Recently a World War II veteran and former teacher reached headline news in Ghana (and the world through CNN) as he graduated from business school at the ripe age of ninety-nine!

I wrote an article about this very special ninety-nine year old graduate and the discussion that his achievement gave rise to for University World News(UWN). Here is an excerpt:

In February 99-year-old World War II veteran and former teacher, Akasease Kofi Boakye Yiadom, graduated from the Presbyterian University College Business School in Abetifi, Ghana.

The elderly graduate was featured on CNN’s Inside Africa programme, and he took the opportunity to call on fellow graduates to be loyal and not join the brain drain.

“If it is a scant pay you have to accept it, because it is the government’s money that has been used to educate you,” he said. “If you have finished school and passed your degree, you have to stay in Ghana and serve Ghana.”

I thought it was interesting he entered into the “brain-drain” debate and did something with his 15 minutes of fame. Read the rest of the article about Akasease Yiadom and the “brain-drain” discussion by yours truly.

In the same issue of UWN, Linda Nordling wrote an interesting feature directed to African universities on diversifying funding. She compared the recent consequences of the Icelandic volcano ash on African export industry to the current situation in African academe where African universities are very dependent on student fees and government funding. What if an “ash cloud” or more likely an economical crisis would reduce fees and government funding?

There needs to be a lateral, more diversified strategy for funding of the African universities. Looking overseas for funding instruments, reducing the administrative burden through capacity building and turning to local industry to offer consultancies are the main points offered as a solution, by Nordling. Read the whole insightful article Lateral Thinking for Research Funding.