The Heritage and Cultural Society of Africa (HACSA) Foundation has signed a Memorandum of Understanding with The African Freelancers (TAF) College in Accra, in which HACSA is supporting the training of 100 students in various creative and innovative fields under HACSA’s Lifeline for Africa Programme.
As part of the MoU, the HACSA Foundation has presented a cheque for GH¢ 100,000 to TAF College to facilitate the training activities.
The agreement, which was signed at the 2023 HACSA Summit held in Accra on Monday, aligns with the youth capacity building objective of HACSA Foundation, an international non-governmental body, to promote opportunities for young people across Africa to develop their creative skills.
While HACSA would provide the funding and other support for the training of the sponsored students, TAF College would provide the training facilities and instructors to effectively unearth and develop the creative talents of the present and future beneficiaries of the sponsorship programme.
The Lifeline for Africa Programme currently consists of the “Tech for Girls” and “Creatives Lab” training streams that provide tuition-free training in ICT, entrepreneurship and creative skills to talented youth and women.
Signing the MoU, Ambassador Johanna Odonkor Svanikier, President of HACSA Foundation commended TAF College, an applied business school for creativity, for the innovative training platform it has created to inspire young people to aspire to greater heights in their respective careers.
She foresees the partnership growing into the establishment of a dedicated campus for Technology, Entrepreneurs & Creatives where students will have state of the art facilities to pursue their talents and dreams.
For his part, Rev. Johnnie Oquaye, Founder of TAF College, expressed the school’s commitment to the partnership with HACSA, assuring that the beneficiaries would secure the appropriate knowledge and skills to build their creative careers.
“By cultivating and enhancing their expertise, instincts, abilities, processes, and resources, we equip our students with the vital tools needed to not just survive, but thrive in an ever-evolving globalized world driven by the dynamics of technology,” he said.
The signing was witnessed by a large number of African-Americans from the diaspora who are participating in the annual 2023 HACSA Summit and Heritage Experience organised by the Foundation with the objective of providing a platform for African-American global citizens to collaborate on development projects in Ghana and others parts of Africa.
Samia Nkrumah, an entrepreneur, politician and daughter of the Dr Kwame Nkrumah, is her keynote address to open the summit, lauded the objective of the conference, and expressed the need for Africans to work together, especially in the economic fields.
“When we work together as Africans from different zones, we can achieve more,” she said.
In addition, she called for an integration of the African diaspora into the national systems in Africa, saying it appears currently that Africans in the diaspora remain detached from Africa although there is a high desire for their return.
“I look forward to the day when the African diaspora is fully integrated into our system; to enable them to, for instance, freely do business, and vote and be voted for,” she stressed.
The Osu Mantse, Nii Nortey Owuo IV, who graced the event, welcomed the African-Americans home, and commended them for joining efforts for the development of Ghana, and Africa in general.
He assured HACSA of the support of his traditional council, indicating that it remains the council’s desire to promote efforts to bridge the gap between Ghanaians and African-Americans.