Walter Sisulu University (WSU) academic, Dr Paul Nkemngu Acha-Anyi, from the faculty of business sciences, is one of the institution’s academics with highly decorated academic profiles.
Acha-Anyi’s career as a lecturer began in 2004, after completing his master’s degree in the United Kingdom at the University of North London, now called the London Metropolitan University.
“My greatest inspiration is to motivate and guide young people to focus their energies towards becoming the best that God has created them to be. Young people are full of energy, creativity, and innovative ideas,” he said.
Acha-Anyi further added that the WSU curriculum provides the direction to channel the best of what the young people have towards personal and community building.
Thus, his students have often witnessed tears run down his cheeks when pleading and praying for them to focus on developing talent, body and spirit.
He authored and published three academic books through Van Schaik Publishers to introduce the African context into the university curriculum.
His first book, Tourism Planning and Development in Africa: Igniting Africa’s Tourism Economy, was published in 2018. The second, Fundamentals of Tourism, was published in 2020 and the third, Project Management for the Service Sector, was published in 2021.
“If I were to leave academia today, I would say these three books represent my footprint to let future generations know I was here,” added Acha-Anyi.
He has supervised one doctoral candidate to completion, two other doctoral candidates are preparing to submit for examination before the end of this year and two other doctoral candidates may finish next year.
“I have supervised about 60 master’s degree students to completion in several universities in South Africa.
“At the beginning, the universities I worked for did not give me supervision opportunities, so I approached other institutions and offered to assist with supervision if they needed hands to work.
“So, this is how I ended up working day and night to guide the students towards finishing their theses and dissertations,” he said.
Acha-Anyi has also supervised 90 honours degree students and has published 35 journal articles so far.
“I am happy to say that a few departments at WSU have already given me the opportunity to supervise their students.
“I am grateful for that. In two or three years we will see the fruits that God gives,” further added Acha-Anyi.
His work in the community could also be mentioned because the African Union Development Agency (AUDA-NEPAD) has registered him as their resource person.
This means that when they organise their conferences or prepare new documents for the heads of states of the African Union, he assists as required.
He has recently presented his paper titled “The role of academia towards the realisation of sustainable tourism development in Africa,” under the theme “Transforming Africa’s rural communities through skills development, job creation and youth economic empowerment. NEPAD Planning and Coordinating Agency.”
