On Thursday the 19th of December, 2024, during a presentation ceremony at the Jubilee House, President Akufo-Addo awarded Ensign Global College, the Presidential Charter, officially designating the institution as a university. This transformative milestone adds to the existing achievements of Ensign Global College (now university) since its establishment in 2014. The Presidential Charter allows Ensign Global University the autonomy to award its degrees, diplomas, and certificates, which brings to a successful end the college’s long affiliation with Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology.

Receiving the Presidential Charter, the President of Ensign Global University, Prof. Stephen C. Alder expressed gratitude to President Akufo-Addo and reiterated the university’s vision to be a world-class academic institution, built upon a foundation of excellence in public health and service, that promotes prosperity and growth across Africa.

“The awarding of a Presidential Charter to Ensign Global College ushers in a new era of growth and impact for our beloved institution. We aim to use this newly acquired status as an independent private institution of higher education to extend our impact solving the great challenges facing Ghana, Africa and the world. We are now poised to extend our reach by expanding our work in public health while we introduce new programmatic areas to respond to the needs essential to achieving prosperity. We will do this through graduates who are highly competent and innovative leaders, research and knowledge curation that leads to groundbreaking solutions, and engaged service with people, communities, and institutions around the world.”

As part of initiatives for 2025, Ensign Global University will launch new health and safety programmes to address emerging threats, particularly those caused by environmental degradation. Additionally, Ensign Global University is committed to tackling human trafficking as a public health issue. It will also facilitate the Master of Business Creation programme, run by the University of Utah David Eccles School of Business in the United States.

A Brief History of Ensign Global

Founded in 2014 as Ensign Global College, Ensign Global University is a private, not-for-profit, non-sectarian tertiary institution at Kpong in the Eastern Region of Ghana. It is renowned for training global leaders in public health with innovative academic programmes that address rapidly evolving health challenges in Ghana. Ensign Global University runs the Master of Public Health (MPH) program accredited by the Ghana Tertiary Education Commission (GTEC). Ensign Global University’s MPH Program is also accredited by the US-based and globally recognized Council on Education for Public Health (CEPH).

The University was established by Dr. Lynette and Bob Gay out of their desire and passion to transform public health education in West Africa. For the past 10 years, Ensign Global University has worked towards transforming public health education in Ghana through its public health professional training and initiatives such as the Health2Go project, Centre for Global Surgery, and Centre for Medical Innovation. It also recently inaugurated its newly completed Centre for Leadership, Innovation, and Prosperity (CLIP).