Climate Launchpad, a global green business ideas competition, has opened applications for the 2020 edition in Ghana.
Expected to be run in Ghana and 55 other countries it gives the opportunity to aspiring entrepreneurs to share business ideas and solutions to climate change and develop the ideas through the competition.
Ghana’s competition is being organised and executed by Ashesi University’s Ghana Climate Innovation Centre (GCIC).
To compete, an applicant should have an innovation in renewable energy, energy efficiency, food and agriculture, water, transportation and industrial technology.
Shortlisted applicants then embark on a rigorous training journey which includes an intensive two-day boot camp and six coaching sessions.
The module and structure of the boot camp and coaching session were designed not only to ensure ideas were fine-tuned for the national finals but also serve as a ground for equipping the entrepreneur with basic knowledge for growing their business.
The best two ideas in the Ghana national finals would compete in the Africa regional competition and then the global finals. At the global finals, the top 16 ideas would be admitted to the Climate-KIC’s Accelerator, a programme focused at cleantech commercialisation.
Last year, the Climate Launchpad competition in Ghana received over 50 applications into the competition, with 15 business ideas eventually selected to partake in the bootcamp and coaching sessions.
Sabon Sake, who won the Ghana finals also made it to the top 15 in the global finals held in Amsterdam in November 2019.
Speaking on the opening of applications in Ghana for Climate Launchpad 2020, the Nation Lead for the competition in Ghana and GCIC’s Marketing and Communications Director, Ahuma Cabutey Adodoadji, said “the need to find innovative ideas and solutions to the global challenge of climate change is more pressing than ever before”.
“We take the threat of climate change lightly at our own risk. Our weather patterns have changed and continue to change. The harmattan season has changed, rainfall patterns have changed, and this is an indication that climate change effects will impact strongly on livelihoods, food security, socio-economic lives and infrastructure,” he added.
“So, we can only be thankful to an organisation like the Ghana Climate Innovation Centre and Climate Launchpad competition which are at the fore-front of encouraging the development of solutions that aid in the adaptation and mitigation of climate change,” he stressed.
ClimateLaunchpad is the global green business ideas competition with the mission of addressing the negative impacts of climate change by ways of innovation, invention and entrepreneurship.
BY MICHAEL D. ABAYATEYE
