Dr. Asare Akuffo, former Chairman of the Ghana Association of Bankers, has encouraged public universities to seek partnerships to enter into real estate development, saying, the prospects in there are good.

The real estate market could assist the universities to generate substantial revenue, citing the rising student population, and the associated huge accommodation deficit in the institutions.

Dr. Akuffo, who is the Managing Director of the HFC Bank, was inaugurating an ultra-modern shopping mall built at the Commercial Area of the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST) in Kumasi.

The project, a joint venture between the bank and the university, is designed to significantly boost business activities on the campus and its environs.

Dr. Akuffo said in the face of dwindling budgetary allocation to state-owned universities, it was incumbent on the authorities to move fast to explore innovative ways to shore up their finances.

They must invest in viable projects with good returns to sustain their academic and administrative programmes.

Professor William Otoo Ellis, the Vice-Chancellor, praised the bank for its strong commitment to the development of tertiary education.

HFC Bank, he said, has over the years, made donations to improve the state of the university’s lecture theatres, laboratories and libraries for quality education delivery.

He reiterated KNUST’s determination not to relent in its mission to seek private partnership to achieve its development goals.