Hollard Group Ghana, a leading insurance company has signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with the Department of Mathematics and Statistics, University of Energy and Natural Resources (UENR) in Sunyani to among others support the carrier development of students.
The three-year partnership dubbed “Hollard X Academia” has five modules. Under the first module, Hollard will honour one outstanding student of the Department of Mathematics and Statistics with a valedictorian prize. The prize shall include a citation, laptop and undisclosed cash prize.
For the second module, the Insurance Company will within the agreed partnership period, award third and final year students (one each) with tuition grants under the Hollard Scholar Programme. Also included in the package is a periodic mentorship seminars that will give students and UNER staff more research insights and offer them entrepreneurial inputs.
The fourth module-Hollard Corporate Experience seeks to offer one student an internship and National Service placement opportunity while the fifth has to do with ‘Thought-leadership Events’ which is about organisation of annual events at UENR to feature relevant keynote speakers.
At a short signing ceremony in Sunyani, the Vice Chancellor of UNER, Prof. Elvis Asare Bediako, underscored the need for the academia and industry to embrace bilateral co-operations so as to train the requisite human resource for industry need and sustainable national development.
“We are in an era of collaboration. Neither universities nor industries can survive alone. It is important that we have realised the need to chart this path to develop the two institutions and also adequately prepare our students for the challenging job market,” he said.
The VC, therefore, commended Hollard for the vision, indicating that the UENR appreciates the inspiring enthusiasm demonstrated by the company. He also urged Hollard to leverage the partnership for research works that can help improve the insurance industry.
Mrs Patience Akyianu, Group CEO-Hollard Ghana said the Hollard X Academia is integrated in the company’s flagship social investment project. The partnership she indicated, will also cover others three institutions-University of Ghana, University of Cape Coast and Ghana Institute of Journalism.
“This partnerships entail a lot such as sharing resources and helping the universities to develop their entrepreneurial acumen. For us to be able to bridge the gap between academia and what the world of work expects, we need to make our students work-ready. Hollard is therefore prepared to support students to be self-sufficient to survive. This is our way of adding to nation building and economic development,” she stated.
On his part, the Managing Director of Hollard Ghana, Mr. Daniel Boi Addo, said the company is committed to pursuing a better way of insurance to erode the mistrust and misconceptions about the industry, especially with the issues surrounding claims, saying “we act as a catalyst for positive and enduring change; it’s the reason why we exist.”
