Professor Eric Yirenkyi Danquah, Director (WACCI)
The Kofi Annan Enterprise Hub for Agriculture Innovation (KAEHAI) at the West Africa Centre for Crop Improvement, in collaboration with the Erasmus Centre for Entrepreneurship (ECE) from Rotterdam, the Netherlands, has organised a five-day Entrepreneurship Training Programme for participants drawn from four units of the University.
Inaugurated in 2019, the aim of the KAEHAI is to advance youth development, entrepreneurship and agricultural innovation by engaging development partners in productive agricultural policy dialogues and offering training programmes for new and existing entrepreneurs.
At the opening ceremony, Professor Eric Yirenkyi Danquah, Director, West Africa Centre for Crop Improvement (WACCI), in his welcome address, disclosed that WACCI, in partnership with Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), organised an entrepreneurship programme in 2019 which succeeded in training twenty-six (26) youth in agro-entrepreneurship, agribusiness and ICT.
He was hopeful that the 2021 annual entrepreneurial programme would succeed in encouraging the youth to venture into agribusiness. The programme was developed by WACCI together with 15 lecturers from different units of the University who participated in an online ‘Train the Trainer’ programme, facilitated by the Erasmus Centre for Entrepreneurship and Dutch Centers for Entrepreneurship last year. “We hope that in the next five days, you will be equipped with the knowledge and skills that will guide you turn your ideas into innovations,” Prof. Danquah said assuredly to the participants.
Prof. Danquah stated unequivocally that he believes the youth hold the key to unlocking the potential of the agricultural sector and that engaging them is the best way to move agricultural innovations forward.
He noted that in the coming years, the Centre will integrate the innovative Entrepreneurship Training Programme into its Masters and PhD curricula in order to equip students with the knowledge and skills that they need to establish world-changing agribusinesses. Supported by the Erasmus Centre for Entrepreneurship, as part of the Orange Knowledge Programme, WACCI has made great efforts towards this goal already.
Prof. Yirenkyi Danquah ended his address by welcoming Annique de Greef, Director of Education and Jip Dresia, Programme Manager for Education, both of the Erasmus Centre for Entrepreneurship, who co-facilitated the training sessions.
In brief remarks, Ms. de Greef expressed her delight at the entrepreneurship curriculum as co-created with the professors and was being piloted during the week. She noted that the enthusiasm of all involved to realise the programme will positively impact the entrepreneurial journey of students for years to come.
Ms. de Greef
Dr. John S.Y. Eleblu, Co-ordinator of Research Programmes, Francophone Africa, WACCI, provided an overview of the programme and the sessions that the participants would be taken through by 13 faculty members from the Department of Agricultural Economics and Agribusiness, Department of Crop Science and the University of Ghana Business School (UGBS).
Mrs. Jereme Keren Agyemang, the Programme Manager of KAEHAI, noted that the Entrepreneurship Training Programme would provide the students with concrete opportunities to connect with the local innovation ecosystem and continue developing their agri-businesses.
Mrs. Jereme Keren Agyemang
Prof. Boateng Onwona-Agyeman, Provost, College of Basic and Applied Sciences (CBAS), who officially opened the training programme, expressed his enthusiasm on the intention of the Centre to integrate the programme into its curricula. He highlighted advantages that come with partnerships, specifically industry-academic partnerships, and urged the Centre to seek more industry partnerships. He acknowledged the efforts of Erasmus Centre for Entrepreneurship and Dutch Centres for Entrepreneurship in supporting the training programme. Prof. Onwona-Agyeman ended by emphasising the need to document and protect intellectual property, encouraging all participants to document all innovative ideas that would be developed during the programme.
Prof. Boateng Onwona-Agyeman, Provost (CBAS)
Participants were taken through 12 sessions during the first three days of the training programme and worked on their projects with designated mentors on the fourth day.
The five-day programme wrapped up with a Pitch Day competition, during which nine teams of participants pitched innovative ideas before a jury panel comprising academics from the University of Ghana and representatives from entrepreneurial support organizations active in Accra.
Mr. Stephen Gyasi-Kwaw, Country Founder and Managing Director of Global Entrepreneurship Network-Ghana, and a member of the panel of judges announced the first, second and third prize winners. Catfish on Wheels Company, established by participants, Mr. Cyril Jnr. Boe and Ms. Adelaide Nana Pomaah, came first, winning a prize package consisting of a three-month workspace and coaching by Kofi Annan Enterprise Hub at WACCI, three Coaching meetings with Erasmus Centre for Entrepreneurship, Netherlands, three Coaching meetings with Global Entrepreneurship Network-Ghana, and a cash award. The second-place award went to EJA Agri–Business Company, established by Emmanuel Kotey Amon, Elkanah Yaw Acheampong, and Jemilah Ahmed Wuni. They won a prize package comprising a two-month workspace and coaching by Kofi Annan Enterprise Hub at WACCI, two Coaching meetings with Erasmus Centre for Entrepreneurship, Netherlands, two Coaching meetings with Global Entrepreneurship Network-Ghana, and a cash award. So Dry Company, established by David Ntuu, Stephan Adjei, and Daniella Somuah, won the third-place award and a prize package of comprising one month’s workspace and coaching by Kofi Annan Enterprise Hub at WACCI, one coaching meeting with Erasmus Centre for Entrepreneurship, Netherlands, one coaching meeting with Global Entrepreneurship Network-Ghana and a cash award.
Mr. Gyasi-Kwaw also pledged to provide copies of an entrepreneurship book titled “Kuenyehia on Entrepreneurship: A Textbook on Ghanaian Entrepreneurship with Real Life Success Stories”, authored by Elikem Nutifafa Kuenyehia, to each of the winning teams. All participants received certificates of participation, which were handed out by Dr. Naalamle Amissah, Head of Department of Crop Science.
Delivering the closing remarks on behalf of Prof. Yirenkyi Danquah, Mrs. Agyemang congratulated the winning teams and challenged all the participants to continue working on their innovative ideas in order to spark agricultural transformation in the subregion. She ended her remarks by thanking the panel of judges, faculty from the various departments and the visiting team from the Erasmus Centre for Entrepreneurship for their collaborative efforts in making the training programme a success. She noted that WACCI is looking forward to future collaborations that will take the Entrepreneurship Training Programme to higher heights.
In total, the training programme involved 30 students selected from the following units: Agricultural Economics and Agribusiness, Department of Crop Science, UGBS and WACCI, University of Ghana.
