SYPALA 2008 Attendees

Event: Students & Young Professionals African Liberty Academy (SYPALA) 2009
Date: August 1-6, 2009
Venue: Ashesi University, Ghana
Organizer: IMANI, Centre for Policy and Education

Last year, 45 of the most promising students and young professionals from Ghana, and from across Africa, were treated to a feast of intellectual stimulation in the rarefied setting of Ashesi University’s Accra campus, a veritable cradle of liberal arts excellence in Africa.

60 of the continent’s finest leaders – CEOs, Army Generals, Financiers, Dons, high-ranking Government leaders and visionaries of all shades and hues – gave freely of their time and wisdom to nurture these incredibly gifted emerging leaders in the ways of success, sobriety, and significance. See last year’s seminar proceedings here and participant observations here

The mode of instruction ranged from the contemplative to the action-oriented, and took the forms of roundtables, lectures, tutorials and seminars, in subject-matters ranging from political economy to business strategy, and from leadership to economic governance. The African condition was dissected; yardsticks for civil engagement were debated; the principles of economics were reassessed and frequently overthrown in debate; and, in some of the most memorable moments at the Alisa Hotel Auditorium, a renaissance in African technology and entrepreneurship was heralded by those closest to the ongoing transformation of the African creative landscape.

WHATEVER YOU DO, YOU CANNOT MISS THIS YEAR’S EDITION OF SYPALA!

Not if you are a student or young professional committed to exerting impact on the course of Africa’s development in this century. Not if you are on the verge of major professional, academic or personal decisions that will have long-lasting effects on your place in society and your relationships with others, and you are in search of guidance by those who have not merely survived such decisions but blazed pioneering trails of glory on the back of such decisions properly made.

YOU HAVE TO APPLY!

THE APPLICATION IS ONLINE AT http://africanliberty.org/node/626

Christopher Bennett and Philip Agyei, SYPALA 2008 Participants

For the most exceptional applicants, some scholarships will be available on a competitive basis.

PROCEED TO APPLY NOW here.

Early applicants will receive free copies of Johan Norberg’s “In Defense of Global Capitalism” and “The Essays in Political Economy” by Frederic Bastiat.

You have to read June Arunga’s introduction to Norberg’s book here and Franklin Cudjoe’s of Bastiat here .

You will be taking the first step in a journey that may change your life forever.

You will be taking the first step in a journey that may change your life forever. Take note of our April 30th deadline. If you have further quesstions, please email Mavis at leamakuu@gmail.com or call her on +233 21 41 70 94 / +233 24 497 3951 during office hours, please.

It means, “You Can Do It If You Think You Can”

I had always nurtured the dream to own and run my own business throughout my 5 year stay at the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science & Technology (KNUST).
4 years pursuing a B.Sc. in Computer Science and 1 year as a National Service Personnel with Interact Afrika Ltd. based in Africa Hall, KNUST.

After my National Service, I applied for an IT Support job with a religious organization in Accra. For some strange reason, the Human Resource Manager was never able to put together a team to interview me and so finally after several weeks of being asked to “Call back next week”, I gave up on them.

I then followed up on my friend, George Appiah’s offer to join Telesoft Company Limited. Telesoft was being run by himself and Elolo Avisseh.

I joined Telesoft with Kwame Nkansah. And Oh! Christopher Bennett was there also.
We had some really great moments back then.

Somehow, things didn’t quite work out as I expected and not wanting to go through another bout of Job applications, I began to give serious thought to my dream of setting up my own Web Development Company.

Thinking back, I realize I was really scared back then about taking this step. And wasted spent a month or two making up my mind. This was somewhere in August 2007.
I received some great support and advice from George throughout the period and finally incorporated my business on July 3rd, 2008.

Starting up a business in Ghana is quite a challenge. At least in my case.

The main challenge I faced back then was with my parents. They did not understand why I wouldn’t seek employment as most of my mates had done, but would to choose to go through the ‘wilderness’ of Entrepreneurship. These comments were heightened especially when my age mates who were gainfully employed started driving cars and generally exhibiting signs of a good living.
But I still stuck to my guns. Which guns anyway?

They have finally come around to understand my view point and I’m enjoying some really great support from them now.

But as I speak write, I’m being advised, almost every week by well-meaning adults to seek employment and run my business part-time very frequently. Their argument is that, once I gain employment, I can look forward to a regular salary, which I currently do not enjoy. They reckon I can use the salary to support myself and my family and attend to my business on weekends.

I really do appreciate these concerns but then I know deep down that’s not an option for me. I have a thousand and one explanations for that. But the main reason is that, at this stage in my life I need to spend all the time I can to really establish the business and so working part-time is not an option for me at all.

And they are sending some real tempting offers my way. I sure will have to turn all of them down which may also strain my relationships with these fine folks.
But I know it will all work out well.

This brings to mind one of my favourite hymns during my Secondary School Education at the Presbyterian Boys Secondary School (PRESEC), Legon:

“Through the love of God Our Saviour, All Will Be Well”

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I can’t name you all, but my sincere appreciation goes to everyone who has supported me in one way or the other.
To all who desire to thread the Entrepreneur’s Road, NEVER GIVE UP ON YOUR DREAMS!!!

Like R. Kelly says I definitely can see the light at the end of the tunnel. And I definitely will be there SOON!!!