Participants at the Kessben College Career Guidance Fair were inspired to look beyond employment to entrepreneurship and to develop themselves to become well-rounded individuals.
The Fair on Wednesday, July 1 2015, attracted more than 400 participants who packed the Dufie Conference Hall at Aseda House, Adum- Kumasi to hear from two powerful motivational speakers as well as Kumasi business mogul Mr Stephen Boateng, aka Kwabena Kesse or Kessben.
Attendees listened in rapt attention as keynote speaker, Mr Stephen Boateng (Kwabena Kesse or Kessben) shared his journey to become one of the country’s leading entrepreneurs. Trained as a teacher, he started helping out in his father’s chemical shop at a young age and later went on to start his first business importing electrical goods from Holland.
Over time, he identified new lines for business. He is now the Director of the Kessben Group of Companies, which includes Kessben Consult (dealing in real estate development); Kessben Travel & Tours; Kessben FM 93.3; Kessben and Aseda Television stations; Kessben Driving School; Kessben Computer School; Fosuaa Hotel; Kessben Shipping, Forwarding & Trading, Kessben Foundation and Aseda Clinic.
He is also the Chief Executive Officer of Multi Credit Savings & Loans Ltd, which has over 60 branches countrywide.
Mr Boateng said that although he is naturally gifted as an entrepreneur, a formal education helped propel him to his current level.
He said: “I must emphasize that I achieved this feat because I utilized the skills and knowledge I had acquired through formal education and took advantage of the economic environment to employ rather than being employed.”
Mr Boateng added, however, that if anyone felt he or she was not cut out to be an entrepreneur, the degrees Kessben College offers and the College’s approach to education would put them a step ahead in securing a job in the Ghanaian job market.
Skills for life
Speaking at the event, Rt Reverend Professor Osei Safo-Kantanka, Bishop of the Methodist Church, Kumasi, told participants that they could succeed, regardless of what course they were given. Citing various passages from the Bible that deal with self-development, Rt Rev Prof Osei-Kantanka added that education was about gaining transferable skills.
The Bishop revealed that he had been a professor in genetics and plant research before becoming a man of the cloth, and that the skills he gained in his former field are still useful in his new vocation.
Motivational speaker and Kumasi Polytechnic lecturer Mr Thomas Kusi Boafo charged participants to have confidence in their own abilities and not to dwell on any perceived failures. He added that each person was their own worst enemy and that each person’s destiny lay in their own hands.
Mr Boafo made reference to great inventors and scientists such as Thomas Edison, who invented the light bulb after many failed attempts, and world-famous physicist Albert Einstein, who failed to reach the required standard in the general part of the entrance examinations to the Swiss Federal Polytechnic.
He urged prospective students to cultivate friendships and network with others, as they could prove a source of help and support when things became difficult.
The President of Kessben College, Professor Stephen Osei briefed participants on the College’s objectives and showcased the facilities, which include a swimming pool and state-of-the-art classroom and IT facilities.
Students were also given a chance to register for Kessben College for free at the event.
