As part of efforts to strengthen Africa’s digital landscape and foster economic advancement, Academic City University College has introduced an innovative MSc Cyber Security programme to safeguard Africa’s digital infrastructure and drive innovation.

In today’s interconnected world, cyber security is important for long-term growth and global competitiveness. By introducing the MSc Cyber Security, Academic City aims to equip graduates with advanced cyber security expertise, which fosters critical analysis and practical skills to combat evolving threats in digital landscapes.

This programme will enable students to develop practical cyber security analysis skills through hands-on training and real-world scenarios, addressing the complexities of cyber threats. Emphasising multi-dimensional problem-solving, the curriculum provides students with versatility to tackle diverse cyber security challenges and insights into risk management, ensuring a holistic approach to cyber defense.

In 2023, ISC2 estimated the global cyber security workforce to be 5.5 million, with a growth of 8.7% between 2022 and 2023, adding nearly 440,000 new positions. Additionally, all regions experienced growth in cyber workforce size in 2023, with the Middle East, Africa, and Asia-Pacific regions leading with an annual increase of 11.7% and 11.8%, respectively.

Speaking on this new programme, Prof. Fred McBagonluri, President of Academic City, remarked, “As the African continent continues to embrace digital transformation, the introduction of our cyber security programme signifies our desire to empower individuals and organisations to thrive in an increasingly digitised world.”

According to him, the programme aims to help address the critical need for safeguarding sensitive information, which is crucial for economic growth and attracting investments.

“This innovative programme promises to establish a robust digital infrastructure for the continent’s future prosperity,” he added.

David Gowu, Executive Director of the Institute of ICT Professionals Ghana (IIPGH), stressed how important it is to have cyber security experts in a world where technology is changing so quickly.

 “As businesses deal with the constant threat of cyberattacks, it is crucial for business owners to empower employees with the necessary knowledge and skills to help protect their digital assets.”

He commended Academic City for introducing the MSc in Cyber Security to provide professionals with the skills they need to deal with cyber security problems. 

“I am very optimistic that this programme will give professionals the training they need to confidently get through the complex cyber security landscape,” he said.

The two-year MSc Cyber Security programme will start in September 2024. To qualify for the program, an applicant must have a BSC from an accredited university with a minimum of second-class upper or lower.

Prof. Fred McBagonluri, President of Academic City

MTN Ghana wishes to inform its cherished customers and trade partners that, its scratch cards which was last introduced in trade in 2020 is being totally phased out effective 30^th June 2024.

This means that customers who still have unused MTN scratch cards cannot recharge them after 1^stJuly 2024, however customers can redeem the value of their scratch cards via Credit transfer (EVD) at any MTN Customer Experience Centre.

This is also in line with MTN’s strategy to lead digital solutions in Ghana and beyond and aligns with the Government of Ghana’s digitalisation agenda. MTN customers are encouraged to continue using existing digital channels including MoMo, Ayoba and myMTN app to recharge. As part of our commitment towards a clean environment, customers enjoy 50% bonus on all recharges done via Mobile Money. 

Commenting on the withdrawal of scratch cards, the Chief  Sales and Distribution Officer, Mr Samuel Addo said, “the phasing out of the scratch cards is one of the avenues to help us protect the environment, empower customers to drive digital usage and make customer service delivery more efficient”.

In line with MTN’s sustainability strategy, the company continues to implement several initiatives to reduce its environmental footprint including waste reduction programs, water conservation measures as well as other energy-saving initiatives.

Keta SHS and Ghana SHS, Tamale, tussled for the last spot available in the quarterfinals of Senior Sharks 7.

When the contest wound up, Keta SHS had gone ahead of Tamasco to earn their badge in the Super Ranked Schools division.

Keta SHS, in as many Senior Sharks Quiz appearances are yet to win the coveted ‘Book of Knowledge’ trophy.

They’ve, however, won many high profile contests and are the proud recipient of a 2nd Runner-up medal in Season 3.

With two wins under their belt in Senior Sharks 7, Ghana SHS (Ghanasco) were coming into this contest with desire and a history-making mindset.

Unfortunately it was the last we were going to see of the Tamale school in Senior Sharks 7 as Ketasco foiled them.

Right Corner Round

In a rarity in quiz competitions across the country, twin brothers Manfred and Alfred Antwi lined up and combined effectively to answer Keta’s social literacy questions.

The brothers didn’t disappoint as they earned a big score of fifty (50) for Ketasco.

