said, “To my fellow graduands, to all of us I say Ayekoo. The world of work has changed remarkably. The challenges facing the work have exposed us to several solutions. Let’s strive to apply the knowledge we have acquired.”