The winners of the Community Innovative Competition were revealed on Monday, 2nd August 2021, by the Design and Technology Institute (DTI) and the Mastercard Foundation.
The project is a business pitch and acceleration program aimed at identifying and scaling outstanding women and youth-led businesses with the potential to generate long-term employment for young Ghanaians.
The program recognizes students and businesses for their unique and creative solutions in important economic areas such as agriculture, water and sanitation, plastics recycling, e-waste, and other related industries.
Participants were engaged in in-depth sector study and community engagement as part of the program to co-design youth-led solutions to community-based issues.
These developing companies will serve as a conduit to uncover young entrepreneurs who will function as facilitators in addressing youth unemployment by generating an estimated 450 direct and indirect jobs through the DTI’s Community Innovation Hub.
Under the incubation center, a total of $22,000 has been distributed to the five entrepreneurs as seed money to develop their company concepts. A team of experts from academia and industry chose the winners based on their ideas’ originality, potential effect, practicability, and scalability.
- The overall winner, AB Group – Adjustable Barbecue received $7,000
- First runner-up, Mighty Men – Spraying Maching received $5,000
- Second runner-up, Haidelis Engineering – received $4,000
- The Most Promising Idea, Cadela Company – Mechanized Seed Planter received $3,000.
- Best Female Enterprise, Volkano Tech – Green Incinerator received $3,000.
As part of the competition, DTI will offer the winners with mentoring opportunities and business advice services for the next 24 months.
“DTI is a private TVET institution that believes in creativity and innovation. We are excited to introduce the Community Innovation Competition to help develop the entrepreneurial skills of Ghana’s youth as a solution to the high unemployment rate in Ghana,” said Constance Swaniker, CEO of DTI.
She went on to say, “We are in a period where continual innovation is critical for long-term growth and development.” As an institution, we believe in bringing out our students’ inventive and creative talents as a catalyst for creating employment and providing solutions to communities and industries.”
The competition
In all, seventeen (17) groups of young entrepreneurs competed in the competition, which began on May 13, 2021. Ten teams advanced to the semi-finals, which was contested on June 17th, 2021. The five most exceptional organizations emerged as winners, having the most creative concepts and the ability to grow and generate employment within local communities.
The competition is part of a three-year Young Africa Works collaboration between DTI and the Mastercard Foundation called “Transforming Youth TVET Livelihoods for Sustainable Jobs.” The initiative will provide 40,000 direct and indirect job opportunities for young people across the nation.
“Providing an ecosystem where young entrepreneurs are supported to acquire relevant skills, funding and market access will contribute significantly to catalysing work opportunities for young Ghananians,” said James McInytre, Ghana Lead for Education and Skills at the Mastercard Foundation.
The DTI Innovation Hub aims to create a portfolio of creative grassroots start-ups that will be incubated and supported with seed funding, business development services, market access, and a maker space or work shed to help potential ideas evolve from conception to sustainable companies.
Representatives from many sectors, including Ministries, Departments and Agencies, Financial Institutions, Legal Practitioners, Academia, Industry Experts, Students, and Young Entrepreneurs, attended the event to announce the competition’s winners.
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SOURCE: 3NEWS