When social literacy is mentioned in Ghana SHS, the only name that comes to mind is Farida Abubakar.

For the third time in Senior Sharks 7, Farida displayed top level brilliance as she controlled the social literacy questions to earn forty (40) points for Ghanasco.

R Cubed Round 

Patently aware that only ten (10) points stand between them, both schools ventured forth with all hands on deck.

There was good answers provided to the Reading and Writing questions by both sides, but Ketasco were clearly the better team.

In the Arithmetic there was a mishmash of “pass” responses from both schools until Keta braved the storm and answered two questions which were deemed as incorrect.

The two incorrect answers thus reduced Keta’s score from forty (40) to thirty (30) at the end of the round.

Ghana SHS on the other hand left the round with ten (10) points.

STEM Round

Still coasting ahead of Ghanasco comfortably, Ketasco confidently interrupted to pick the first riddle of the round.

After missing the next two, Ghanasco sensed an opportunity and buzzed to bring the riddle home correctly for ten (10) points.

Keta will have the last laugh of the round, after they picked the last riddle but their score remained zero (0).

Likewise, zero (0) points also stood against Ghanasco’s name.

One-on-one Round

The contest had turned out to be a marathon rather than a sprint, and any one could potentially win this.

As such, Andani and Kelvin angled up in all seriousness as English specialists for Ghanasco and Ketasco.

They both could not decipher the first scrambled word, while Kelvin would find out that there is a big difference between “psychopath” and “sycophant”.

No points from either side.

Math specialists were named as Huudu and Chris for Ghanasco and Ketasco respectively.

Yet again, none added any points to their respective scores.

Collins of Ghana SHS was pitted against Perpetual of Keta SHS, and together made up Math experts.

Perpetual was the one who broke the silence in the round when she waited patiently to pick the second question after Collins bundled it.

In General Knowledge, Farida represented Ghana SHS as experts while Alfred stood for Keta SHS.

The twenty (20) points at stake was shared between them.

After all was said and done, scores gave Ghana SHS ten (10) points while Keta SHS took twenty (20) points.

When final Scores showed up on the screen,  Ghana SHS had sixty (60) points against a hundred (100) points by winners, Keta SHS.

If you’ve followed Ketasco religiously, you’d notice they’ve always punched above their weight..

Their next contest will be an interesting one to watch. Stay tuned, and congratulations to both teams.

The Sharks Quiz is developed by the Academic Talent Development Program and produced by the Adesa Production Limited (APL). 

Official media partner is TV3.

Sponsors: MTN, G-Money, Fidelity Bank, Academic City University College, Family Health Medical School, Ashesi University, and University of the Free State.

Okuapeman SHS censured St. Thomas Aquinas SHS in their Round of 16 clash of Senior Sharks 7.

The Akropong-Akuapem school have now recorded a third win in their Senior Sharks 7 journey, after previously beating Academy of Christ The King and DPS Int.

As a reward, Okuapemman (Okuass) have displaced St. Thomas Aquinas in the Super Ranked Schools for the next edition of the quiz.

St. Thomas Aquinas has been a certified Senior Sharks Quiz member from the inception, and boasts the highest achievement of 1st Runner-up in the maiden edition of the competition. 

The last meeting of these well accomplished schools also went in the favour of the Cantonment, Accra-based school, affectionately called “Old Tom”.

But Okuass, who have been more than over- achievers so far were not going to kowtow to St. Thomas Aquinas twice on the trot.

Right Corner Round

The first set of questions in Social Literacy were responded to by Okuass as they had won the toss to go in first.

Their questions, tough as they came, were answered by the mountaineers to the best of their abilities to earn thirty (30) points.

St. Thomas Aquinas also found their questions tougher but did manage to bag twenty (20 ) points at last.

R Cubed Round

With both sides scoring below average, it was expected that the performance in this round will be escalated.

After the Reading and Writing segment where both schools competed fiercely, the Arithmetic watered down all their efforts.

As a result both schools scored very low marks, with St. Thomas Aquinas earning zero (0) points while Okuapeman scored five (5) points.

STEM Round

Judging by the proceedings so far, this contest was still wide open and could be won by either team.

St. Thomas Aquinas boosted their overall scores with a cleanly taken first answer in the round.

They attempted to turn the heat on Okuass by buzzing for the second riddle too, but luck was not on their side this time.

Okuass hit the buzzer and they also delivered a correct answer beautifully.

