Scholarship / Maritime and Logistics Management; how will the proposed study contribute to your career [2]

The proposed study will have a tremendous impact in my career. The maritime and logistics industries are two broad industries that complement each other so far as international trade is concerned. Therefore studying masters in maritime and logistics management will broaden my knowledge and skill already acquired from my undergraduate study in port and shipping administration. It will give me more insight within these two industries.

I have a goal or ambition of becoming a port and shipping administrator; where I will qualify into any job vacancies within the maritime and logistics industries in Ghana. With my great expertise, I will be an enormous option for every employer which will serve as a competitive advantage over my other job seekers within the labour market. The study will ensure I will be extremely fortified which I will be able to delve into every aspect of our industry in Ghana as far as the maritime and logistics industry is concerned. This will be attained because the study will grant better pragmatic experience since the Australian industry is wide and well advanced as compared to Ghana.

Entrepreneurial vision by any individual stimulates the individual's potentials by ensuring that he or she has an appropriate career growth and development in wherever chosen field of endeavour - this is because it is characterised by great uncertainties, which I believe this study will grant me a better career growth and development to achieve that vision. I will be an entrepreneur by establishing a freight forwarding and logistics company as a way of supporting Ghana's economy through job creation. It will also grant me the financial muscle to establish a foundation to support those needy but brilliant students in my town whose after Senior high are unable to further their education to the higher level due to financial constraints. In addition, my employees will be inculcated with the advanced method and systems of shipping practices as done in Australia, to execute impeccable work for clients.

In Ghana, practitioners of other aspects of the law are in enormous abundance. Nonetheless, with admiralty law, only few practitioners are in that field - this has craved my keen interest in pursuing admiralty law to become a maritime lawyer to fight and advise people on maritime related cases; which I believe the study will unveil more technicalities of the industry to fortify my knowledge thereby making my dream attainable on a more easy note.

Scholarship / Freight forwarder - Why did you choose proposed course and institution - AAS [2]

Ghana's ports are confronted with perceived challenges. These challenges impede the activities of port users and government revenue generation: bribery and corruption is instigated by custom officers during inspections of cargoes in clearance procedures. They deliberately delay the inspection for the cargoes to overstay which is seized and auctioned at cheap prices. To avoid this frustration and lost of cargoes, the shipper or intermediary is compelled to pay bribe to speed up the clearing process; sometimes the officers assist shippers to engage in smuggling. They provide dubious avenues for shippers to escape the compulsory inspections by Food and Drugs Authority (FDA). Thees moneys rather go into individual pockets of the officers; inexperienced personnels by both the customs officers and the intermediaries( freight forwarders). Government recruits most personnels into Custom Excise and Preventive Service (CEPS) that have no or little maritime background whereas, the freight forwarding companies also recruit personnels with same situation on the basis of giving less remunerations. This results in unnecessary creation of errors during documentations and incurring unnecessary costs to shippers; theft cases are also rampant at the ports.Security protocols at the ports are ineffective, therefore peoples' cargoes are always stolen by intruders and sometimes the officers themselves.

With regard to these challenges and my ambition to become freight forwarder, I have chosen Maritime and Logistics Management because it entails practical field experience which will give me an explicit knowledge on how the advanced system in Australia is able to curb such menaces like the smuggling, theft, and bribery and corruption, which I will propose to my Ghanaian government to consider for implementation. I will ensure that people with maritime background or knowledge shall be employed in my future freight forwarding and logistics company that I will establish to either mitigate or eradicate those errors committed during documentation to ensure our clients get excellent work done all the time.

I have chosen to attend University of Tasmania maritime college which is the Australian Maritime College because it is known worldwide as one of the maritime schools that offers courses that are relevant to global demand and a centre for excellence.

Scholarship / National Service - how you contributed to solving a challenge and to implementing change or reform? [2]

How have you contributed to solving a challenge and to implementing change or reform? (be specific and include, what aspects of your leadership knowledge, skills and practice you consider to be well established and effect, which people or organization you worked with to solve the problems, and which creative methods were used.

In Ghana, it is mandatory for every individual who has completed his or her higher education at any level to once undergo a one year service to the nation as it is enshrined in our constitution. After the completion of my bachelor's degree in port and shipping administration in 2021, I was posted to Volta Lake Transport Company(VLTC) for my National Service. This company is an inland port that transports dry and liquid bulk cargoes from the south to the north of Ghana along the Lake Volta.

The company has five ferry stations which I was sent to one of them as a deck officer at a town called Kete-Krachi in the Oti region of Ghana. Unfortunately, that station was the least revenue generation and that had always been a matter of discussion by management, posing a lot of hurdles on the Station Officer and the Captain.

On my arrival, I realised the station does only trip in ordinary days and two trips on market days( Tuesday and Wednesday) within every week. Then I asked why? And I was told due to low traffic turn up on the ordinary days. I also spotted that on the second trips of every market days, luggages are not being charged. After working for one month, I made a proposal to both the Captain and the Station Officer that ''why can we not try the two trips on the ordinary days too and start charging the luggages on second trips of market days.'' The Captain agreed but the Station Officer did not; on the his argument that the two trips will increase cost by virtue of the fact that traffic turn up is low on ordinary days.

I persuaded him by telling him people always asked for that offer in town and that is why we should give it a try. With time, there was a consensus and I told them to make an announcement on the community radio and they did with our scheduled times given for daily trips. Now people from nearby towns who also utilise the ferry also head the news and started the two trips patronage. To our realisation, revenue began to increase and management was impressed and commended us.

Scholarship / Give up to three examples of how you intend to use the knowledge, skill and connections - AAS [2]

I desire to establish a Freight Forwarding and Logistics firm and acquiring a tailored insight in the usage of the Third-Party Logistics Dynamics( 3PL Dynamics) which contains the Warehouse Management System or Software( WMS) will put me in a tremendous advantage of giving my clients and customers a better shipment service. And this system will also be instilled into my employees to make them well equipped and acquainted with the software. Any probable impediment to the software or system usage is the fluctuation of internet service in my country.

Additionally, I will approach and liaise with my Alma Mata to allow me hold a pro bono seminars twice every semester to inculcate the usage and benefits of the software into the students. This will equip and grant the students a tailored insight of the software before completing. The red tape in the School Authority's decision making and implementation of ideas or policies will constraint this from transpiring because it will give rise to discouragement.

The interactions and friendships generation will be of incredible assistance to my future Philanthropy Foundation establishment. I will introduce this initiative to my acquaintance to acquire financial support to cater for the brilliant but impoverished students who are not able to further their education to the higher level. My inability to establish my future firm will be the great constraint to this initiative.