Mahama tasks African leaders on enabling environment for businesses

President of Ghana, John Dramani Mahama, on Monday charged African leaders to accept the responsibility of creating an enabling environment in which enterprises can flourish across the continent.

Speaking at the maiden convocation of the University of Offa, Kwara, the Ghanaian president said that African leaders must provide stable institutions, quality infrastructure, relevant education, access to finance, predictable regulation, and economies capable of generating decent work for young people.

“Ideas need capital. Businesses need affordable finance. Young innovators need patient capital. Enterprises need efficient payment systems and market access. It will be paradoxical for us to tell young Africans to become entrepreneurs but deny them access to finance, infrastructure and opportunity. We would have offered them an aspiration without the tools to realise it.

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“The responsibility, therefore, belongs to all of us. Young people must bring their ideas, energy and courage. Governments, financial institutions, universities and the private sector must help create the enabling environment in which those ideas can survive, grow
and scale”.

“Governments have a responsibility to create an enabling environment in which enterprises can flourish. Governments must provide stable institutions, quality infrastructure, relevant education, access to finance, predictable regulation, and economies capable of generating decent work for young people.

“We in government must accept that responsibility. At the same time, your generation must recognise that the most secure preparation for an uncertain future is the ability to keep learning, adapting and creating value”.

This is just as the president charged the young graduates to keep learning, adapting and creating value to prepare for “an uncertain future”, saying, “Your generation is not too young to shape Africa’s economic future”.

Speaking on the theme, From Certificate to Enterprise: Africa’s graduates as architects of the continent’s economic future, the Ghana president, who was represented by Ghana’s High Commissioner-designate to Nigeria, H.E. Baba Sadiq Abdulai Abu, told the graduates that their degree is a license to continue learning, especially in the era of Artificial Intelligence.

“Allow me to leave you with three charges: First, learn continuously – Your degree is a license to continue learning, not a certificate
announcing that learning has ended. The skills that will define the next decade are changing even as we speak. Artificial Intelligence, data science, digital commerce and new technologies will continue to reshape professions.

“Do not fear technology. Learn to use it responsibly and intelligently. The future will favour those who combine human judgement, creativity and integrity with the intelligent use of technology.

“Second, build with integrity – Enterprise without ethics cannot produce sustainable
prosperity. Africa does not merely need intelligent people. It needs trustworthy people, those who
honour their agreements. Treat those who work with you with dignity and integrity. Pay what you owe. Protect your customers. Respect the environment. Whatever success you achieve, let it be success you can defend with a clear conscience.

“Third, think beyond borders. Think Africa – Your market is not only Offa. It is not only Kwara State. It is not even only Nigeria. Your market is Africa and beyond. The African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) allows your generation to build a more integrated African market where businesses can trade, invest, and grow across borders. Build products that can travel. Develop ideas that can scale up and form partnerships across borders. The African enterprise of the future will succeed if it is built on collaboration with Nigerians, Ghanaians, Kenyans, Rwandans, Senegalese, and many others.

Also speaking, the vice chancellor of the university, Professor Kazeem Alagbe Gbolagade, said that the
University produced eight First Class graduates among a total of 140 first degree graduates.

Professor Gbolagade said that 54 graduates bagged Second Class Upper degrees, 76 got Second Class Lower degrees, and two graduates had Third Class honours.

The Vice-Chancellor said the university, which was licensed in 2021 and commenced academic activities in 2022 with two faculties and 10 programmes, had grown to four faculties and 17 academic programmes.

He listed the faculties as the Faculties of Science and Computing; Management and Social Sciences; Education; and Health Sciences.

Gbolagade said the institution was also planning to introduce Law, Theatre Arts and Public Health programmes as part of its next phase of academic expansion.

On student enrolment, the Vice-Chancellor said the university had recorded significant growth, with its student population rising from 81 in the 2022/2023 academic session to 640 newly admitted students in the 2026/2027 session.

He said more than 1,000 prospective students had applied for admission in the current session, adding that admission was still ongoing.

“Our quota for this year is 1,166 and once we fill up our quota, 2026/2027 admission will close,” he said.

Gbolagade attributed the growth to what he described as the institution’s commitment to academic excellence, strict adherence to its academic calendar, information technology, and entrepreneurship.

He said the university had also engaged visiting lecturers and entered into partnerships with institutions within and outside Nigeria to expose students to practical and international learning experiences.

According to him, the university signed memoranda of understanding (MoU) with Highstone International University, USA, and INTI International University, Malaysia, to promote staff and student exchanges, research collaboration, grant attraction and resource sharing.

He added that the institution had partnered with New Horizon to provide practical information technology training for students across all disciplines, with students expected to earn additional professional certifications alongside their degree certificates.

The Vice-Chancellor also disclosed that the university had made progress in research and grant acquisition, noting that some of its academics had secured research grants and international opportunities.

He said the University of Offa Journal of Interdisciplinary Studies was launched in March 2026, while its first volume, containing 19 articles, was published in June.

On entrepreneurship, Gbolagade said the university was helping students acquire Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC) registration for their businesses, with plans to introduce start-up grants for graduates in the future.

He said the initiative was part of efforts to equip graduates with the skills to become job creators rather than job seekers.

The Vice-Chancellor also said that all the university’s initial 10 academic programmes had received accreditation from the National Universities Commission.

He added that four programmes in the Faculty of Health Sciences Nursing Science, Doctor of Physiotherapy, Medical Laboratory Science, and Community Health Science also recorded 100 per cent success during the NUC resource verification exercise conducted in April 2026.

Gbolagade, however, identified inadequate infrastructure as one of the major challenges confronting the young institution.

He appealed for support for the development of additional on-campus accommodation, a modern Senate building, Faculty of Health Sciences building, Faculty of Law building, a 1,000-capacity lecture theatre, modern mosque, library complex, sports complex and a CBT centre.

The Vice-Chancellor expressed appreciation to the founder of the university, Dr Abdulrasaq Oyewale, for his vision and support towards the development of the institution.

He also disclosed that the university had introduced a 50 per cent salary increase for its staff effective October 1, 2026, as part of its welfare package.

Gbolagade said the university would continue to strengthen its relationship with the media and other stakeholders as it works towards achieving its vision of becoming a leading institution of higher learning.