Ghana’s Small and Medium Enterprise (SME) sector received a boost following the launch of the Innohub Accelerator Programme aimed at equipping early stage start-ups with the requisite business support and seed capital.
The six-month programme is expected to take participants through various training courses, including business planning, financial planning, among others to get them ready for investments.
Launching the programme, Dr Joyce Aryee, Advisory Board Chair of Innohub, said although there are good companies in the past, it is time to build giant businesses and brands that could compete on the global level and help reduce the volume of imports.
“I am eager to see how our Ghanaian brands can be the driving force behind the ‘Africa Rising’ narrative” she said.
She explained that the move would require deliberate efforts as strong brands “don’t just happen”.
Dr Aryee said there is the need to create system to support the growth of budding SMEs and most importantly “put our money where our mouth is’, thus the relevance of Innohub’s Accelerator Programme, is bringing the kind of training and exposure that build them into giants.
She said the six-month programme would be an intensive learning exposure that requires discipline and endurance on the part of the cohorts, to build the foundation for highly scalable businesses by the end of the period.
Drawing on Malcolm Gladwell’s book, titled: “David and Goliath”, Dr Aryee admonished the cohort on the importance of adopting the right strategies, as it would make a huge difference in their battles.
She said there are advantages in disadvantages as well as disadvantages in advantages, and urged them to adopt unconventional ways of turning their challenges into advantages and developing their businesses instead of sticking to the status quo.
She also urged to be mindful of speed and timing in their business and the need to acquire knowledge on strategies and tactics by reading relevant books.
Mr Nelson Amo, Co-Founder and Chief Executive Officer of Innohub said the company aspired to change the paradigm from building good businesses to one of building great businesses and asked the cohorts to resist the lure of becoming good businesses, when greatness is beckoning.
“Good is the enemy of great and the next six months will show the cohort how to move from goodness to greatness” he stated.
As part of the Accelerator, each company would receive 10, 000 dollars seed funding in exchange for 15 percent equity in the businesses.
Mr Ebenezer Arthur, Co-Founder and Chief Operating Officer of Innohub said talent alone is not enough thus the need for the right support systems.
The programme, he noted, would involve a first cohort of 10 early stage start-ups with growth and impact potential and which are sustainable, scalable and investment ready.
The programme would commence in July and end in December with a demonstration day.
The companies in the first cohort are Arukah Vittles, BUILT, Chale Clothing, Dext, Mealex and Mailex, Satis Foods, TinyDavid, Trackist, Vivo Foods and Nsoroma Investments.
Hamdiya Ismaila, General manager of Venture Capital Trust, speaking on Accelerating SMEs in Ghana, said although the challenge of lack of funds for SMEs is real, most of such companies are not investor-ready since they lack the capacity to be able to use the kind of money that investors are ready to invest.
She said accelerator programmes help companies to put in place the right structures to meet investor requirements and build profitable businesses.
By: Radio Univers/105.7MHz
Make The Teaching Of Mathematics Lively
GJA Condemns Threats Against The Judiciary
You Might Also Like
Leave a Comment
Radio Univers 105.7MHz
Systematic Failure led to Dismissal of UNICOF General Secretary
World Trade Centre marks Ghana Business Day
Don’t Strike; Government Is Addressing Your Concerns- Haruna Tells CLOGSAG & Unpaid Teachers
Was This Post Helpful: PREVIOUS POSTNEXT POST – on July 30, 2016– on July 27, 2016– on July 20, 2016
