Konnected Minds Podcast with Derrick Abaitey

What happens when a former Minister of Education reveals that he got cabinet approval for gifted and talented education schools across Ghana, started building them without making any noise, and believes that the only way to truly eliminate abject poverty is to create an ecosystem where 33,000 engineers graduate every year instead of 7,000 and foreign companies flock to Ghana because engineers are a dime a dozen? In this powerful and deeply insightful episode of Konnected Minds Podcast, we sit down with a former Minister of Education who built Accra STEM Academy without fanfare, stopped examination leakages at the BECE level by giving different questions to every region, constructed 200 science labs across the country, funded 100 engineers through his philanthropic work and is now watching them struggle to find jobs because Ghana has not created the ecosystem for them to secure employment, for a raw conversation about education reform, gifted and talented education, poverty eradication, graduate unemployment, university industry collaboration, STEM education, foreign direct investment, and the brutal reality that if you want to transform a nation you need governmental authority not just small scale philanthropy. From explaining why he doesn't make noise about what he's going to do but instead gets cabinet approval, executes the plan, and lets Ghanaians discover it after commissioning like they did with Accra STEM Academy which sits on the same road as Galassi and Ariane with equipment that students are using right now, to revealing that he started building gifted and talented education schools in Kumasi for creative arts with boarding from junior high to senior high so students from across the country can get six years of intensive creative arts education like School of the Arts in Los Angeles, to breaking down why 6 to 10 percent of Americans are gifted and talented and over a century ago the country tapped into it by setting up GATE schools where students from grade three who can dance or build toy cars or answer every question are selected and sent to special schools, this is the story of what happens when you stop leaving things to chance and start building systems that identify talent early and nurture it until it becomes world class. Our guest breaks down why he got a message yesterday from a young woman who graduated from high school in 2019 with excellent grades in science and was stuck in Ziope Agotime, a village that most people don't even know exists, until he went there to campaign as a parliamentary aspirant and pledged to take care of one student from the community, why they didn't vote for him but he still redeemed his pledge because there may be a young person hiding somewhere who needs redemption, and why that young woman is now at UMAT reading chemical engineering and sent him a WhatsApp message saying "Daddy, you saved me, I never thought I would get to a place like where I am now." He explains why this is just one story but there are so many Delights hiding in villages across the country with all hope lost, why abject poverty is not just about buildings but about human stories, and why he believes that if other countries have eradicated abject poverty then Ghana can too because abject poverty means you don't have food to eat and there's no place to go, no government structures to give you shelter, no way out, just helplessness and hopelessness. But we also confront the uncomfortable truth about graduate unemployment, why he has funded 100 engineers through his philanthropic work but they are struggling to get jobs because he's not setting up a company to support them and Ghana has not created the ecosystem for them to secure employment, why Vietnam graduates 100,000 engineers every year and Samsung has its largest manufacturing plant there because when they market Vietnam to foreign direct investors they say engineers are a dime a dozen here, and why Ghana graduates only 7,000 engineers even though our population ratio suggests we should be graduating 33,000. We discuss why tall buildings and hotels are going up across the country built by Turkish and Chinese companies but there are no Ghanaian engineering inspectors on site, why most of these buildings use biometric devices for entry which means you need computer engineering building inspectors so people don't hack into the building and lock out the doors and get people to die, and why municipal assemblies don't have the expertise to inspect these buildings and secure high paying jobs for our graduates. We dive into the framework for university industry collaboration, why it doesn't work anywhere in the world to tell universities you have to create partnerships with industries, why you need to say there's a grant available for any university that partners an industry and give them 10 percent to develop the plan with KPIs, 40 percent for first phase implementation, another 40 percent for second phase, and 10 percent for...