When activities in the round were summarised, St. Thomas Aquinas were with a negative score of five (-5) points, whereas Okuapeman took ten (10) points.

One-on-one Round

Delali and Lawrencia took up posts as English experts for St. Thomas Aquinas and Okuass respectively.

Like in their previous contest, Lawrencia bagged another ten (10) points to leave Delali visibly upset.

Kris and Fianko made up Math specialists for St. Thomas Aquinas and Okuapeman respectively.

Mathematics unfortunately does not give marks to those who try but to those who are accurate with their answers.

Nicholas engaged Jeremiah as Science specialists for Aquinas and Okuass respectively. 

Only Nicholas bagged ten (10) points for Aquinas.

In General Knowledge, Samuel from St. Thomas Aquinas faced off with Ebenezer from Okuass.

None made any more inputs to the progress of their schools. 

At the end of the round, ten (10) points was to each school as the final scores displayed twenty-five (25) points to the Old Toms while Okuass parted with fifty-five (55) points.

After this success, Okuapeman SHS will face Labone SHS at the quarterfinals of the Senior Sharks 7- two mixed schools who want to break the domination of single-sex schools in the competition. Grab your seats!

The Sharks Quiz is developed by the Academic Talent Development Program and produced by the Adesa Production Limited (APL). 

Official media partner is TV3.

Sponsors: MTN, G-Money, Fidelity Bank, Academic City University College, Family Health Medical School, Ashesi University, and University of the Free State.

St. Peter’s SHS, Nkwatia, brought their A-game straightaway into their first contest at the Round 16 of Senior Sharks 7.

The winners of Senior Sharks 5 did not waste time at all with their opponent, University Practice SHS (UPSHS), Cape Coast..

St. Peter’s (Persco) were as brutal as they were clinical, finishing the contest way ahead of its logical conclusion.

Analysing their performance in their first contest in Sharks 7, the Perscodians, as St. Peter’s is also known, really looked like a championship team already.

UPSHS on the other hand have excelled at their two callings in Senior Sharks 7, and were at the Round 16 deservedly.  

The Cape Coasters beat St. Louis SHS and Aburi Girls at the First and Second Rounds respectively.

Those two excellent performances justly considered UPSHS as one of the dark horses in Senior Sharks 7.

Their only misadventure perhaps being that they crossed the path of Persco: a team on a mission.

Right Corner Round

UPSHS have had challenges with social literacy in their Senior Sharks 7 appearances so far.

Fans expecting a significant improvement in this contest over their poor showings were sorely disappointed.

Once again, they gave an unimpressive showing to end the round with just ten (10) points.

St. Peter’s were as alert as a chamois and didn’t fidget with their questions in any way, shape, or form.

St. Peter’s SHS joined the few schools in Senior Sharks 7 to record sixty (60) points in this round.

R Cubed Round 

In their two previous contests, UPSHS have averaged well in the Reading and Writing segment. 

They, however, backslide a little in this round, allowing St. Peter’s to pick their bonus questions correctly for more points.

St. Peter’s picked the bonus question from UPSHS in the Arithmetic segment for ten (10) points.

Thereafter, every single question St. Peter’s buzzed for was greeted with a correct remark by the quiz mistress.

UPSHS ended the round with a negative score of five  (-5) points

St. Peter’s SHS, focused and unconcerned about any other thing finished the round beautifully with fifty-five (55) points.

STEM Round

St. Peter’s gave no room for UPSHS to organise their thoughts, and picked the first riddle of the round.

After three successful buzzes by St. Peter’s, UPSHS did not want to keep being spectators, and buzzed for a riddle but it was disastrous.

UPSHS ended the round with a minus score of ten (-10) while St. Peter’s SHS brought another massive score of forty-five (45) onto their points tally.

One-on-one Round 

As soon as scores at the end of Round 3 were announced, the fate of UPSHS in this contest was sealed.

But as is customary with Senior Sharks 7, the final round will not let you leave Senior Sharks 7 empty-handed.

Mitchell has been a dependable expert in English for UPSHS, and she faced William for St. Peter’s.

This time around, William shocked Mitchell, unscrambling the two words given to earn twenty (20) points for St. Peter’s.

Adom and Brian were introduced as Math specialists for UPSHS and St. Peter’s respectively.

Both missed the first question, but Adom was not to be ruled off on the second question, to earn first ten (10) points for UPSHS.

When science specialists were asked, Edwin and Ampong answered for UPSHS and St. Peter’s respectively.

