The Ghana National Chamber of Commerce and Industry (GNCCI) has extended its student entrepreneurship programme to the University of Mines and Technology (UMaT) in Tarkwa, launching its fourth Junior Chamber chapter at the institution on Friday, March 20, in a push to connect mining and technology graduates directly to the private sector before they leave campus.
The UMaT chapter follows launches at Takoradi Technical University (TTU) and the University of Ghana in 2025, and most recently at the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST) on March 12, 2026. The rapid rollout reflects the GNCCI’s stated intention to build a national entrepreneurship network anchored across Ghana’s tertiary education landscape.
The choice of UMaT carries deliberate strategic weight. As the country’s only university dedicated to mining and technology education, its graduates sit at the centre of Ghana’s natural resource economy and its ambitions for technology-driven industrial development. The GNCCI has positioned the Junior Chamber at UMaT as a platform specifically designed to convert that technical expertise into enterprise.
GNCCI President Stéphane Abass Miezan said the initiative is not symbolic. The Junior Chamber, he told those gathered at the launch, connects the next generation of mining and technology innovators directly to Ghana’s business community so that their ideas become enterprises and their enterprises create jobs. He urged students to prepare not only to seek employment but to build it for others.
The programme offers structured entrepreneurial training delivered by the Chamber and its business partners, industry-led mentorship, business-to-student networking, and hands-on enterprise development exposure. Students will also receive targeted guidance on technology-driven entrepreneurship and access to opportunities under the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) and international markets.
Ebenezer Cobbinah, Municipal Chief Executive of the Tarkwa-Nsuaem Municipal Assembly, described the initiative as precisely what the municipality’s young people need, noting that Ghana’s economy depends on a new generation of entrepreneurs who understand industry and build locally.
Professor Lewis Brew, Dean of Students at UMaT, speaking on behalf of Vice-Chancellor Professor Richard Kwasi Amankwah, affirmed the university’s commitment to the partnership, saying UMaT exists to produce graduates who can build enterprises from Ghana’s resources, not simply understand them.
The urgency behind the programme is underscored by the country’s youth unemployment data. The 2023 Labour Market Report recorded 1.4 million young Ghanaians without jobs, with university graduates accounting for more than 22 percent of that figure.
The GNCCI has stated its intention to continue expanding the Junior Chamber model across additional tertiary institutions.