What happens when a former Minister of Education reveals that universities cannot be forced to change, but they will transform everything if you show them the money? In this powerful and deeply insightful episode of Konnected Minds Podcast, we sit down with a former Minister of Education who challenged Ghana's entire higher education system, created pathways for visual arts students to become engineers, funded pre-engineering programs that produced graduates with higher GPAs than traditional science students, and discovered that the only way to reform universities is not through force but through strategic incentives, for a raw conversation about university reform, entrepreneurship, graduate unemployment, angel investing, livable wages, job creation, and the brutal reality that if you want to transform a nation's economy you need 10 to 12 percent growth for 20 years consistently and Ghana is nowhere near. From explaining why he told universities that visual arts students who are imaginative and creative would make excellent engineers if given the chance to take one year of elective mathematics, chemistry, and physics to show proficiency, to revealing that when he offered grant funding for pre-engineering programs every university except Legon submitted proposals, to breaking down why Pentecost University and UMAT had the best proposals and their final year students are now coming out with higher GPAs than traditional science students because they are fully determined and approach engineering from a practical perspective, this is the story of what happens when you stop forcing institutions to change and start incentivizing them to transform themselves. Our guest breaks down why universities invariably cannot be compelled to do certain things but you can incentivize them to do research, innovation, and university-industry collaboration, why visual arts students who master mathematics and engineering will do better software development than those who came straight from science without a visualized background, and why he is most excited about the visual artists becoming engineers because if they are part of any project team the visual part of the software engineering will be superior. He explains why universities need to stop offering classical education and start creating innovators who create jobs before they leave campus, why the top companies in the software and computer space were created by young people who sometimes left university, and why the facilitation should come through angel investors not government agencies. But we also confront the uncomfortable truth about graduate unemployment, why a 19-year-old told him he's not going to university because unemployment is brutal and he would finish without getting a job, why free SHS put more people through a system that is not prepared to employ them, and why the type of education we are giving children is the reason we are not getting jobs because we are not creating innovators who are supposed to create the jobs. We discuss why some universities have gone away from classical education and a certain percentage of their graduates are creating jobs before they leave, why angel investors should be incentivized with corporate tax exemptions if they invest in young people whether they do well or not, and why instead of setting up government organizations that give away money we should give that money to angel investors as no interest loans because they know how to invest in the right businesses. We dive into the reality that entrepreneurship is not for everyone coming out of university, why some people need to have experience in the industry and see how things work before they can become entrepreneurs, why job creation is a critical aspect because not everyone can just come out of university and become an entrepreneur, and why private businesses that want to expand should be incentivized with tax exemptions per graduate they hire because that graduate will pay income tax and literally replace the taxes waived for the company. We break down why this was done in the US during Obama's time and more companies started employing graduates, why we must confront the issue of lack of livable wages in this country because you cannot produce for a market when you are paying people 2,000 cedis that doesn't suffice for transport, and why productivity needs to be increased but we need to find a way to pay people wages they can live on because the multiplier effect of livable wages is what creates more jobs. We unpack the powerful question of what America would do if they were in Ghana's situation, why brains would be working across the political divide because at that point it's not about politics it's about the survival of the nation, and why unemployed graduates should form an association and demand a seven point plan for graduate employment before voting for any politician.

What happens when a nation's education system prepares students to memorize answers instead of solving problems, and one minister decides to change everything? In this powerful and deeply insightful episode of Konnected Minds Podcast, we sit down with a former Minister of Education who took on Ghana's entire educational establishment, challenged WAEC's examination structure, and introduced critical thinking assessments that are now being adopted across West Africa, for a raw conversation about education reform, critical thinking, curriculum transformation, assessment systems, STEM education, university access, and the brutal reality that if you don't change how students are tested, teachers will never change what they teach. From confronting WAEC and telling them that Ghana wants critical thinkers but their exams don't test critical thinking, to pushing 40% of examination questions to focus on synthesis, evaluation, and creating instead of memorization, to launching 33 pilot high schools that now test students at level three and four of Webb's Depth of Knowledge where students must apply critical thinking skills instead of repeating memorized answers, to introducing biomedical science, engineering sciences, robotics, advanced computer science, and aviation as high school courses in public schools across Ghana, this is the story of what happens when one leader refuses to accept the minimum and pushes an entire nation's education system toward transformation. Our guest breaks down why he told WAEC that the country wants critical thinkers but their exams don't reflect that demand, why assessment should come first in education reform because if the exam doesn't change teachers will not change what they teach, and why he called WAEC Ghana and demanded they change their high school curriculum exams because teachers will always teach to the test regardless of what the curriculum says. He explains the CIA framework in education which stands for Curriculum, Instruction, and Assessment, why most nations design curriculum first then instruction then assessment and wonder why transformation doesn't happen, and why he reversed the order by changing assessment first so that teachers would scramble to teach critical thinking because that's what students will be tested on. But we also confront the uncomfortable truth about what happens when you don't have science labs in your high school, why students who attend schools without proper science facilities are permanently locked out of engineering and medicine unless they leave Ghana and go to the UK or America where they get a second chance, and why visual arts students who are imaginative and creative would make excellent engineers but Ghana's system tells them they will never be engineers if they stay in the country. We discuss why he went to Yachikramso Senior High School for O Level and they didn't have a science lab so none of the students could do science and that was it, dead end, you'll never be a doctor or engineer if you stayed in Ghana, and why this personal experience drove him to create pathways for students to reconsider their career direction at university level. We dive into the launch of BSTEM to bring STEM education to basic schools not just high schools, why equipment has been distributed to basic schools across remote communities so that students can build mobile apps and learn technology from an early age, and why some Ghanaians still believe nothing is happening because they see viral images of computers being drawn on blackboards while transformation is happening in 33 pilot schools that are now teaching courses not even available in some American neighborhood schools. We break down why Ghanaian students studying at Accra STEM Academy have led Ghanaians living in New Jersey to say that this school is better than their neighborhood school in America, why St. Barnabas was transformed including changing their uniforms so students could think differently, and why he gave a donation to take children from Osu on a field trip to Legon so they could see a university for the first time. We unpack the issue of soft skills and why graduates come out of universities having studied computer science but don't know what MySQL is, why the new high school curriculum developed with support from MasterCard Foundation incorporated the four Cs which are communication, critical thinking, collaboration, and creativity, and why internships and work placements were built into the curriculum so that biomedical science students could work with clinics and get hands on experience coming out of high school. We discuss why university reform cannot be done the same way as high school reform, why you cannot ride on your high horse as Minister of Education and tell universities what to do because they will not comply, and why the only way to change university education is to institute a grant program with free money and tell universities that everyone who wants to go in this...

