By Alberta Asanewa Dwirah and Angela Adu-Asomaning
A joint Ghana–Germany initiative is strengthening biomedical engineering training in the country by equipping students at the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology and the University of Ghana with modern laboratory facilities and industry-relevant skills.
The intervention, aimed at closing the gap between education, research, and industry, is being delivered under the Upskilling Biomedical Engineers for Ghana project. It is a development partnership with the private sector involving medical technology and diagnostic firms B. Braun, Delft Imaging, Dräger, Sysmex Europe, and the adaptive learning platform Area9 Lyceum.
The project is implemented by the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) on behalf of the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ) and funded through the develoPPP programme.
Two retrofitted bioinstrumentation laboratories now replicate real clinical environments, allowing students to gain hands-on skills in medical equipment installation, maintenance, diagnostics, therapeutics, and innovation. The move marks a shift from theory-based training to practice-oriented learning aligned with Ghana’s evolving healthcare needs.
The initiative is also driving curriculum reforms at both universities, with greater emphasis on applied learning, problem-solving, and exposure to industry-standard technologies.
Stakeholders say the programme will help produce job-ready graduates, improve the use of medical and diagnostic equipment in health facilities, enhance patient care, and create employment opportunities in biomedical services, medical device distribution, and local manufacturing.
Speaking on behalf of the partner companies, Prof. Dr. Torsten Wagner said access to graduates who already understand industry equipment and standards would be a “game-changer,” adding that the new laboratories would shorten onboarding time, boost productivity, and support the growth of Ghana’s local medical industry.
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