Brit Ghanaian Linda Wayoe has been awarded Best Overall Student for 2022 in the highly competitive, world class Chartered Banker MBA (CBMBA) Programme at Bangor University, Wales.

Linda, a senior Banking Executive, seasoned Business Transformation Executive and Executive Council member for the UK-Ghana Chamber of Commerce, graduated on Thursday 30th June 2022 with Distinction on the highly competitive programme which has earned her the dual qualification of Chartered Banker and Master of Business Administration (MBA). She also clinched the highly coveted International Award of Best Overall Student for 2022. Linda is an alumni of Oxford University, Saïd Business School and the University of Ghana Business School.

The Chartered Banker status is the gold standard for senior professionals working in banking and other financial services. Holders of the title are regarded as highly qualified professionals who possess a comprehensive knowledge of the modern banking sector and its ethical and professional requirements.

This ground-breaking, high level and intensive dual qualification is the only one in the world (only offered by Bangor University) that combines an MBA with a Chartered Banker status and sees hundreds of senior banking executives signing up from all around the world annually.

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In a statement, Linda said, “I am extremely thankful for receiving such a prestigious award. Thank you to Bangor University and the Chartered Banker Institute (CBI) for recognising my efforts and for this immense honour. My experience of the CBMBA Programme has been absolutely phenomenal. The comprehensive module materials, access to extensive resources, thought provoking discussions and all-round student support was exceptional. The wealth of theoretical and practical knowledge and experience by the lecturers and their desire to see everyone succeed was commendable. The pragmatic approach of the CBMBA programme prompts more resilience, agility, critical and strategic thinking amongst leaders which is very much needed in this rapidly evolving, volatile, complex and ambiguous financial world. I did not only get to retool myself and enhance knowledge which is directly relevant to my role and beyond, but also got the opportunity to network with fellow seasoned financial services professionals from various countries. I appreciated the flexibility and the chance to study while working as it made it more relatable and beneficial. My learning journey on the CBMBA programme has been an exciting one and it has no doubt validated my several years of experience in the banking industry. Having completed this world class cutting-edge programme, I feel more empowered and optimistic about the future of my career”.

Linda is looking forward to putting her enhanced knowledge and skills to good use in the financial sector and making an impact. She stated her commitment to supporting the CBI’s 2025 Foundation which is aimed at opening up the opportunity to pursue a career in banking to those who would not otherwise have this opportunity or who would not otherwise consider such a career.
Statistics recently published by Bloomberg stated that women make up just 15% of top paid staff in city of London banks. Linda is passionate about changing this narrative by encouraging more young women to take up this prodigious course offered by the CBI Foundation.

By Afua Acheampong Hagan

This week on STUDENTOFLIFE PODCAST, Akosua Peprah dives into the energy centre we have in our bodies. She gives you an introduction to understand the power we hold inside of us and how these energy centres connects the spiritual to the physical sides of us. (more…)

An international education can help boost your credentials at home and can also be a great way to get a footing in a new country. Most countries have favourable post-graduate visas, and the simple act of knowing the area, having friends, and having local internships and jobs can do wonders towards your chances of starting a new life in a new country.

To help you get the most out of your international education, you want to go above and beyond just what you learn in the classroom. You’ll want to follow the tips and tricks in this guide.

1.    Improve Your Applications and Increase Acceptance Chances

First things first: getting into your top choice. One of the greatest difficulties that come with applying to a program overseas or in a different country is the possible difference in admission requirements. Starting early is essential. You can go to campusreel.organd see the admission requirements and various other statistics that will help you put together your student resume and craft a winning application.

For many international students, this will mean sitting the SATs. While not a standard in most countries, it is a standard in the United States of America and the universities and colleges within it. Studying for the SATs and sitting them will need to be done before you apply, so find your local SAT program and get started.

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2.    Take Note of the Societies, Clubs, Competitions, and Extra Opportunities

You never want to cap your learning to the classroom. There are so many ways that you can learn, explore, and expand your network while you are at university without having to leave the comfort of your campus. Explore the societies and clubs that are available and join all the ones that you are even vaguely interested in for your first year. As time goes on, you will understand which ones are personally worthwhile to you and which ones aren’t, which will allow you to cut down the number of memberships you have and, in exchange, increase the amount of responsibility you have.

Competitions are another great way to meet new people, gain experience, and in this case, even possibly win awards and accolades before you graduate.

Your university will also likely hold extra special lectures on a variety of topics that are open to both students and even the public at large. This can be a very good way of learning new things and keeping your mind open and curious.

3.    Intern, Intern, Intern

Interning while you are a student is very smart. There are many unique internship opportunities that are only open to students or recent graduates. There are also internships that are only available through your university.

