Foundations for the Future: Improving Higher Education in Africa

This week’s podcast features Patrick Awuah, Founder and President of Ashesi University in Accra, Ghana. After growing up in Ghana, Patrick went to Swarthmore College in Pennsylvania. He then launched a very successful career at Microsoft during the internet bubble. Patrick eventually decided that he wanted to go to business school which is where he first had the idea of starting a new private university in Ghana. Only 5 percent of youth ages 18-25 years old in Ghana were going to college at that time in 1998. When Patrick first started Ashesi University, the first class had 30 students and classes took place in a small home; now, over a thousand students have graduated from Ashesi and gone on to have very successful careers in engineering and science. Now, over 50 percent of students at Ashesi receive some form of scholarship as well. To hear more from Patrick, check out the event CSIS hosted on Future Directions for Higher Education in Africa.