Accra, March 20, GNA – Leeds University Business School, UK, has partnered with Innohub in Ghana to design and launch a brand-new programme for entrepreneurship ecosystem actors and policy drivers across the African continent.
The Executive Programme in Entrepreneurial Ecosystem Leadership is aimed at providing insights around how to unlock true value through sponsoring entrepreneurship.
A news brief from the two Organisations said it would provide policy makers, enterprise support organisations and programme funders with the tools and frameworks to evaluate local entrepreneurial ecosystems they operated in, and identify ways in which it could be adapted for deeper meaningful impact.
It said the highly interactive programme would interrogate various models of entrepreneurship ecosystem development around the world, drawing on deep lessons towards creating sustainable pathways for ecosystem development.
The brief said at the launch, Tone Thomas Vaduthala, Director of Executive Programmes, said: “The Leeds University Business School has a strong record of supporting entrepreneurship in our local region. So we are excited about the opportunity to partner with Innohub to support organisations across Africa in this journey.”
It said the programme would consist of a five-day immersion at the University of Leeds in the UK, augmented with follow-on implementation support as needed.
“This programme also aim to create a cross-country ecosystem of entrepreneurship between the various entrepreneurship support organisations in Africa, providing opportunities to share best practices and learn from each other’s experiences.”
Nelson Amo, CEO of Innohub, said: “This programme could not have come at a better time for a continent that needs to radically create economic opportunities for its significantly large youth force.
“With a growing interest in entrepreneurship across the continent, African countries have both an opportunity and a challenge to design programme that will help transition necessity entrepreneurs into transformational businesses that create jobs and shared prosperity.
” Innohub is excited to partner with the Leeds Business School towards making this happen.”
The brief said the inaugural cohort of the programme would begin in August 2023 and asked prospective students to visit https://www.innohub.com.gh/leeds/ to know more about the programme and sign up.
It said entrepreneurship was the key to unlocking resilient growth across Africa, but only when driven by both socially productive and growth-oriented new businesses.
“It is an enabler for socio-economic growth and development in Africa, especially within the context of youth unemployment and increasing youth population for which the traditional, and indeed emerging, industrial sectors will not be able to produce sufficient jobs to meet demand, ” the brief added and urged actors in the sector to take advantage of the opportunity.
GNA