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02 July 2019 | Story Valentino Ndaba | Photo Charl Devenish
Dr Ufok Samson-Akpan
A family built on education and entrepreneurship: From left; Dr Ufok Samson-Akpan, Dr Ekaete Benedict, Aniebo Hagan, and Mmedaara Samson-Akpan.
Graduating from the University of the Free State (UFS) is a family affair for the Samson-Akpans. Over a period of 16 years the family have garnered a total of nine qualifications from the UFS. The mother and her five children have among them an undergraduate degree, two honours degrees, two master’s degrees, and two postgraduate diplomas. During the June graduations, they added another master’s degree and a PhD degree to their haul. 

Dr Ufok Samson-Akpan, a specialist family physician and the coordinator of the Nelson Mandela Fidel Castro Student Training Programme, was the first to register at the UFS. She graduated with an MBA degree in Management and Health Care Management   the same day as her first daughter Ekaete Benedict who graduated with a BCom Hons degree in Business Management in 2003. Sixteen years later, on 28 June 2019, the family celebrated another double graduation. Benedict obtained her PhD in Business Management alongside her sister Aniebo Hagan who graduated with her Master’s in Disaster Management.

Empowerment through education

Benedict is walking in her father’s footsteps as a lecturer at the Department of Business Management. “We hail from an academically inclined family. Our late father was a lecturer in English and Theatre Arts. Our house was always filled with books and we were encouraged to read, to be creative and inquisitive about our surroundings,” Benedict explains.

Her belief in education and women empowerment led her to establish a NPO called Cherished Rubies. “It focuses on projects and activities related to the empowerment, development, training and health of the girl child and women in the province,” she elaborates. 

Merging education and entrepreneurship

Her PhD thesis titled: The Influence of Environmental and Individual Factors on the Growth Intentions of SMMEs in the Free State investigates internal and external forces that could facilitate or hinder entrepreneurs’ intentions to grow their businesses. “The results and recommendations should benefit current entrepreneurs, policymakers, educational institutions and relevant government agencies seeking to decrease the failure rate of Small Medium and Micro Enterprises (SMMEs) in the province,” she said.
 
Benedict is also the CEO and co-founder of Mdy Designs (Pty) Ltd, which she operates with another sister, Mmedaara Samson-Akpan who graduated from the UFS with a B.Sc in Information Technology and Management in 2015. Mdy Designs is an award-winning business in Bloemfontein which focuses on clothing and accessories inspired by indigenous African designs and materials.

Descending from a lineage of women who used education to empower themselves, Benedict is a true inspiration for women in education and entrepreneurship and takes the baton to empower future generations. 

News Archive

Launch of the Africa office of the IIDE
2006-05-25

Attending the launch of the Africa office of the IIDE were from the left Prof Sytse Strijbos (Chairperson of IIDE Europe), Rev Kiepie Jaftha (Chairperson of the IIDE in Africa’s Board of Directors and Chief Director: Community Service at the UFS) and Prof Frederick Fourie (Rector and Vice-Chancellor of the UFS).

 

Attending the launch were from the left Prof Lucius Botes (Director: Centre of Development Support at the UFS), Dr Samuel Kareithi (Head: Community Development at the Cornerstone Christian College, Cape Town), Rev Kiepie Jaftha (Chairperson of the IIDE in Africa’s Board of Directors and Chief Director: Community Service at the UFS), Prof Sytse Strijbos (Chairperson of IIDE Europe) and Dr Ezekiel Moraka (Vice-Rector:  Student Affairs at the UFS).

Africa office of IIDE launched on UFS main campus 

The Africa office of the International Institute for Development and Ethics (IIDE) was today (26 May 2006) launched on the Main Campus of the University of the Free State (UFS) in Bloemfontein.

“The IIDE specialises in the studying and research of general questions of developmental theory and practices and provides services and support in education, strategic planning, policy formulation, advocacy and capacity building of development agencies,” said Rev Kiepie Jaftha, Chairperson of the IIDE in Africa’s Board of Directors and Chief Director: Community Service at the UFS.

According to Rev Jaftha the IIDE in Africa will focus on the conceptual and normative aspects of developmental processes in Sub-Saharan Africa.  “We want to foster local and international partnerships with various relevant role-players in civil society, the private sector and public sector in the SACD region and later expand our operations to the rest of Africa,” said Rev Jaftha.

The IIDE in Africa cooperates with a similar foundation in Europe, functioning as the IIDE Europe.  This institute was founded in 2003 and its head office is situated in the Netherlands.  The UFS is a funder of the IIDE in Africa together with the Paul Foundation and private sponsors from the Netherlands.

“We have already started with various projects which are in various stages of implementation,” said Rev Jaftha.  Some of these projects include, among others, the broadening of the master’s degree in Christian Studies of Science and Society (MACSSS) which is currently housed at the Vrije Universiteit in Amsterdam to tertiary institutions in South Africa such as the UFS, the University of Stellenbosch and the Potchefstroom Campus of the Northwest University.

“Another project is an investigation into the possibility of initiating a broad development initiative in the poverty stricken Qwaqwa area.  This initiative will attempt to concentrate on issues like the training and empowerment of prospective entrepreneurs in the region, the identification of prospective entrepreneurs for the rendering of development support and the monitoring of the impact of information and communication technology on local communities during the implementation of sustainable development initiatives,” said Rev Jaftha.

“The establishment of the Africa office of the IIDE on the UFS Main Campus is an indication of one of the aims of the UFS to play a role in South Africa and Africa.  It also signifies our aim to contribute meaningfully to research and development and to establish links between the academe and practice,” said Rev Jaftha. 

 

Media release
Issued by: Lacea Loader
Media Representative
Tel:   (051) 401-2584
Cell:  083 645 2454
E-mail:  loaderl.stg@mail.uovs.ac.za
26 May 2006

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