GTEC Exposes Swiss Management Centre, Declares DBA Certificates Worthless
Accra ,October 22,2025 - The Ghana Tertiary Education Commission (GTEC) has declared that all Doctor of Business Administration (DBA) certificates issued by the Swiss Management Centre (SMC) are not recognized for academic or professional purposes in Ghana.
This declaration follows an investigation into the legitimacy of DBA degrees awarded by SMC, which revealed discrepancies in institutional naming, inconsistencies in documentation, and academic irregularities in programme structure.
The Commission's Director-General, Prof. Ahmed Jinapor Abdulai, emphasized that the decision supersedes all previous communications on the matter, cautioning tertiary institutions and employers against accepting or relying on such qualifications for employment, admission, or promotion.
This move is part of GTEC's broader effort to protect the integrity of Ghana's higher education system, ensuring only qualifications from accredited institutions are accepted for academic or professional use.
Below is the full details from the GTEC notice:
NON-RECOGNITION OF DOCTOR OF BUSINESS ADMINISTRATION (DBA) FROM SWISS MANAGEMENT CENTRE (SMC) UNIVERSITY AND DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY (PHD) FROM UNIVERSIDAD CENTRAL DE NICARAGUA (UCN)
Further to our letter dated 20th October 2025, concerning the non-recognition of certain tertiary education institutions by the Ghana Tertiary Education Commission (GTEC), the Commission has received numerous enquiries regarding the recognition status of the following qualifications:
- Doctor of Business Administration (DBA) awarded by Swiss Management Centre (SMC)
University; and - Top-up Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) awarded by Universidad Central d e Nicaragua (UCN).
The Commission wishes to inform all Heads of Tertiary Institutions that it does not recognize the following qualifications:
- The Doctor of Business Administration (DBA) awarded by Swiss Management Centre (SMC) University; and
- The Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) jointly awarded by Universidad Central de Nicaragua (UCN) and Swiss Management Centre (SMC) University.
Accordingly, any such qualifications obtained from the above-mentioned institutions are not recognized by the Ghana Tertiary Education Commission for academic or professional purposes.
This notice supersedes all previous communications issued by the erstwhile National Accreditation Board (NAB) and the current GTEC on this matter.
Source - Lead News Online
