That, he said, would enable them to become change agents in society as part of their contribution to national development.

He was addressing some selected scholars from the John Agyekum Kufuor (JAK) Foundation and students from the Colombia Business School (CBS) in the United States who called on him at his residence at Peduase in the Akuapem South District in the Eastern Region to interact with him.

The former president reminded members of the delegation that they were the future leaders, hence it was imperative that they prepared to play that role effectively.

CBS delegation

The students from the Colombia Business School (CBS) are part of a delegation visiting Ghana to learn about the country and by extension Africa’s rich heritage and culture.

As part of the educational tour which will last for two weeks, the students will tour the first cocoa farm in the country, visit the Niche Cocoa Factory, and also participate in some leadership training and mentorship programmes.

The JAK foundation currently has 30 scholars made up of 19 females and 11 males who were picked on merit from universities across the country.

The aim of the foundation is to mentor the youth to develop the missionary spirit to become agents of transformation by representing, building and sacrificing for their societies.

Impact lives, societies

Former President Kufuor advised the students to ensure that when they became leaders, every decision they took was an all-inclusive one that would impact all stakeholders positively.

He further advised them to prioritise their interventions as that would be more impactful instead of trying to be all over in all things.

“So, anytime you are confronted with making a decision, it should be impactful and at the bottom or the centre, it should better the lot of people always.”

Promoting African heritage

The Founder and President of the Heritage and Cultural Society of Africa, Johanna Swankier, who led the CBS for the visit, explained that the meeting was aimed at partnering people from the diaspora with contemporaries like the scholars from the JAK foundation to give them leadership training, cultural interaction and mentorship.

She said that the initiative was intended to build the knowledge and confidence of the scholars and upcoming young leaders on their heritage and culture, while linking them to their own identity and routes anywhere they found themselves in the world.

Miss Swankier disclosed that the fellowship between the JAK Foundation and the Colombia Business School would promote the African heritage and culture for socio-economic development and progress by linking the diaspora to celebrate, protect and preserve the African culture.

Collaboration

The Chairman of the Management Division at the CBS, Professor Stephen Meier, commended the former president for working with the initiative to develop the young leaders.

He said he looked forward to more collaborations to bring more students from his university to explore Ghana and work with institutions and start-ups.

Prof. Meier said some of his students had briefly worked with some companies such as Fidelity Bank, Niche Chocolate, Jumia, among others, to help them understand the African context and inspire the students on entrepreneurship and businesses that added value to the lives of people .