A student on Lancaster’s Executive MBA programme in Ghana has helped bring a vital healthcare centre to life by delivering solar-generated electricity, a solar-powered refrigerator for medicines and maternity beds – all after being inspired by her EMBA studies.

Faridah Ndahura, 42, who lives in Accra in Ghana, has recently led the ‘Impact Project’ to completion, delivering a host of lifesaving benefits to the Community-based Health and Planning Service compound in Kangba, Ghana.

Before this, the healthcare centre did not have access to electricity - despite being the primary healthcare provider to the local community.

Fardiah, who is currently in the final year of the EMBA programme, says the project was conceived from an assignment she was set as part of the Business Ethics and Sustainability module of the Executive MBA programme, delivered by Lancaster University Management School’s Dr Alison Stowell.

“I was required to submit a report on a project that would deliver impact and we were asked to select something that meant something to us or our organisations. I chose to look at the health centre and focused on rural electrification because it is my professional area of interest,” said Faridah, who is the CEO of Ashfar Ltd, a Ghanaian company that specialises in generating power from sustainable sources.

“However, we also found out that the community centre had no delivery beds for mothers that came to give birth and nowhere to store medical supplies safely, so the scope of the real-life project increased from the initial electrification I focused on in my studies to include the refrigerator, medical supplies and beds.”

Faridah assumed the role of ‘project lead’ and mobilised funding from companies to help the team achieve their ambitions.

“The result is the health centre is now the ‘go-to’ place for more than 125,000 people - but mothers and infants are the primary beneficiaries,” Faridah continues.

“As we all witnessed at the commissioning of the health centre recently, the project is certainly a lifesaving one. Community leaders are grateful for the lives that will be saved and families are grateful for the journeys they don’t have to undertake in search of a health centre with medical supplies.”

The health care centre in Kangba Ghana - before and after

Dr Alison Stowell from LUMS said: “I am thrilled at what Faridah has achieved. The fact that our impact project design is going to be used a model template for future projects at her organisation means the impact may well continue for years to come.”

Faridah enrolled on Lancaster’s EMBA as she says its design helps her to achieve a good ‘life-work-school balance'.

“I looked around and the Lancaster EMBA was the best in Ghana and its global ranking was an important factor too. It’s convenient location also afforded me a life-work-school balance.

“My journey on the EMBA has been interesting so far. I’ve had a lot of ‘firsts’ – all of them life-impacting.”

Emma Watton is the Programme Director for Lancaster’s EMBA delivered in Lancaster, Ghana and Malaysia. She said: “Our Lancaster EMBA is designed for business people just like Faridah and her journey has been both inspiring and humbling. Our EMBA is based upon our core themes which are all designed to challenge and transform leadership and personal management styles to give students added energy, renewed enthusiasm, confidence and skills to take their careers to the next step.

“Faridah is the epitome of this, and her energy, drive and commitment are admirable. Delivering electricity to support the healthcare system in an affordable manner to the people Kangba in Wa, West region of Ghana will have a lasting legacy and a blueprint to support other communities.”

The sense of satisfaction from completing the project has had a lasting effect on Faridah and has left both her and her company hungry for more:

“I feel a renewed sense of assurance that a small contribution towards humanity can go a long way. To see the completion of the project has energised our efforts to do more, not only for the less privileged, but also for the environment through renewable energy advocacy and deployment,” she adds.

Lancaster University Management School’s Executive MBA is a two-year programme tailored to the demands of working professionals, focusing on capability, capacity and knowledge for career progression. Taught by specialists from the world-class faculty, LUMS’ programme is taught with a blend of online learning using your workplace as the context and face-to-face workshops.

Applications are open for the next intake of the Lancaster Executive MBA taking place in both the UK and Ghana, starting in September 2023. To find out more, or to apply, visit: https://www.lancaster.ac.uk/lums/postgraduate/mba/executive-mba/ or MBA - Lancaster University Ghana.