By: Ashiadey Dotse
The African University College of Communications and Business (AUCB), in partnership with the HBCU Africa Education Coalition (HAEC), has launched its annual Capstone Project Showcase under the theme “Africa Connect: Building Synergy for Social Impact Entrepreneurship.”
The event is designed to empower final-year students to turn classroom learning into real-world solutions for their communities.
This year’s event has more than 100 student groups from AUCB participated in this year’s Capstone Project Presentation.
Each group tackled real-life challenges such as flood warnings, community tourism, sanitation, eco-packaging, and local branding initiatives.
According to Nana S. Acheampong, Head of the Department of Creative Arts, the Capstone Project is a four-year journey where graduating students apply their knowledge in a practical, community-based setting.
“Students pick a problem in society be it in technology, ecology, or marketing and create solutions that either solve the problem or make the most of an opportunity,” she explained.
This year’s projects were developed by 29 groups from the Sam Jonah School of Business and 73 groups from the Kojo Yankah School of Communication Studies.
The initiative also welcomed student and faculty guests from Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) in the U.S., including Morgan State University and the University of Tennessee.
Professor Abeiku Blankson, Vice Chancellor of AUCB, emphasized the importance of the Capstone initiative. “We moved away from traditional thesis writing because most of those end up gathering dust. We wanted students to do real work, solve real problems, and bring back real solutions, these projects are not just academic they are practical, impactful, and community-centered.”
Students are not just identifying problems they are implementing solutions. For example, one group developed an early warning system for flood-prone areas using mobile alerts and sirens. Another worked with the small fishing community of Warawobeba near Winneba, creating an eco-tourism plan to boost local income while protecting the environment.
Projects like these, according to Acheampong, also involve local stakeholders such as community members, and businesses.“We work hand in hand with the people affected. That’s how real change happens,” she said.
Professor Pash Obeng, Chair of the AUCB Governing Council, praised the university’s shift from theory-based learning to hands-on experience. “We want to train students who can fix problems, not just write about them. Can they fix a bulb? Can they purify water? That’s the kind of education Africa needs,” he said.
The collaboration with HAEC brings an even broader vision. Professor Beverly Booker Ammah, Executive Director of HAEC, announced the “100,000 Strong Africa Initiative”, which aims to bring 50,000 African students to HBCUs in the U.S. and 50,000 U.S. based students to Africa for long-term study programs over the next 20 years.
AUCB is a key partner in this plan, and a new Pan-African Research Coalition Institute has been launched on its campus. “This institute will focus on practical, student-led research to address Africa’s most urgent social justice issues,” said Professor Ammah. “It’s about students and faculty working together to make change.”
Professor Ammah said HAEC is also expanding its university network, partnering with institutions such as KNUST, University of Ghana, and University of Cape Coast, alongside 16 to 20 other African-based universities and HBCUs.
