Denis Hyams-Ssekasi

This work forms the basis of a QAA funded project (Reference Number: 30427/001/2022). Drawing upon a heutagogical philosophy of learning, this briefing note proposes a learning model that enables students to develop social entrepreneurial skills and academic colleagues to develop pedagogic skills appropriate to their context and community. This model, A.SP.I.RE, provides an opportunity to develop a holistic perspective to enhancing entrepreneurial skills with students.

This curriculum guide aims to give lecturers in higher education a summary of the social business market and arm them with the knowledge and abilities needed to address the social and environmental problems our communities are currently confronting. Social businesses are effective, cutting-edge business strategies that are upending conventional business methods. Moreover, social businesses work across many industries and are motivated by the tripartite bottom line of social, environmental, and fiscal factors. Through this curriculum guidance document lecturers will discover the distinctive qualities of social businesses, their different business strategies, and their effects on people and the environment.
Communities all over the globe are being transformed by social enterprises, which have surfaced as potent agents of positive social change. However, the research team for this project recognises that social business is not without difficulties and complexity. It takes resiliency, flexibility, and perseverance to overcome difficulties and succeed. The overall aim of this guide is to motivate and prepare the upcoming generation of social entrepreneurs in Ghana so they can take on these issues and build a more just and sustainable future.

Report commissioned by the British Council.
It is estimated that 230,000 Ghanaians seek to enter the labour market annually. However, the formal economy can only offer jobs to about 2% of this number. Consequently, 225,000 are left without employment. Furthermore, about 50% of those employed are underutilised as they lack entrepreneurial skills. Additionally, the current infrastructure is prohibitive to start-up and small-medium scale enterprises. This situation has an adverse effect on socioeconomic development, exacerbated by the impact of COVID-19. With the associated global economic recession, an approach to address unemployment is needed to equip the labour force with appropriate employability skills.

Report commissioned by the British Council.
In Ghana, youth unemployment is high, and there is a lack of awareness and understanding of social enterprise despite it being a possible resolution to the employment of young Ghanaians. Social enterprises have great potential to reduce youth unemployment in sub-Saharan Africa. The social enterprise approach can achieve this partly because it relies less on public sector and donor funding, unlike other conventional business approaches.