Fanaka International University College has partnered with the Ghana Investment and Securities Institute (GISI) to integrate professional practice into academic training, strengthen Ghana’s capital market and prepare finance graduates for opportunities in the global financial services industry.
The partnership, formalised through a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) signed in Accra, seeks to align the institution’s Master of Science (MSc) in Finance programme with industry requirements and international professional standards.
The agreement will promote curriculum benchmarking, practitioner engagement, professional career orientation, continued professional development, joint research and capacity building within the securities market.
A key feature of the collaboration is the opportunity for graduates to obtain a portable professional certificate bearing the logos of GISI and its international partner, the Chartered Institute for Securities & Investment (CISI), potentially expanding their professional mobility in countries where CISI operates, subject to applicable qualification and regulatory requirements.
Speaking at the signing ceremony, the Rector of Fanaka International University College, Professor Samuel Agyei-Ampomah, said the partnership reflected the institution’s commitment to bridging the longstanding gap between academic theory and the practical demands of industry.
He said the Governing Council had fully endorsed the agreement as a decisive shift towards a market-integrated model of education that would better prepare students for the realities of the financial services sector.
“Primary mandate of a governing council is to provide visionary oversight. We ensure that this college does not merely exist, but that it leads, innovates, and remains deeply relevant to national development in our boardrooms,” Prof. Agyei-Ampomah stated.
He said the Council’s decisions were guided by the need to equip students with the knowledge and practical competencies required to contribute to Ghana’s economic transformation and that of the wider African continent.
“The question we ask most frequently is: Are we equipping our students with the precise tools required to transform the economic landscape of Ghana and the wider African continent? Today’s partnership with GISI is a resounding definitive yes to that question,” he emphasised.
According to the Rector, the agreement represents a strategic departure from traditional academic programmes that often operate independently of industry practice.
“We are moving away from traditional siloed education and embracing a dynamic market-integrated model. We recognize that for our MSc in Finance program to truly excel, it cannot rely on theory alone. It must be directly plugged into the regulatory and structural pillars of Ghana’s capital markets, pillars that GISI proudly represents alongside its partners, the Securities and Exchange Commission and the Ghana Stock Exchange,” he explained.
Prof. Agyei-Ampomah said the partnership would strengthen the MSc in Finance programme in three key areas: professional qualification and licensing, international mobility, and curriculum development.
He explained that students would have opportunities to prepare for relevant professional examinations and potentially benefit from exemptions, subject to applicable requirements.
The collaboration would also expose students and faculty members to developments in modern asset classes, corporate governance and digital financial frameworks, ensuring that teaching and learning remain responsive to changes in the financial markets.
“Today, at Fanaka, we declare that the era of the isolated ivory tower is officially over,” he said, stressing the need for universities to combine theoretical instruction with practical competencies.
“True academic excellence must be measured by market readiness, and a postgraduate degree should not merely be a credential on a wall, but a powerful catalyst for a career,” he added.
The Rector assured GISI of the Governing Council’s commitment to the successful implementation of the agreement.
“To the leadership of GISI, I want to assure you that the Governing Council will provide the necessary institutional support, resources, and governance infrastructure to ensure that this MOU is executed to its fullest potential,” he pledged.
The Chief Executive Officer of GISI, Lawyer Alexander Williams, described the agreement as a historic milestone for finance education in Ghana, noting that it went beyond a conventional academic partnership to establish a structured relationship between professional training and university education.
“The outcome of this collaboration, the CISI and GSI is what has brought us here today, and for us a remarkable and historic event to sign the Memorandum of Understanding with Fanaka International University College,” he stated.
He explained that the partnership was designed to bring industry expertise into the classroom through curriculum benchmarking, practitioner engagement, professional development, research dialogue and securities market capacity building.
“A bit about this MOU. This MOU establishes a structured academic-professional collaboration, as Prof. said, between Fanaka and GSI. So it’s not just academic, but professional as well,” he emphasised.
Mr Williams said the collaboration would enable students to gain a clearer understanding of professional expectations and identify suitable career pathways while pursuing their postgraduate studies.
“We believe that at this level, it is not lectures. It is not just knowledge. It is sharing practice with academia to assess benchmarking, student professional development, continued professional development orientation, research dialogue, and securities market capacity building,” he stressed.
He identified the professional qualification pathway involving GISI and CISI as one of the partnership’s major benefits, particularly because of the opportunities it could create for internationally recognised professional development.
“And the key advantage with the GSI-CISI pathway is the fact that when you finish our programme, you get what you call a portable certificate. That certificate is embossed with both GSI and CISI logos, showing that you’ve qualified from both worlds,” Lawyer Williams revealed.
He explained that the portability of the certificate could help qualifying graduates pursue professional opportunities in countries where CISI operates, subject to the relevant professional and regulatory requirements.
“The portability makes you eligible to practice in any country where CISI has a branch. So for such a person, you see now staffing yourself as a global citizen made from Ghana,” he concluded.
The partnership is expected to strengthen collaboration between academia and the financial services industry, improve students’ exposure to securities market operations and develop a pool of skilled professionals to support Ghana’s capital market.
It is also expected to contribute to broader economic development by preparing graduates with the technical expertise, professional standards and practical experience required to respond to the evolving demands of the domestic and international financial services sectors.
The Board Chair of GISI also welcomed the agreement, describing it as a significant milestone for the institute and its efforts to strengthen professional education through partnerships with academic institutions. He disclosed that the agreement was the institute’s first formal partnership of its kind with a university, describing it as an important step towards its vision of becoming a leading professional institute for securities and investment education in West Africa.
He said the collaboration would help bridge the gap between academic knowledge and practical industry experience while contributing to the development of skilled professionals for Ghana’s securities industry. The Board Chair further noted that the capital market plays an important role in economic development by providing businesses with opportunities to raise capital and supporting broader investment activities.