Edwin added another ten (10) points to UPSHS with his correct answer to the second riddle.

In General Knowledge, Joseph and Sylvester marched forward as experts for UPSHS and St. Peter’s respectively.

In the absence of any correct answer from the two gentlemen, scores at the end of the round gave twenty ( 20) points to each school.

Final Scores declared gave UPSHS fifteen (15) points and St. Peter’s SHS an outstanding one hundred and eighty (180) points.

After their nail biting loss to Adisco at the semifinals of Senior Sharks 6, St. Peter’s appear to have an axe to grind.

This five-star performance can only be bettered by only one school, and we shall soon find out.

The Sharks Quiz is developed by the Academic Talent Development Program and produced by the Adesa Production Limited (APL). 

Official media partner is TV3.

Sponsors: MTN, G-Money, Fidelity Bank, Academic City University College, Family Health Medical School, Ashesi University, and University of the Free State.

Wesley Girl’s High School, Cape Coast, have had their hopes of a second Senior Sharks quiz trophy dashed.

The Season 4 winners of the Senior Sharks quiz were eliminated from the competition by Labone SHS.

Wesley Girl’s High School (Wey Gey Hey) were in high spirits coming into this contest, having chalked a comfortable win over Wallahs Academy at the Round of 16.

Quite apart from that sweet victory, they are touted as being very sharp in Literacy and thus tend to earn the best scores around this area.

Labone SHS (Labosco) came in as a Super Ranked School on the back of a streak of wins in Season 6.

How they competed intensely in this contest clearly showed that they hadn’t lost their Season 6 sharpness.

Labone SHS completely dominated Wesley Girl’s to book another quarterfinal berth with the winner of the St. Thomas Aquinas vrs Okuapeman SHS contest.

Right Corner Round

As if competing against Wey Gey Hey is not draining enough, Labone also had to kick-start this contest with Wesley Girl’s High School.

Amidst the range of questions on politics and history, they managed twenty (20) points which was ten (10) points better than Wey Gey Hey’s.

R Cubed Round

Labone’s Mitchell led the way, answering the Reading and Writing questions and acquitted herself creditably.

Wesley Girl’s also had their hands placed firmly over the Reading and Writing questions.

It was the Arithmetic segment that would separate the Laboscans from the Wesleyans. 

Labone did not miss a single Arithmetic question they buzzed for while Gey Hey could only return one positive answer from the many they buzzed for. 

Scores at the end of the round indicated fifteen (15) points for Wesley Girl’s and Labone with sixty-five (65) points.

STEM Round

STEM questions in Senior Sharks quiz are sometimes significantly encrypted to elicit critical thinking.

Wesley Girl’s were on point with their first buzzer of the round after Labone had missed on their hasty cut-in.

Undaunted by their first miss, Labone hit the buzzer again midstream of reading the second riddle and nailed it correctly.

Against a scene of misses and incorrect answers, both schools were embroiled in low scores at the end of the round.

Scores thus showed negative fifteen (-15) points for Gey Hey and five (5) points for Labone.

One-on-one Round

If any team is capable of overturning an eighty (80) points deficit in Senior Sharks, Wey Gey Hey will reckon among the top..

Akorfala met Michelle as English experts for Gey Hey and Labone SHS respectively.

Wesley Girl’s representative hit the second question correctly.

Noble and Annabella put themselves up as Math specialists for Labone and Gey Hey respectively.

Noble took the two questions at lightning speed to leave Annabella bemused.

Phyllis met Prince as Science experts for Gey Hey and Labone respectively.

Both missed the first and second questions.

Adelaide, who took the two questions in this segment in Wesley Girl’s contest with Wallahs Academy stepped up to face Orlando as General Knowledge expert for Labone.

Unluckily for her and Orlando, none got the clues to both questions.

At the end of this round, Wesley Girl’s had ten (10) points while Labone SHS had twenty (20) points.

Final scores had twenty (20) points for Gey Hey while Labone had one hundred and ten (110) points.

With a total point difference of ninety (90), Labone SHS had delivered another shock in Senior Sharks 7.

Congratulations to Labone and best wishes to Wey Gey Hey.

The Sharks Quiz is developed by the Academic Talent Development Program and produced by the Adesa Production Limited (APL). 

Official media partner is TV3.

Sponsors: MTN, G-Money, Fidelity Bank, Academic City University College, Family Health Medical School, Ashesi University, and University of the Free State.