Over 40% of university students have no employment prospects when they graduate - Joe Jackson

Entrepreneurship is no longer a choice; it is the only viable employment option available to lots of young graduates in the country, says Mr. Joe Jackson, Director of Business Operations of Dalex Finance.

He said, “…Ghana has a long way to go in tackling the depressing phenomenon of joblessness…” He blamed the situation on partisan politics, widespread corruption, greed and recklessness in the country”.

He made these remarks while addressing students of the Valley View University at a summit held on campus recently.

Mr. Jackson based his presentation on the theme, ‘Press On’ and candidly said to the students, “... the stark truth is that you are not going to get your dream job when you walk out of this institution. 40% of the number in this auditorium will leave school and not have a job to do because the country is not creating enough opportunities for the teaming graduates…”.

“…if you are not blessed with people, parents and guardians with ‘connection’ to get you slotted into the very few jobs that are being created, you are in trouble. But there is good news, entrepreneurship could earn you a lot of money but this journey is arduous and requires a lot of time. Just start and press on…”, he said.

Believe in your dream - even when others do not- and be sure there is need for whatever you are doing. Being an entrepreneur does not mean you are opting for less; sometimes, you are opting for more. Just be ready to fail and use the learnings from the failure to improve the rest of the journey. Self-belief, faith, perseverance, hard work are key characteristics that will see your through as an entrepreneur, he admonished the students.

The summit was jointly put together by GP Africana and the Students’ Representative Council (SRC) of the University.

Chief Executive Officer of GP Africana, Mr. Godspower F. Kwesi, spoke fondly about the initiative and said “… our mission is simple, we want to whip up the interest of the youth in politics and entrepreneurship. The speaker was explicit, he gave us exactly what we were expecting as organizer and this reflected in the responses from the students…”.

President of the Students Representative Council of the University said, “…the realities on the ground as revealed to us by Mr. Joe Jackson were staggering. He shared his real life experience with us as a successful entrepreneur. It felt so real, revealing and very interesting…”.