Mentorship Sessions Ep. 9: Courage Kadjaku Urges Young People to Develop Problem-solving Skills for their Future Careers

The ninth episode of the 2025 Mentorship Sessions, held at St Mary’s Senior High School, focused on the theme “Tech in Our Hands: Making the Most of Digital Tools, Including AI.” The session featured Courage Doe Kadjaku, a Technology Optimisation Officer for JP and TJ Foods, who streamlines operations, enhance productivity, and drive cost savings by leveraging technology as a strategic accelerator.

His passion for ICT began during his senior high school years, where it quickly became the only subject in which he consistently excelled. Although he had discovered his path early, he initially faced the difficulty of choosing a specific area of specialisation within the wide-ranging field of ICT.

“IT is a broad field, and I didn’t know what I wanted to do in IT until I experimented with the various pathways and finally found my niche.” He stated.

His dedication to the IT profession inspired him to pursue Computer Science at the tertiary level. He also recognised that today’s technological landscape is shaped by what he describes as the “Three Cs”: accelerating change, overwhelming complexities, and tremendous competition.

He interpreted these pillars as; Accelerating Change is primarily highlighted by the fast-paced growth of Artificial Intelligence, Overwhelming Complexities refer to the intricate nature and rapid emergence of these technological shifts and Tremendous Competition reflects the intense global drive and desire for everyone to develop or introduce something novel in the world of technology.

He highlighted the importance of making use of the opportunities to learn digital skills and apply them to solve problems within our society.

“These are opportunities for us to solve fundamental human challenges facing our society in Ghana”. He noted.

Expanding on his discussion, he outlined various career paths within the technology space and identified key skills essential for thriving in the modern era. He emphasised that mastering these core skills will ensure a learner’s relevance and value, irrespective of their chosen specialisation. Among them, he underscored problem-solving as a fundamental competency required to excel in any field.

“To be able to solve challenges, difficulties and pain points, you must first understand how to solve problems. If you are able to develop this skill, the world will hear of you.” He added.

He also highlighted a notable personal achievement from his workplace: the development of a seamless, fully automated recruitment system. This innovative platform eliminates the need for in-person interactions, managing the entire process, from aptitude testing and interviews to final selection, entirely online.

He further reminded them of the fierce competition prevalent in the digital space and stressed the critical need for them to be adequately equipped to meet this challenge.

“The world is moving at a faster rate and for you to be able to compete with someone from Japan, Germany China and Texas, you have to accelerate your learning, and the amount of information you can consume and marinate on, and  the skills you can develop out of that.”

“We are moving into an era where computational devices are going to dominate and if you are not equipping yourselves with the skills necessary, we will all fall behind”. He advised.

He concluded by encouraging them to set goals for themselves and work hard towards them.

The 2025 edition of the STEM Festival is produced by Primetime Limited and proudly sponsored by Trustur AI, Jupay, GTP and YFM.