Schwarzman Fellow Pens Article for Award-Winning, Global Blog

Joseph Opoku recently completed two years of work as a youth ambassador with the Mastercard Foundation Strategic Advisory Group. He also just wrapped up a year of employment at the U.S.-Africa Business Center with the U.S. Chamber of Commerce in Washington, D.C. Opoku heads to Tsinghua University in Beijing, China, this month.

Opoku ’18 is busy at his home in Accra, Ghana, while preparing to study at Tsinghua University in Beijing, China, this month. But the Schwarzman Fellow isn’t binge-watching Netflix while lazily packing his bags. Opoku recently published an article in Africa-OnTheRise: an award-winning blog that seeks to change international perspectives about the continent.

The opinion piece found here titled “Developing Africa’s Youth to Respond to the Challenge of Digitization” is the first in a series of three assessments of how to harness opportunity in sub-Saharan Africa’s rising youth demographic.

“Educators and employers are both concerned about the changing nature of work due to fast improvements in technology,” Opoku explains. “A lot of work still needs to be done to ensure education, especially at the secondary level, prepares young people for success.”

The article is a culmination of Opoku’s work for two years as a youth ambassador with the Mastercard Foundation Strategic Advisory Group.

Opoku recently wrapped up his work with the Foundation. He also just completed a year of employment with the U.S.-Africa Business Center with the U.S. Chamber of Commerce in Washington, D.C.

While at Tsinghua University, Opoku will pursue a master’s degree in global affairs.

Referred to as “the Rhodes Scholarship of the 21st century,” Opoku’s Schwarzman Fellowship is highly regarded worldwide: He is one of fewer than 150 out of nearly 3,000 applicants to receive the designation.

At Westminster, Opoku served as senior class president, was well known for being a Mastercard Foundation scholar, and served as an international conference speaker in Cairo, Egypt, on science, technology, and innovation. He graduated magna cum laude with a degree in transnational studies. 

Westminster College looks forward to watching Opoku’s successful career unfold in the future. Meanwhile, read more about him here.