He asserted that the industrial sector across the globe was going through different forms of transformation, hence the need for government to equip individuals with the needed skills.

Rev. Fordjour said these at the 42^nd Edition of the Management Day Celebration by the University of Ghana Business School (UGBS) in Accra yesterday.

The celebration, on the theme “The future of Business Education in Ghana: Building Effective Public Sector Institutions and Health Systems,” was aimed at providing a platform for academia-industry interaction.

“Ghana has a bright future and indeed we need to be able to not only transform the public sector but also the private sector as these two work hand in hand. Education plays a vital role and we are poised to work on the feedback we receive,” he said.

The Head of Civil Service, Mr Nana Kwasi Agyekum Dwamena, noted that the world of business and public administration was going through some form of transformation due to certain challenges such as the COVID-19.

He noted that due to these challenges industries now required of employees to have certain qualities such as agility, emotional intelligence, data analytics, ethical leadership and negotiation skills and time consciousness.

Mr Dwamena therefore charged the school to as a matter of urgency train students to acquire these qualities and also develop educational reforms in that regard.

Speaking on the sub-theme “Building Resilience in Post COVID-19: The Role of the Public and Health Service in Ghana,” the Director of Health, Administration and Support Service of the Ghana Health Service, Dr Ebo Hammond, said Ghana was able to build a strong resilience during the management of the COVID-19 pandemic.

He noted that through its resilient systems, which included the display of strong leadership skills and direction by the President and other measures such as public health orientation, closure of boarders and aviation, adherence to safety protocols and digitisation, the country had been able to manage the pandemic effectively.

Going forward, Dr Hammond urged the country to leverage on the resilient systems developed to be able to effectively manage any further pandemic outbreak.

The Dean of the UGBS, Prof. Justice N. Bawole, explained that for businesses to properly function, there was the need for the creation of an enabling environment by the government.

The UGBS as a way of ensuring that students were trained to meet industrial demands, Prof. Bawole said had introduced new areas to its already existing areas of studies.

These areas, he noted, included business analytics, real estate management and artificial intelligence. In addition, he said the UGBS was also considering creating hybrid classrooms that would allow students to attend classes irrespective of where they lived.

Prof. Bawole also urged students to pay attention to the kind of business model they consider when starting a business as it was a primary requirement of every business.