Try to have at least one internship going on at a time, with breaks for exam season. This way, you can expand your professional credentials and network by the time you graduate. If your goal is to stay in the country, you will need a job that can sponsor you, and this is the best way to increase your chances out of the gate.

If you plan on going home, then getting all of this professional experience can put you a world ahead of those who stayed at home for their education, especially if you want to apply to work in international businesses and firms at home.

Old Mutual Ghana, a subsidiary of pan-African investment, savings, insurance, and banking group, Old Mutual, has said it plans within the next five years is to expand its footprint across the industry and Ghana.

According to Helen Amerley Amarquaye, Board Chair of Old Mutual Ghana, this forms part of the organization’s effort to improve financial inclusion as well as contribute to the growth and development of the insurance industry.

Speaking after the company paid a courtesy call on the leadership of the National Insurance Commission (NIC), the industry’s regulator, Ms. Amarquaye said: “Our focus is to get scaled and expand across the country. We are a company focused on financial inclusion and we have a whole lot of expertise. We have also been in the Ghanian market for 10 years and for us it is making sure that we use our expertise to create more scale and bring more people on board,” she said.

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She also stated that the organization is constantly keeping up with current trends in order to be competitive in emerging markets.

“The insurance sector is constantly evolving so we have had bancassurance and also the influx of insure-tech which means the use of technology to make insurance more accessible to a wider audience and that is what we are we want to make sure that we are part of it,” she added.

Commissioner for the National Insurance Commission, Dr. Justice Ofori praised Old Mutual Ghana for its consistency in providing the most innovative insurance products to its customers, while also contributing to the development of the insurance market.

Dr. Ofori also commended Old Mutual for being a compliant business and meeting the new minimum capital requirement for insurance businesses. He stated that plans are in the works to train industry participants on how to properly comply with the new Insurance Act of 2021. The New Act, which replaces the Insurance Act, 2006 (724), serves as the legal instrument for the regulation and supervision of the insurance market.

He stated that the new Act is rich in content, thus the need to educate industry players on its implementation and ultimately protect policy and ensure that they get the right products and derive value for money.

“We also want to work on the new Act. We are going to take the industry through the Act and let them know what is new and what should be expected from the Act so that they can be guided accordingly. They have copies but normally people won’t get time to read so we are going to have some training for them so that they can appreciate it and also abide by what it says,” he said.

Albert Oko Dagadu, Head of Technical at Old Mutual Ghana, reiterated that Old Mutual’s goal is aligned with the commission’s goal of providing clients with the right product at the right price.

“It was interesting to hear the commissioner mention that top of their priority is protecting policy holders and ensuring that they get the right products and derive value for money. And at Old Mutual, one key metric is ensuring that our policy holders get value for money and since I have been with Old Mutual, the value for money is very apparent,” he said.

He stated that Old Mutual’s goal is to introduce new products, and as a strategic drive, pushing annuity sales.

“The objective is to ensure that annuitants and retirees especially have a guaranteed income for life and do not have to worry about their future income when they retire and that’s one main objectives of Old Mutual life to ensure our policy holders get the value they require on our products,” Mr. Dagadu explained.

Following the success of its innovative smart tech clean water pilot in Abomosu, Grundfos Ghana Water Initiative (GWI) announced that it is developing 12 additional sites in collaboration with the Community Water and Sanitation Agency (CWSA) to give over 100,000 people across rural Ghana access to clean water by the end of 2023.

The Ghana Water Initiative (GWI), a project by SafeWater, a strategic business unit within Grundfos, aims to reach one million people in underserved communities in Ghana with clean water by 2026, providing drinking water that is both safe and easily accessible, from a reliable source that is sustainable and efficiently run.

In 2019, GWI installed seven centrally located, solar-powered, digital AQTaps (water ATMs) to serve the first pilot community in Abomosu village, located in Atiwa West District, Eastern region of Ghana, in partnership with the Community Water and Sanitation Agency and the Atiwa West District Assembly. The innovative, ‘smart water’ ATMs by Grundfos allow the user to manage their usage, and access treated, potable water using a pre-paid card, topped up via mobile money, from a source that is reliable and accessible 24/7, all year round.

Today, safe running water is available throughout the community, pumped from a 90m borehole 1.5km from the village to a 120m³ water tank. Over 8,000 local residents now have reliable access to clean water for the first time, including 262 smart household water connections going directly into residents’ homes.

Anise Sacranie, SafeWater’s Senior Partnership Development Manager commented: “We have demonstrated that this model is successful, so working closely with the CWSA, the next step is to take the model to scale, encouraging private sector engagement and entrepreneurship to establish financially sustainable, high-quality water services to underserved communities across Ghana.

