In a move to harness global intellectual capital for national advancement, the Jospong Group has formalized a collaboration with Ghanaian Scholars in the Diaspora (GSD), designed to channel the specialized knowledge of Ghanaian postgraduate students into practical, innovative solutions for the conglomerate’s diverse operations while contributing to Ghana’s socio-economic growth.
The partnership, sealed by a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on Friday, January 2, 2026, in Accra, connects the Group with Ghanaian Master’s and PhD students studying in the United States, Germany, Japan, South Korea, India, Hungary and China. The agreement was signed by Jospong Group of Companies (JGC) Executive Chairman Dr Joseph Siaw Agyepong alongside leaders of the seven GSD country associations.
Speaking after the signing ceremony, Dr Siaw Agyepong emphasized that the initiative’s scope extends beyond the Jospong Group, declaring that this is for Ghana. He announced the establishment of a dedicated office with an independently employed Coordinator and Administrator to manage the partnership, ensuring institutional sustainability beyond the Group’s direct oversight.
Jospong will not manage them, but only sponsor and facilitate their work, Dr Siaw Agyepong assured, describing the arrangement as designed to maintain academic independence while providing resources necessary for effective collaboration. The Executive Chairman framed the partnership as a future national platform designed to attract many more Ghanaian scholars worldwide to contribute to national development.
To ensure sustainability, Dr Siaw Agyepong disclosed plans to liaise with prominent business leaders including Ibrahim Mahama, Kasapreko and Despite to enlist their support for the initiative. He encouraged the scholars to pursue the endeavor with serious commitment, urging them to invest their knowledge for the betterment of Ghana.
The President of the Ghanaian Students Association in Hungary, who also serves as Secretary of GSD, Mr Peter Worlasi Adanu, commended Dr Siaw Agyepong and the Jospong Group for spearheading the venture. We are very grateful and excited by this significant step and, on behalf of the GSD, I want to pledge our full commitment and support ensuring that the objective of this MoU is met for the positive transformation of Ghana, he stated.
Mr Adanu called on all Ghanaians, especially government, to support the initiative to achieve its desired goals. His comments reflected broader recognition that leveraging diaspora expertise requires coordinated effort across private sector, government and civil society rather than depending solely on corporate sponsorship.
Earlier, in a welcome address to the newly partnered scholars, Mrs Florence Larbi, Chief Operating Officer (COO) of the Environmental Service Cluster of the Jospong Group of Companies, emphasized that true business growth stems from purpose and innovation, not just profit. Her remarks set the tone for what the Group expects from the collaboration beyond conventional academic exercises.
Speaking to an assembly of Master’s and PhD students from seven countries, Mrs Larbi reflected on the Group’s humble beginnings as a small printing press in 1995, which has now expanded into a conglomerate of over 60 companies operating across 14 sectors of the economy. We have grown roughly every five years, she noted, attributing this success to continuous evolution and diversification.
The COO revealed that the partnership with the GSD was inspired by the Group’s Executive Chairman following a visit to Japan. Observing Japanese students engaged in structured, hands-on and multi-disciplinary training, Dr Siaw Agyepong envisioned a similar model of practical learning for Ghana. He expressed a strong desire to connect with people who could bring him closer to this vision, Mrs Larbi stated.
She praised the diaspora scholars for their confidence and global perspective, highlighting the unique opportunity their research presents for the Jospong Group. When you look at our group as a whole, there is hardly any industry we are not involved in. We are everywhere, she said. That raises an important question: what kinds of ideas are we developing, and how can we turn them into real business opportunities?
Mrs Larbi challenged the scholars to align their research with tangible business outcomes. Every idea and every research project should aim to either solve a problem or help build a new product or service line, something we can push forward, grow and scale, she urged. She stressed that the Group is focused on ensuring research translates into practical value and avoids being shelved.