What happens when a man who thought he knew everything loses everything and discovers that the most expensive education is the one you refuse to accept when it's free? In this raw and unfiltered episode of Konnected Minds Podcast, we sit down with Aldis Ozols, a European entrepreneur who made millions in real estate, lost it all in 2008, and discovered that his biggest enemy wasn't the financial crisis but his own refusal to listen, learn, and prepare for what he didn't know was coming. From admitting that even today when he gives people his book less than 10% actually read it because people think they know everything, to confessing that he was exactly that person who thought he was self made and proudly believed his strategies were genius when in reality he was just buying agriculture land and flipping it for 10 times the price without any real business strategy, to the moment a casino owner told him "you are out of your mind but don't worry enjoy, just buy gold" in 2007 and he ignored the advice completely even though gold went up 400% after that, this is the story of ego, ignorance, financial illiteracy, missed warnings, and the brutal cost of thinking you know everything when you actually know nothing. Our guest breaks down why he thought his real estate flipping was strategy when it was actually just speculation in a rising market, why real strategy only begins when you start construction and need to include engineers and build a proper team, and why if he had read financial history he would have known that no market goes up forever and he should have been prepared for the day it crashes. He explains why one of the largest casino owners in Latvia told him he liked the way he was doing things but warned him to buy gold, why he didn't buy gold but instead bought gold painted furniture from Century 17 and decorated his Old City apartment with special cherry wood because he believed money would come abundantly forever, and why all those pictures are still on the internet showing exactly how he was living when he thought the wave would never stop. But we also confront the uncomfortable truth about savings and preparation, why no matter how much money you have you should always put something down and throw the bread ahead so when you walk forward there is already something waiting for you tomorrow, and why at age 52 he now understands that this mindset is what separates those who survive crises from those who lose everything. We discuss what he would do differently if he could go back, why he would buy more real estate without loans, why he would buy apartments and warehouses that generate rental income no matter what happens in the economy, and why warehouses are the simplest investment because as long as there are people there will always be goods that need to be stored somewhere. We dive into the psychology of ego and whether ego is truly your enemy, why people say ego is the enemy but without ego you wouldn't wear nice clothes or buy a nice watch or drive a nice car, and why if you have no ego at all you are just a monk sitting in a monastery which is actually the easiest way to live because it's easy to be humble on top of a mountain but try being humble in the city in business when people are trying to hurt you. He explains why he believes you should have ego, why you should become a monster physically spiritually mentally financially and then control the monster, and why someone who is weak and nice is not really nice but simply must be nice because they have no other option. We unpack the moment after the collapse when he went to minus 7 million euros and started searching for a spiritual path, why he went to Tibet three times to climb Mount Kailash at 5,800 meters altitude and build a stupa to connect to the universe, why he tried to become Buddhist and read the Bible to his son desperately trying to find himself, and why even during the high life he felt something was not sitting right but couldn't explain what was wrong. We discuss why losing everything forces you to confront the questions you ignored when you had money, and why the search for meaning often begins only after everything material has been stripped away. We also explore the brutal reality of becoming a pedestrian after losing all his cars, why he walked barefoot through the streets with his son just to get to meetings, why his wife finally said stop we are not selling the last apartment and it stays in my name, and why this was the moment that held the family together. We break down the powerful moment when his wife brought all her gold jewelry and said "take it, sell it, start something new, I trust you," why this trust nailed him and held him through all the dark years, and why this became the foundation for his next chapter in the underground gold trade. We get into the pivot into gold trading, why he went to the pound shop to sell his wife's jewelry and the owners laughed because he was the first person to tell the truth.