We are about to finalise our next project (in Otoase) which is a completely new build and are on track to have a total of 13 projects running by the end of next year, including Abomosu, giving over 100,000 people access to clean drinking water within the next 18 months.”

Xorlali Yao-Kuma Kpodo, Grundfos Ghana Water Initiative’s Engagement Manager said, “Over 8 million people in Ghana still do not have access to safe, drinkable water because the current water supply in many areas is inefficient and untreated and therefore unsafe to drink when it flows. Since the start of the Abomosu pilot initiative 2 years ago, the feedback from local residents has been overwhelmingly positive so we are excited to be moving to the next phase, providing clean water to more underserved rural areas.”

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GWI’s approach to improving water access is to refurbish existing CWSA systems or establish new infrastructure where no system exists, providing water to both households, public standpipes and refillable water dispensers. The Abomosu project involved upgrading an existing system that had fallen into disrepair, requiring two new boreholes, piping, and treatment system, as well as the Grundfos AQ Taps (water ATMs). GWI staff work with local teams to maintain the new system and are developing a vocational curriculum for water system operations and maintenance to ensure skills are transferred to local staff for ongoing maintenance of the project in the future.

About SafeWater: 

SafeWater is a strategic business unit in Grundfos (a global water technology company committed to pioneering solutions to the world’s water and climate challenges and improving the quality of life for people). SafeWater creates a lasting impact by transforming underserved communities through commercially viable and sustainable smart water solutions.

SafeWater is working towards Grundfos’ ambition of reaching 300 million people in 2030 with access to drinking water. It collaborates closely with some of the world’s leading humanitarian and development aid organisations, as well as private water service providers, and partners with local distributors, private water service providers, service partners, industries, energy service providers, banks and financing institutions, investors and governments. SafeWater predominately operates in East and West Africa, Southeast Asia and the Middle East – and often in remote locations.

About Grundfos Ghana Water Initiative (GWI)

Ghana Water Initiative (GWI) kicked off in March 2019 as a local initiative to test commercially viable business models for delivering clean water access to underserved communities in Ghana, and to establish the framework to take the final model to scale. GWI is being managed by a local project team working out of the Grundfos Ghana offices in Accra. GWI aims to provide sustainable clean water that is accessible, reliable and efficient to one million Ghanaians by 2026 by rolling out successfully tested business models across Ghana.

If you’re looking for the latest trends in consumer lifestyle on the Internet, then you’ve come to the right place. You can learn all about Health-conscious consumers, Efficiency-driven lifestyles, Beauty as a means of self-expression and Decluttering. And what’s more? You can join the trend, too! And what’s better, it’s free! Just be sure to share the content with your friends and family.

Health-conscious lifestyle

As the obesity epidemic in the United States grows, more consumers are turning to the Internet for healthier recipes like red kratom extract and other unique compounds. These individuals are also becoming more concerned about genetically modified ingredients and organic-based foods. Mass interest in these health-conscious lifestyle trends has spurred many industries to change their business practices. There are plenty of ways to incorporate these trends into your everyday life. Here are three of them. Read on to learn more about these health-conscious lifestyle trends.

Young people are particularly interested in health and fitness. Many are even using smartwatches and fitness trackers to track their health information and training data. This trend is not limited to fitness, though. Young consumers also prefer organic and natural foods and herbs. And they’re willing to spend more money on them. These trends will continue to grow for years to come. These consumers will eventually overtake Baby Boomers and create permanent changes in the food culture of the United States.

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Beauty as a way to express one’s self

Women are constantly reminded of the scale of ‘enough’. Every eyeshadow color or highlighter application is a form of self-criticism, a social media-driven quest for ‘beauty.’ For women, Sephora has become a symbol of belonging and success. But do these standards reflect the reality of life? Or does beauty just reflect how we want others to see us?

Decluttering

Consumer lifestyle trends are becoming a key part of the marketing strategy for many companies. Millennials, who make up the biggest generation, are the ones driving decluttering trends. The baby boomers are getting smaller, while Millennials are bigger still, with smaller wallets. These two groups are less interested in material possessions than they are in lifestyle. Decluttering consumer lifestyle trends are an ideal opportunity for savvy companies to tap into. The internet is full of articles about non-materialistic values, and recovery blogs from recovering shopaholics.

The decluttering trend is often equated with misery and emptiness. However, it is a powerful way to take back control of your life from retailers. Oftentimes, contentment is found in emptiness. The emptiness of an attic can be filled with joy, while the National Soap and Detergent Association promotes less housework. The goal is to be as minimalist as possible, and to live a more simplified life.