A young Ghanaian entrepreneur based in the UK, Mr Poku Osei, was on February 14th, honoured by the Buckingham palace for his immense contributions in the commonwealth diaspora.

Mr Osei, together with other distinguished personalities were selected and acknowledged during a reception? organized by the Queen,? in advance of the London Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting, for their ?civic contributions, to the ?wider ??communities? in the UK.?

Mr Osei was selected for his company, Babbasa, a Community Interest Company, which ?provides professional mentoring schemes, accredited skills training and ?career-orientated events?, aim at supporting young people to move into education or self-employment.

His contributions

Most of his contributions are geared towards bridging the gap between disadvantaged youngsters and the job market, while helping them realise their professional ambitions.

He was also ?honour?ed for undertaking pro?grammes that encourage people to realise their work-based ambitions.





Background

Poku arrived in Bristol, a city in South West England from Ghana in 2008 to study a master’s degree. He ?initially ?established? Babbasa? an informal group of volunteers to empower disadvantaged youngsters to confidently step into the world of work.?

Babbasa is now incorporated as a Community Interest Company, with paid employees, supporting hundreds of young people each year.

They were recently awarded the Best Community Organisation in the Southwest of England at the MTM Regional Awards in the UK.

In Ghana, he acquired Postgraduate Certificate in Business Administration at the Ghana Institute of Management and Public Administration (GIMPA) and holds a BA Hons in Psychology and Political Science at the University of Ghana.

On arrival in the UK, he attended the University of Salford, where he studied Property Management, Real Estate and Property Management (2010 – 2011) in the UK.

He ?also ?attended the University of West of England?? studying the ?Master of Science (MSc), Business Management in 2016?

Mr Osei aims to set up a branch of Babbasa in Ghana by 2020 to help the many talented but unemployed youth, realize their dream by improving on their God-given tallents and skill and calls on the interested partners to help realize this dream.