NÜRTINGEN(hfwu). The German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD) award at the Nürtingen-Geislingen University of Applied Sciences (HfWU) this year goes to Richard Owusu. Born in Ghana, he receives the award for his social commitment and his commitment to sustainable business.

What are the market opportunities for an organic fish farm in Ghana? This is the question Richard Owusu dealt with in his bachelor thesis at the HfWU. It revolves around one of the young entrepreneur's basic interests: How can economy and sustainability be combined in concrete terms? With excellent grades at HfWU, Owusu has acquired the academic tools to answer this question. The 25-year-old's practical experience is in no way inferior. He has founded two companies in Ghana and one in Filderstadt. The ecological aspect is always an essential pillar of his business ventures.

Owusu came to Germany as a teenager. "I always understood it as my second big chance in life," he says today, "as a great incentive to always try to achieve the best and not to stand still." His career path is impressive proof of that. After only a short time, he was linguistically fit for secondary school Hauptschule. This was followed by Realschule, high school and finally university, including semesters abroad in Brussels and Groningen.

At HfWU in Nürtingen, Owusu has also acted as a tutor for other students and is currently supporting the International Finance Management degree program in its search for partners in Ghana. "Beyond his professional knowledge and academic interest," said his academic teacher, Professor Dr. Frank Andreas Schittenhelm, "Owusu also earned the award with his always helpful interaction with fellow students and with his social skills."

The "DAAD Prize for Outstanding Achievements by Foreign Students at German Universities" is endowed with 1000 euros per university. The award of the Deutscher Akademischer Aus-tauschdienst e. V. (German Academic Exchange Service), a joint institution of German universities, is intended to help put faces to foreign students at German universities. According to the DAAD, this makes it clear that every single foreign student takes a piece of Germany back home with them and leaves something of themselves in Germany. In Owusu's case, that's not quite the case. In his case, there are two home countries, Ghana and Germany. And it looks like both will continue to benefit for a long time to come from the DAAD award winner's multifaceted commitment .