Hundreds of students in the University of Energy and Natural Resources (UENR) on Thursday, 15th September, 2022 trudge the university auditorium for the Hollard – UENR Streetwise Finance Mentoring Day.
The Hollard Streetwise Finance mentoring day, a first of its kind in the university is part of a partnership agreement signed in 2021 between UENR and Hollard, known as the Hollard X Academia for the insurance company to organize mentoring seminars each year for staff and students, and help them to develop its entrepreneurial intelligence.
Addressing participants on behave of the Vice-Chancellor, the Dean, School of Sciences, Prof. Samuel Fosu Gyasi said a lot of university graduates are pushed to onto the private sector for employment ill-prepared therefore the need for transition plan.
According to him, ‘‘promoting student entrepreneurship is certainly one, but cannot be the only solution as mass entrepreneurship inevitably carries the risk of promoting informality and low productivity’’.
‘‘Providing youth the best opportunity to transition to a decent job calls for investing in education and training of the highest possible quality’’ Prof. Gyasi added.
Speaking on the sideline of the event, Nashiru Iddrisu, Managing Director, Hollard Life explained that the Streetwise Finance mentoring seeks to provide positive change to society.
‘‘Our purpose as an organization is to enable a lot more secure better futures. If at the end of this section we are able to impact the lives of five people out of the hundreds who we have engaged I tell you we would have impacted society because these five will go a long way to also impact any five or ten or even hundred people. So the ultimate objective of ensuring that there are better futures’’.
On his part, the Managing Director, Daniel Boi Addo, added that the Streetwise Finance Mentoring Day is part of the company’s cooperate social responsibilities to help cause positive impact in people’s lives.
Sharing what he learned, one of the participant, Boahene Richard, a BSc student said, ‘‘I wasn’t into savings but this program has taught me the need for me to save. I have learnt that the future is not predictable, so from here I have to go and starting saving’’.
The event was on theme; ‘‘a better future: Getting ready for the world of work’’