Presidential Pitch Season 2 Launched to Empower Youth

By Dorothy Brocke

The second phase of the Presidential Pitch Season 2 was yesterday launched in Accra with a call on young Ghanaian entrepreneurs with innovative business ideas to apply for funding.

In this regard, a portal with the link www.mobd.gov.gh was opened for applicants and would be active for two weeks until July 25, 2019.

The initiative is to support young entrepreneurs with brilliant business ideas who are unable to sustain themselves financially.

Addressing the journalists, the Minister of Business Development, Dr Ibrahim Mohammed Awal, said the Presidential Pitch, organised by his ministry, was a business idea competition module aimed at developing an entrepreneurship climate in Ghana.

He said the module was to enable young Ghanaian entrepreneurs come out with creative ideas that would help them develop their entrepreneurial skills.

Dr Awal noted that the President, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, decided that entrepreneurship was the way to curb youth unemployment in the country, adding that it was the main reason for creating the ministry.

He explained that it was the ministry's mandate to deepen entrepreneurship culture and impact it in young people.

The Business Development Minister stated that in the Presidential Pitch, there were four steps which would determine a winner, namely; an innovative application for entry (a unique business plan), a business plan with an impact on society, a scalable business and the business must have employment capabilities.

"We are here to announce that we want to build young people, build the ecosystem and make young people work to create jobs for themselves and Ghanaians," Dr Awal noted.

He urged young people below the age of 35 years, irrespective of their educational level but with a workable business plan to apply for the Presidential Pitch module competition for funding.

Dr Awal disclosed that Ghana had been chosen to host a business secretariat at the Continental Free Trade Area, adding that, this was an opportunity for entrepreneurs to tap into this market to grow their business and serve the global market.

"The only way Ghana could achieve this is by funding and training its entrepreneurs so that their products would not only be limited to local requirements but also to global standards," he concluded.

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