The Agricultural Development Bank (ADB) and Yara Ghana have extended their support to the UDS Vice-Chancellor's Business Innovation Award Scheme. The event took place at a short ceremony at the Vice-Chancellor’s office on Monday 11^th October, 2021. The ABD, represented by the Tamale Area Manager, Mr. Seini Issa Kataali, his deputy Mr. Felix Segu Eshun and the Tamale Main Manager Mr. Frederick Yaw Opoku presented a cheque of Ten thousand Ghana in support of the   2021 edition of the Vice-Chancellor’s Award Scheme, the second of such support.

Also at the ceremony was Yara-Ghana, represented by Ms Leticia, Area Manager for Upper East Region and Burkina Faso and the Marketing Manager in charge of Northern Ghana and Burkina Faso Mr. Mahama Abdul- Rahaman. Yara Ghana presented a cheque of Five thousand Ghana cedis and one hundred (100) branded polo shirts to support the 2021 edition of the award. Receiving the donations, the Vice-Chancellor thanked ADB and Yara-Ghana for their continuous support for the scheme. He urged them to do more in support of the University's vision of contributing to job creation for the youth. In his view, academic institutions must depart from the age-old practice of training students for white colour jobs to training graduates who will be job creators instead of job seekers. He gave a background to the establishment of the UDS Business Innovation and Incubation Centre (UDS-BIIC) as his dream to equip students and Alumni of the university with employable skills and entrepreneurship mindset, starting their own businesses and creating employment. He is modelling the BIIC after the Incubation Centre of the Iowa University in the USA.

The UDS-BIIC, as one of its activities, instituted the annual Vice Chancellor's Business Innovation Award Scheme to nurture potential business leaders among students of the University's for Development Studies. The scheme aims to identify viable business ideas among students and alumni and provide technical and financial support to enable awardees to realise their business ideas. The maiden edition took place in 2020 under the theme: "The Use of Standards and Packaging in Marketing".  This year the second edition of the award is planned for 28^th October 2021. We have decided to work along the same theme: "The Use of Standards and Packaging in Marketing II".

At the same ceremony the ADB also presented a cheque of Three thousand cedis in support of the Annual Interdisciplinary Conference organized by the Institute of Interdisciplinary Research (IIR).

Present at the ceremony were the Director of BIIC Dr. Richard Yeboah and his Deputy Mr. Yakubu Balma Issaka, the Director of IIR Dr. Abdulai Abubakari and Dr. Wunbei.