The COO outlined the Group’s expectation that partnerships between academic research and business operations should produce measurable impact rather than remaining theoretical exercises. This approach reflects growing recognition across Ghana’s private sector that translating academic knowledge into commercial applications requires deliberate coordination and clear frameworks for collaboration.
Concluding on a warm and appreciative note, Mrs Larbi thanked the scholars for dedicating their time to the partnership. This is not an ordinary time; many people would choose to be with their families or attending to other responsibilities. Yet, you have set time aside to pursue this agenda, she acknowledged, recognizing the personal sacrifice involved in traveling to Ghana during the holiday period for the signing ceremony.
The Jospong Group has emerged as Ghana’s most diversified business conglomerate since Dr Siaw Agyepong founded it in 1995 when he transformed his mother’s table-top stationery business into a printing press with capital equivalent to three dollars. Today, the Group operates across waste and environmental management, banking and finance, information and communication technology (ICT), printing and publishing, automobile and equipment, building and construction, manufacturing, ports services and logistics, mining and quarry, agriculture and agribusiness, and oil and gas.
Zoomlion Ghana Limited, the Group’s flagship waste management subsidiary established in 2006, revolutionized solid waste management in Ghana through adoption of modern technological methods at affordable and competitive rates. The company has expanded to operate in five other African countries including Angola, Liberia, Togo, Equatorial Guinea, Sierra Leone and Zambia, providing integrated waste management solutions.
The Group’s international footprint extends beyond waste management. In February 2024, the Lagos State government signed a memorandum of understanding with Jospong Group to handle solid and liquid waste generated in the Nigerian megacity, which produces an estimated 13,000 tonnes of waste daily. In October 2024, the Ugandan government handed over the Kiteezi Landfill to the Group to establish a recycling and fertilizer plant.
In June 2025, the Group signed an MoU with Burkina Faso’s government to extend sustainable waste management solutions across major cities, following a successful study tour by Burkinabe officials to Ghana in April. The project emerged from discussions during President John Dramani Mahama’s official visit to Burkina Faso in March 2025 as part of south-south cooperation focused on sustainable development and job creation.
Beyond Africa, the Group in March 2024 signed an agreement with VinFast, a Vietnamese manufacturer of electric automobiles, assigning Jospong as the exclusive distributor of those vehicles in Ghana and West Africa. The Group also conducts a summer program with Harvard University referred to as the Jospong Internship Program, lasting eight weeks from early June until early August.
The partnership with Ghanaian Scholars in the Diaspora represents the latest in a series of strategic collaborations aimed at strengthening the Group’s capacity for innovation while contributing to national development objectives. By connecting with postgraduate students conducting cutting-edge research across multiple disciplines and countries, the Group seeks to access specialized knowledge that can inform new product development, process improvements and business expansion strategies.
For the scholars, the partnership offers opportunities to apply academic research in real-world business contexts, potentially accelerating the translation of theoretical insights into practical applications with measurable impact. The arrangement may also facilitate future employment opportunities within the Jospong Group or affiliated companies for scholars who demonstrate value through the collaboration.
The initiative aligns with broader calls from President Mahama and other leaders for diaspora Ghanaians to contribute their expertise and resources to national development. The President specifically urged diaspora members in his New Year address to bring expertise and resources home, positioning diaspora engagement as a strategic priority for Ghana’s economic transformation agenda.
Whether the Jospong-GSD partnership becomes a model for other Ghanaian corporations seeking to leverage diaspora intellectual capital depends on effective implementation and demonstrable outcomes that justify replication. The commitment to establish independent coordination structures and involve other business leaders suggests awareness that sustainability requires institutional capacity beyond the initiating company’s direct management.
The signing ceremony on January 2 followed the Jospong Group’s annual New Year’s Day philanthropic initiative, where Dr Siaw Agyepong and his wife Dr Mrs Adelaide Siaw Agyepong provided essential food items and transportation cash to over 5,000 Ghanaians at their Accra residence on January 1, 2026, continuing a decade-long tradition of festive season support.
