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• Ashesi is front-page news (Sep 2003)
  
• Fellow alumni donate to help Ashesi join the Corporate Design Foundation (Sep 2003)
  
• Imagining an African "Silicon Valley" in Accra (Sep 2003)
  
• NYU economist speaks at Ashesi (Sep 2003)
  
• TB educational campaign launched at Ashesi (Sep 2003)
  

Ashesi is front-page news
Sep 2003

Ashesi's founder and president Patrick Awuah was featured on the front page of The Seattle Times on September 14, 2003. The feature article, titled "A Scholar Goes Home to Change the World," traces the genesis of Ashesi University and describes some of the highlights of the Awuah family's journey to this point. The Seattle Times is a major paper, with the largest circulation in the Pacific Northwest of the US.

Click here to read the full article about the Ghanaian who "left Microsoft to fulfill [his] dream of creating an African Ivy League."

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Fellow Alumni Donate to help Ashesi join the Corporate Design Foundation
Sep 2003

Swarthmore Engineering Professor Fred Orthlieb and Alumnus Nii Addy spearheaded a campaign to bring resources from the Corporate Design Foundation (CDF) to Ashesi University. A group of Ghanaian Swarthmore Alumni, some of whom were classmates of President Awuah, contributed funds to help Ashesi University become a permanent member of CDF. Benefits of membership in CDF include access to teaching case studies, selected new books about design in business, and to the Design journal @ISSUE. These resources will increase the breadth and depth of topics that are covered in Ashesi's design courses. CDF partnered with Ghanaian Swarthmore alumni in bringing these resources to Ashesi by reducing the fee to join and waiving annual membership dues. Together, these supporters are helping ensure Ashesi's design curriculum stays current with access to the latest trends in design, and the Ashesi community thanks these donors for their efforts.

Ashesi University welcomes projects like these in which groups work together to bring needed resources, such as library materials or computing equipment, to our growing University. Please contact us at foundation@ashesi.org if you have ideas of ways your organization can build the resources of Ashesi University. Don't forget to check the Friends and Donors section for more ways to help Ashesi.

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Imagining an African "Silicon Valley" in Accra
By Yawa Osebreh, Class of 2006
Sep 2003

If there is a place in the world where the computer industry is flourishing, then "Silicon Valley" comes to mind first. This technological landmass is the headquarters of over a thousand computer companies. Therefore, it is not surprising that Gregg Pascal Zachary chose to share with students, staff and faculty of Ashesi the possibilities of turning Accra, the capital of Ghana, into the next Information Technology (IT) hub. Mr. Zachary, who is a visiting scholar at Columbia University's Center for Science, Policy, and Outcomes, cited the explosion in the communications sector in Ghana as well as the increasing number of IT professionals as factors that could lift Accra to become the next "Silicon Valley."

Mr. Zachary lamented the lack of "a sense of urgency" in the government to help develop the IT sector as one of the major challenges that must be overcome to realize this dream. He enumerated a sound economic outlook and a progressive society among the benefits that favor Accra as becoming the technological nucleus of Africa.

To encourage further IT growth in Ghana, Gregg Zachary believes that development should not be pursued in a holistic approach but in smaller units: one city at a time. He proposed a development concept he referred to as "Nokia." He argued that Ghana should challenge itself with the question, "What is our Nokia?" - a question that will lead Ghanaians to find a technology niche where they can be successful. He encouraged Ashesi's students, as a new generation of ethical and entrepreneurial leaders, to consider the IT potential of Ghana and to answer that question for our nation. In his closing remarks he expressed confidence in Ashesi's curriculum, adding he has no doubt that Ashesi can prepare us for this arduous task.

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NYU economist delivers "Four Myths on the Quest for Growth" at Ashesi
By Yawa Osebreh, Class of 2006
Sep 2003

Ashesi's class of 2006 was privileged to have Professor William Easterly, author of "The Elusive Quest for Growth: Economists' Adventures and Misventures in the Tropics," deliver a lecture on the effects of foreign aid on developing economies. Professor Easterly, who formerly held a position at the World Bank, related to students that he resigned from this career due to his disillusionment with the policies of aid donors. He joined the faculty of New York University to gain the academic freedom to write about his experiences in international development.

His lecture centered on the mistaken ideologies, what he referred to as "myths," employed by aid agencies when determining how to distribute aid to developing countries. These "myths" include the belief that money is all-powerful; bureaucracies are all-seeing; interventions are all-transforming; and that markets are all-enriching. He stated his belief that money can buy neither love nor development. In his view, money inflows do not necessarily finance investment; rather, incentives direct money to consumption. He decried the over-emphasis on the quantity of aid donated in the form of money, machines and schools rather than focusing on trying to change incentives in targeted sectors of the economy.

Professor Easterly observed that poverty reduction strategies require deep changes in institutions that affect incentives in both the private and public sectors. He conceded that such changes require a lot of time. However, he believes that tremendous benefits would be realized from such changes and are worth the wait. Development, he argued, should be done one village, town or city at a time.

In his closing remarks, he highlighted many of the negative effects associated with foreign aid. International financial institutions like the IMF and World Bank, in his opinion, should be held accountable for their past and present failures. He noted that the way forward for third world countries should be "free markets" that encourage development. He believes that there will always be class distinctions within every society so disparities between rich and poor should not be a hindrance to the implementation of "free markets." As a consequence, "We need a revolution in development thinking and practice."

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TB educational campaign launched At Ashesi
By Abdul-Latif Issahaku, Class of 2005
Sep 2003

"A sound mind lives in a healthy body." The Ashesi's community firmly believes in this age-old maxim. When it has to do with the health of a member of our community, there is no feet-dragging. The university is equipped with a modern infirmary staffed by a highly-trained nurse and fitted with air-conditioners that are kept running every day of the week. The infirmary offers services from counseling on HIV/AIDS to care for minor bumps and bruises. When students come to talk about health-related problems, they are addressed instantly with a high sense of professionalism.

Though it is often thought that it is only HIV/AIDS that is ravaging the human resource of Africa, Tuberculosis (TB for short) is fast spreading in Ghana. It is to curb this trend that the Ghana Health Service embarked on a program to teach the general citizenry how TB is spread in order to aid in its prevention. Ashesi has decided to actively participate in the program.

The Ashesi health officer, Emelia Dela Kpodo, launched an educational campaign at Ashesi with technical and financial support from the Kpeshie Sub-Metro Directorate of Health Services. The Sub-Metro Director of Health Services, Dr. Felicia Bart-Plange, led a team of health officials and pressmen to Ashesi to witness the ceremony. Mrs. Kpodo instructed students and staff that people in close contact with persons suffering from TB, alcoholics, smokers and people living in over crowded environments are among those most vulnerable to infection by the disease. Consequently, she advised students to desist from smoking and alcoholism. Mrs. Kpodo took participants through a number of preventive measures that can be adopted to reduce the risk of infection. Participants were encouraged to ensure that they allowed for good ventilation in their homes, classrooms and offices, as unmoving air can be a breeding ground for the disease.

Treatment of TB under the program is free on reporting to the nearest health centre. If the program is sustained, there is hope Ghana will be spared the spread of another disease.

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