NiBS-School of Executive Development launched the Certified Innovation Professional (CIP) Program on the 28th of March, 2023, at the NiBS Campus. The launch marked the program’s official start and introduction to key stakeholders, such as senior-level leaders, business executives, and professionals inspired to innovate, seasoned and influential executives motivated to make a difference, community members, and other stakeholders.

The University’s President, Professor Kwaku Atuahene-Gima, in a statement about his vision for the program, said, “When a nation accepts that innovation is critical to its development, it must take action to build innovation capacity in the public and private sectors”. This capacity building requires corporate leadership knowledge, skills, and competencies and those of their managers and employees. He also alluded that the fundamental principle in building a culture of innovation is that organizations do not innovate; people do.

For this reason, executives need to nurture an innovation culture across the entire organization because innovation responsibility is for everyone, every time, everywhere in the organization. He ended his speech with his theory of organizational evolution which parodies Darwin’s Theory of the evolution of species, thus “It is not the strongest companies that grow and succeed or companies run by innovative leaders who are proactive and thus future-ready to meet future challenge.”.

The Minister for Environment, Science, Technology and Innovation, Hon Dr Kwaku Afriyie, who was the guest speaker for the launch, indicated in his speech that innovation is a pivotal force that propels progress and fosters economic growth while addressing multifaceted challenges and enhancing the quality of life for individuals worldwide. He also said that in an era where change is a constant, innovation assumes a paramount role in staying competitive and consequential in diverse arenas. It is no secret that the Government of Ghana has implemented various initiatives and policies to promote innovation and research in the country.

Dr Kwaku Afriyie pointed out that Ghana needs innovative thinkers to move the nation forward. The CIP program is critical at this time of growth in Ghana, where innovation has become a key driver of economic growth and development in many countries. He reiterated that it was an honour to be part of this milestone event that will prepare innovation professionals in any organisation, private or public, who want to differentiate themselves from the pack through skills and competencies in creativity and innovation; thus, the CIP Program is designed to build organisations’ capacity for generating and accelerating profitable growth through innovation.

By encouraging individuals to participate in the program, Dr Kwaku Afriyie was confident that Ghana could build a skilled workforce to generate and implementnew ideas, advance collaboration on critical projects, and capture the value of innovation that will help Ghana become more competitive, increase productivity, and create jobs essential for sustainable economic growth. He added that by having a pool of certified innovation professionals, Ghana could attract more foreign investment and technology transfer, further boosting the country’s economic growth.

He, therefore, encourages business professionals, C-Suites, managers, employees, and aspiring leaders to take up this program. According to Mr. Ebo Richardson, a speaker at the launch, innovation must be seen as creative and contextual problem-solving. He also noted that throughout history, there came a time when innovation became more critical and that he sees two exciting developments that make the Certified Innovation Professional (CIP) program necessary. These may include, Geo-political strives and the economic distress that comes with it, and digital disruption and the advent of new technology cause the traditional way of doing things in an organization is no longer fit for purpose.

Another Speaker at the event, Dr Felix Aveh, opined that Ghana needs reflective managers and, by extension, our politicians because they use the same methods to govern, which shows no achievements in the long run. Dr Hod Anyigba, a speaker and faculty member, narrated how Safaricom with M-Pesa, a digital payment platform, has been able to solve an African problem; a problem that has existed for a century that has to do with financial integration, thus the informal economy has been formalized. He again indicated how Kobo360, a company that provides truck brokerage service, had changed the face of logistics in Africa.

He concluded that the Certified innovation Professional (CIP) program is a first step in building our professional capacity, equipping us with the necessary skills and knowledge to become successful innovators. The Certified Innovation Professional (CIP) program would build the executive and organization’s internal capacity for generating and accelerating profitable growth through innovation.

The program would also help an organization to develop an elite group of innovation leaders who are experts in the best practices for generating and implementing new ideas, advancing collaboration on critical projects, and capturing the value of innovation. The program would prepare anyone in any organization, private or public, who wants to differentiate from the pack through skills and competencies in creativity and innovation management.

The program is slated to begin in April and will be offered both online and in person. Interested participants in the program can find more information on the university’s website.