The President, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, has called for the fusion of technology, entrepreneurship and business as a measure to promote job creation in the country.
According to him entrepreneurship was a vital component of economic growth and development which had been embraced globally as an important driver of economic transformation.
“I believe firmly that the fastest way to deal with the challenges confronting our economy and the unacceptable rate of unemployment is the fusion of technology, entrepreneurship and business,” he said.
President Akufo-Addo made the call at the fourth season of the Presidential Pitch held in Accra on Friday.
This year’s event was on the theme: “Building a sustainable entrepreneurial nation; the role of our future Unicorns”.
Jennifer Kwakwa Sarpong, Bidigreen Ghana Limited, Ike Agyei Mensah, Deafcantalk, Bismark Etornam Mensah, Fetuli, Aphraim Bukari Adombila, Hatiah Organics Africa, Kwabena Tuffour and Prosect Feed Limited were part of the 10 finalists.
The rest were Adriana Appiagyei Nsiah Nimo, Reecoplast, Kwaku Ansu Aforo, Recco Solutions, Daniel Amaza Philips, Scibble Works, Georgina Odom, Useful Waste Limited and Caleb Edem Martey, Relu Interactions.
President Akufo-Addo said recognising youth entrepreneurship was the appropriate tool to addressing youth unemployment challenges of our time.
He said 702 direct jobs and thousands of indirect jobs had been created by the past winners of season one, two and three with majority being created in rural areas.
“I want to single out the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Pizzaman Chicken, Christian Boakye Yiadom, the tenth place winner from season two for his success thus far,” he stressed.
President Akufo-Addo explained that the National Entrepreneurship Programme in 2017 was established with a seed fund of $10million and the NEIP as a special purpose vehicle continued to champion the agenda of job creation, innovation and business development in the country’s entrepreneurial ecosystem.
On his part, the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) for the National Entrepreneurship and Innovation Programme (NEIP), Mr Kofi Owusu Nkansah, said through the Presidential Pitch they were highlighting a future of possibilities with the concept of ‘Unicorn Entrepreneurs’.
“We are envisioning a future, preferably within a decade, where successful businesses from this Presidential Pitch could be worth over a billion Ghana cedis, if we are to localise the term unicorn,” he stated.
“Already, we are seeing emergent stars from this Presidential Pitch events shining brightly. We are proud to point out that Pizzaman-Chickenman is our graduate from the 2018 Pitch Event. Today, the owner, the 27-year-old Christian Boakye Yiadom, runs the largest chain of restaurants in Ghana, with about 33 outlets and is competing well with global brands such as KFC, Burger King and others,” he added.
“We have trained 24,000 youth in our Youth in Innovative Agriculture Support Project under the GhanaCARES ‘Obaatanpa’ Programme. We have disbursed grants to 1000 beneficiaries so far. In addition, we are onboarding young farmers under the Economic Enclave Project of the Ghana CARES Programme,”he added.
This year’s Presidential Pitch he said attracted applications from various sectors including Fintech and Technology, Manufacturing and Processing, Food and Beverage, Agribusiness and Tourism and Creative Sector.
Government earmarked GH¢2. 5million for this year’s pitch and the overall winner would receive GH¢150,000 as prize money from the previous GH¢100,000.
In addition, the President offered the overall winner a personal money of GH¢50,000, an increase from the GH¢25,000 of the previous year’s.
BY CLIFF EKUFUL & MICHAEL ABAYATEYE