What happens when you lose everything to the 2008 financial crisis and the only way forward is to trust the bankers you owe millions to, give them back their collateral without a fight, and walk away with nothing but your integrity intact?

In this raw and unfiltered episode of Konnected Minds Podcast, we sit down with a European entrepreneur who went from 25 million euros in assets to minus 7 million in debt, and discovered that the way you handle collapse determines whether you can ever rebuild trust, reputation, and access to capital again.

From the moment in 2008 when the Latvian government created a law that land could no longer be used as collateral in banks and his entire real estate empire collapsed overnight, to the decision to voluntarily hand back properties to five different banks and register them under their names without any legal fight, to the bankers being shocked and asking "you are not going to fight?" and him responding "what is the point of fighting, now we need to quickly get peace, yours is yours, mine is mine," this is the story of financial collapse, integrity under pressure, bankruptcy, trust, reputation, and the brutal reality that how you behave when you lose everything determines whether anyone will ever trust you again.

Our guest breaks down why when the 2008 crisis hit he immediately called every bank he owed money to and said "register this land on your daughter company, take it, because the banks shouldn't start fighting for my bonds," why he knew that if five banks all put legal hooks on the same properties the land would become unsellable and trapped in the land commission forever, and why he chose to give everything back cleanly so that each bank got their collateral and he could walk away with peace instead of years of legal warfare. He explains why the bankers were shocked because most people in his position would have fought, hidden assets, or tried to manipulate the system, why they appreciated his honesty so much that they all became his friends and remain his friends to this day, and why when he walks the streets of Latvia now and randomly meets them they hug each other and say "I see you on social media, you're doing well, good, how is it."

But we also confront the uncomfortable truth about bankruptcy, why he paid for three years in the bankruptcy procedure only to have the judge say "we don't really believe that what you declare is only your money because we see on YouTube you are hitting world records in deadlift and you cannot afford that trainer and that lifestyle with the amount you are declaring," why the judge rejected his bankruptcy application after three years of payments because they thought he was hiding money, and why he had to wait and apply again because bankruptcy was the last thing he wanted to do but he had no choice. We discuss why announcing bankruptcy felt like shame, why he wanted to pay everything back himself and close the chapter with dignity, and why sometimes the system forces you into positions you never wanted to be in.

We dive into the moment when he came to Ghana for seven days to investigate the 20% gold discount opportunity the bankers had told him about, why in those seven days he opened a company, got a gold buyer's license, understood the entire regulatory system through PMMC and Minerals Commission, and discovered that the 20% discount was not true but there was still opportunity. We break down why on the seventh day when it was time to go back to Latvia he asked himself "when I'm going back, what I'm getting there again? Again pawn shops and walking around, that's not the future what I want," why he saw that Ghana was very ready for crazy people who are ready to work, and why he made the decision to stay and send the two translators back to the airport while he and one other guy changed hotels, moved to La Palme, and paid $200 per night for a few months ahead because recently he was very rich and $200 didn't sound crazy to him.

We unpack the transition into small scale mining, why he met an old Ghanaian man through the Minerals Commission who was 62 years old with gray hair, a calm voice, and finished every sentence with "by the grace of God," why he thought this man knew what he was doing because of his spiritual way of talking, and why he now realizes it was just two blind men guiding each other. We discuss why they raised half a million dollars from investors back home, why the old man said "with half million we cannot do drilling or large scale but we can go to Prestea and do small scale mining, I have a rich land, riverside, logic sounds good right, you make money and then finance large scale," and why they didn't know that small scale mining was just going to chop their money because the industry of excavators and heavy equipment was not profitable when gold was only $28,000 per kilo.

We get into the brutal financial reality of starting operations in Prestea, why they overpaid $20,000 per year to rent a four...