GNCCI launches student entrepreneurship programme at UMaT Tarkwa

The Ghana National Chamber of Commerce and Industry (GNCCI) has launched a Junior Chamber at the University of Mines and Technology (UMaT) in Tarkwa to equip students in the mining and technology sector with entrepreneurship training, industry skills and direct private sector access, a targeted response to youth unemployment in the country.

The UMaT-GNCCI Junior Chamber, officially launched on Friday, 20 March 2026, is the fourth chapter in GNCCI’s rapidly expanding national student entrepreneurship network, following successful launches at Takoradi Technical University (TTU) and the University of Ghana (UG) in 2025, and at the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST) on 12 March 2026.

The University of Mines and Technology’s inclusion is strategically significant. Established in Tarkwa in the Western Region, it is the country’s only university dedicated to mining and technology education, positioning its graduates at the centre of Ghana’s natural resource economy and its technology-driven industrial future.

Bridging the gap between education and employment requires a mindset shift that values hands-on training, market-aligned curricula and lifelong learning, exactly what the GNCCI Junior Chamber is designed to deliver.

This initiative comes at a time when youth unemployment remains very high, particularly among recent graduates, highlighting persistent gaps between tertiary education and industry demand.

The transition from university to employment continues to challenge many students, especially in sectors such as mining, engineering and technology, where practical skills and industry exposure are critical.

The UMaT-GNCCI Junior Chamber will equip students with practical entrepreneurial skills through structured training delivered by GNCCI and its business community.

The programme includes industry-led mentorship, business-to-student networking platforms and hands-on exposure to enterprise development. Students will also receive training in technology-driven entrepreneurship, alongside targeted access to opportunities under the African Continental Free Trade Area and international markets.

Speaking at the launch, Ebenezer Cobbinah, Municipal Chief Executive of the Tarkwa-Nsuaem Municipal Assembly, described the initiative as precisely what the municipality’s young people need. Ghana’s economy, he noted, depends on a new generation of entrepreneurs who understand industry, embrace technology and build locally, and the GNCCI Junior Chamber provides the structured pathway to develop them.

Professor Lewis Brew, Dean of Students at UMaT, speaking on behalf of Vice-Chancellor Prof. Richard Kwasi Amankwah, affirmed the university’s commitment to the partnership.

UMaT, he said, exists to produce graduates who do not simply understand Ghana’s resources but who can build enterprises from them. The Junior Chamber gives students the private sector connections and entrepreneurial grounding to do exactly that.

For his part, the President of the Chamber, Stéphane Abass Miezan, underscored the deliberate nature of the institution’s selection.

The Junior Chamber, he said, is not a ceremonial gesture but a national platform, one that at UMaT connects the next generation of mining and technology innovators directly to Ghana’s business community so that their ideas become enterprises and their enterprises create jobs.

He urged students to prepare not only to seek employment but to create it for others.

Other speakers at the event included Georgina Odoom, Chief Executive Officer of Useful Waste Ltd., and John Arthur, GNCCI Tarkwa Branch Chairman.

The GNCCI has stated its intention to extend the Junior Chamber model further across tertiary institutions, building a national entrepreneurial ecosystem anchored in academia and driven by private sector partnership.

With four chapters now active, spanning technical, comprehensive, science and technology, and mining and technology universities, the network is establishing broad institutional coverage across the country’s higher education landscape.

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