The Vice Chancellor had a meeting with some officials of the Zenith Bank at their Head Office in Accra, on July 2, 2010. The Vice-Chancellor disclosed that his intention of having the discussion with the bank was about the corporate social responsibilities that banks have for the areas within which they operate and Zenith bank was no exception.
He added that Zenith Bank as a ‘forward looking bank’ there was no reason why UDS should not do business with them, hence, the interaction. He suggested that the traditional support such as donations towards hall week celebrations, SRC week celebrations, etc be left out but in support of more concrete project(s).
He advocated for collaboration in the direction of ICT and stated that if this was done it would be the first major collaboration between a bank and a public university in ICT in the country and hopefully on the continent. The V.C stated that “we dream the dream together, and walk the talk together, by so doing UDS could ride on Zenith’s back so that others can also benefit from the collaboration”, he concluded.
In response, the Head of the Internal Control, in the person of Mr. Johnson Elakunmi who represented the bank said he was so impressed by these wonderful ideas and that the collaboration in the ICT was something they could adopt. He added that a ‘concept paper’ be put together indicating the needs for UDS so that on their part a committee would be constituted to look at the paper and have a meeting with the University’s management team.
In his concluding remarks, he pointed out that it would be a ‘win-win’ situation for all. Mr. Samuel Quansah, Head of the Trade Department on behalf of the bank thanked the Vice-Chancellor for the wonderful ideas he shared with them and pledged that they would consider the proposals put forward.
In conclusion Mr. Michael Ansa (Assistant Registrar, UDS) was tasked by the V.C to make a follow-up the following week to finalize the arrangement of the proposed meeting as they wait for the concept paper.
Also present at the meeting was Mr. James Akenten, Head of the Manufacturing Sector of the bank.