Short on time? Here are the highlights:
- We continue our “From the Field” interview series today in conversation with Michael Aidoo, CEO and executive director of the Accra-based agency CELC International
- The interview provides some wide-ranging insights on the Ghanaian market, and explores some of the important trends that are shaping demand for study abroad and the choices of Ghanaian students
Sub-Saharan Africa has become an increasingly important region for international student recruitment, and is home to a number of significant sending markets, notably Nigeria and Kenya. And now we can add Ghana to that list as well as another important emerging African market that is increasingly on the radar of international student recruiters.
As is the case for students in other Sub-Saharan countries, Ghanaian students have historically chosen to study in the US or the UK. But as we hear in today’s feature interview, the market is now shifting and students are more actively looking at options in a wider range of study destinations.
Michael Aidoo is the CEO and executive director of the Accra-based agency CELC International. In our first interview segment below, he notes an increasing interest in study in Europe – a trend which is enabled in part by an underlying strengthening of foreign language training in Ghana. At the same time, other destinations countries, including the UAE and Australia, have expanded their recruitment activities in-market.
In our next interview segment below, Mr Aidoo highlights the role of the country’s burgeoning oil and gas industry as a factor in the growing demand for study abroad. As more multinational companies expand their footprint in the country, a growing number of those corporations are offering scholarships for Ghanaian students to pursue higher education abroad.
Additional scholarship support is available from the national government, including the Ghana Education Trust Fund (the GET Fund) as well as through programmes offered by foreign governments, including Russia, China, and Germany.
For educators approaching the Ghanaian market for the first time, or perhaps expanding their recruiting efforts in the country, Mr Aidoo advises careful study of the market first, to establish a presence in the country, and to partner with carefully selected local agents.
“In Ghana, you have to be a registered agency. You must register with the Ghana Education Service,” says Mr Aidoo. “Not only that, you should be a registered company in Ghana. That is the most important thing.”
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