In a thought-provoking speech on Saturday, June 7, 2025, Ghanaian business icon Sir Sam Jonah offered young people a blueprint for future success beyond academic achievements and traditional career paths.
The Chancellor of the University of Cape Coast (UCC), who delivered the commencement speech at the Academic City University, asserted that the often-underestimated power of relationships is, in fact, the most crucial asset for any aspiring leader and nation-builder.
“Let me now speak to something too often underestimated: the power of relationships,” Sir Sam began, challenging the conventional focus on individual accomplishment.
Sir Sam, the Executive Chairman of Jonah Capital, an equity fund based in Johannesburg, South Africa, urged the graduating class and all other young Ghanaians to be “intentional about making a good impression and building good relationships,” emphasising the importance of every interaction.
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“Take no fellowship nor meeting for granted,” he advised, pointing out that “You are sitting in a room full of possibility — not just because of your talents, but because of the people around you.”
To underscore his point, Sir Sam drew powerful examples from the global tech landscape, where some of the world’s most transformative companies were forged from unexpected collegiate and childhood bonds:
-Facebook (now Meta Platforms): “Mark Zuckerberg started Facebook with college friends at Harvard,” he reminded the audience. Today, Meta boasts a market capitalisation exceeding $1 trillion, a testament to the colossal potential of collaborative ventures.
-Microsoft: “Bill Gates and Paul Allen built Microsoft as childhood friends who shared a love for computing.” Microsoft’s current market value stands at over $3 trillion, illustrating the enduring impact of foundational friendships.
-Google (Alphabet): “Larry Page and Sergey Brin launched Google from a research project at Stanford.” Their parent company, Alphabet, commands a market cap of over $2 trillion, showcasing innovation born from academic collaboration.
-He also cited YouTube (founded by former PayPal employees) and Airbnb (conceived by former art school students) as further examples of ventures originating from peer-to-peer connections rather than formal corporate structures. These combined giants represent trillions of dollars in economic value and touch billions of lives globally.
The lesson, Sir Sam emphasised, is deceptively simple: “Never underestimate the people around you. Your classmate today can be your co-founder tomorrow. Your roommate can be your investor. Your study partners can offer you a seat at their boardroom table in the near future.”
He called upon Ghanaian youth to be “intentional about networking”, but crucially, to “Build real relationships — not just transactional ones.”
His advice included sharing ideas, collaborating, giving more than one takes, and striving to “be the kind of person others want to build with.”
In closing, Sir Sam powerfully reiterated his central message: “It’s not just what you know. It’s also who you grow with.”
He sealed his point by quoting writer and public speaker Porter Galle: “Your network is your net worth,” leaving the graduates with a profound understanding that the human connections they cultivate today will be as valuable, if not more, than any qualification they hold.
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