Accra, Oct 05, GNA – Five women business entrepreneurs have graduated from the Standard Chartered (SC) Women in Technology and Ghana Climate Innovation Center (GCIC) incubator programme in Accra.
As in the first edition, the 20 young businesswomen in Cohort 2, after being shortlisted from an endless application, completed a rigorous ten-week executive boot camp during which they also interacted with business development coaches and executives from Standard Chartered.
At the end of the training period, five winners with the most compelling ideas were chosen, with each winner receiving a $10,000 seed capital to scale up and enhance their business operations.
The winners who emerged from the beauty, tourism, agriculture, and poultry sectors were Ms Anaporka Adazabra of Farmio Limited; Ms Bless Ama Satsi of Happy Eagle Tourism Management; Ms Hannah Aidoo of H. A Farms; Mrs Selasi Dzikunu of The Delse Shop and Ms Tracy Rashida Alhassan Bawa of Bood, respectively.
In her address, Ms Regina Honu, Founder of Soronko Academy, advised the graduates to stay consistent, strategise, be confident, and give it all for the growth of their business and selves to build a brand that would tell their stories.
She also urged the women to bring other women along to help bridge the equality gap to change the narrative.
Ms Rukayatu Sanusi, Executive Director, GCIC giving the project overview said the SC Women in Technology Incubator programme, launched in November 2020 with GCIC of Ashesi University was specifically designed to support women-owned businesses who want or were using technology to grow their business but lacked the requisite support.
She said in Cohort 2, 20 start-ups underwent entrepreneurship skills training with five out of the 20 progressing to a ten-week portfolio management programme.
“The programme runs across the Middle East of Africa in building the capacities of entrepreneurs by providing financial grounds to address the deficit in the lack of opportunities for women,” she said.
Ms Sanusi called for the need for more such incubator programmes to uniquely give economic solutions, build confidence gaps and address socio-cultural barriers confronting women entrepreneurs globally.
Ms Angela Okai, Company Secretary, SC Bank Ghana, urged the graduates to develop good ethics that would enhance their integrity to retain customers and gain employee loyalty.
“Above all, collaborate with your colleagues and be passionate about your businesses,” she advised.
The day celebrated the work efforts and amazing journey of emerging women entrepreneurs.
Certificates were presented to the winners.
So far, 35 participants have participated in the programme, with ten start-ups that have received grants.
According to organisers, Cohort 3 will be launched next month.
GNA