CSIF-Ghana presents 10,000 dollar cash award to 10 student start-ups in Northern Ghana
28th July 2021
The Civil Society and Institutional Foundation (CSIF) - Ghana with funding from the US Embassy, Accra, Ghana under the Bridge Building Project (BBP) has awarded 10 student businesses/ideas after excelling in a pitch competition.
An amount of 10,000 Dollars was shared among all best ten students, who took part in two rounds of pitching (presented and defended) their business ideas before an expert panel of judges.
Five females and eleven males formed the sixteen finalists whose performances on the stage were witnessed by top players in the business industry during the final round held on Thursday 22nd July at the Gilbert Training Center in Tamale.Each awardee took away 1,000 Dollars to enable them either start or expand their innovative business, which could propel them to higher heights.
The award ceremony was done immediately after the final pitching and presentation of ideas by the participants.
Out of the 33 applicants who applied for the opportunity, 16 made it to the final stage, with the best 10 getting the financial award. Participants also received coaching and mentorship ahead of the finals and will continue to benefit from this in the first few years of operationalizing their businesses.
Some of the business sectors the students tackled are Agribusiness, Fashion, IT and Services, as well as Food &eatery.
According to the Programs Manager of CSIF-Ghana, Nadia Ali Bandawu the project seeks to build the competencies of the youth to be self employed even before they complete school.
The pitching competition comes under the "Bridge Building project, which is supported by the US Embassy in Ghana, with the objective of facilitating the smooth transition from students to employees/employers in the labor market by promoting problem-based learning, innovation, and entrepreneurship, and creating linkages between youth and employment/start-ups. The awards climaxed the validation and assessment of 10 students with great social entrepreneurship ideas to start their own businesses.
The project involved eight (8) tertiary institutions across the four Northern regions of Ghana (Northern, Upper East, Upper West and Savannah regions),with 80 final year students from across the institutions, 10 tutors/coordinators and 10 companies and organizations from both the private and public sectors.Awardees were drawn from the Tamale Technical University (TaTU), University for Development Studies (Nyankpala and Dungu Campuses), Pong-Tamale Animal Health and Production College (AHPC), Damongo Agric College (DAC) and CKTedam University of Technology and Applied Science,(CKT-UTAS), Navrongo.
Madam Nadia Bandawu applauded the finalists for their efforts and expressed gratitude to the US Embassy, Accra, Ghana, for its support and called on other donor agencies to support their cause since they have other innovative ideas for the youth.