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Mr Mustapha Hamid (2nd right), the Minister of Information, launching the Ghana60yearson activities. Also with him is Mr Lord Commet (right), a member of the committee and Mr John Awuah (3rd right), CEO UMB. Pictures: SAMUEL TEI ADANO
Mr Mustapha Hamid (2nd right), the Minister of Information, launching the Ghana60yearson activities. Also with him is Mr Lord Commet (right), a member of the committee and Mr John Awuah (3rd right), CEO UMB. Pictures: SAMUEL TEI ADANO

Ghana@60 launches youth apps development challenge

The Ghana@60yearson Anniversary Planning Committee yesterday launched the Jubilee Technology Start-up Challenge aimed at encouraging the youth across the country to develop applications that will boost governance, business, health, education and other sectors of national life.

The competition is open to all Ghanaian young persons aged between 18 and 35 and the closing date for entries is May 19, 2017.

Prizes at stake

The winner of the competition will receive a cash prize of GH₵100,000, the one who places second will be given GH₵75,000, while the third-placed contestant will get GH₵50,000.

Already, the UMB Bank has presented GH₵100,000 meant for the winner of the contest.

Speaking at the launch of the contest in Accra, the Minister of Information, Mr Mustapha Hamid, said the committee expected about 60 entries from each region, which would add up to 600 entries in all.

He urged the youth to avail themselves of the opportunity and not be inhibited by anything from trying their innovative ideas out.

He stated that no idea was too good or too bad, saying that in the end what mattered was that an application ought to make a contribution to tackling a challenge faced by any sector of national life.

Rewarding youthful innovation

Throwing more light on the contest, Mr Lord Commey, the Chairman of the Sub-committee on Events, said the idea behind the Jubilee Technology Start-up Challenge was to provide an avenue for many talented young Ghanaians whose innovations never saw the light of day because of the lack of funding.

He said there were many sectors of the economy that could be made more efficient by the introduction of an application, adding that the competition would unveil innovations that boosted governance, business, health, education and other areas.

“This will be a competition to unearth talented innovators whose innovations will accelerate some strand of Ghana’s development,” he said.

Jubilee challenge

Mr Commey said there would also be the launch of the Jubilee Youth Entrepreneur Challenge, predicated on the difficulty of raising capital by young people in Ghana, thereby preventing them from fully realising their potential.

The challenge will solicit business ideas from young people across Ghana and reward the most-likely-to-be-profitable ideas.

The Managing Director of the UMB Bank, Mr John Awuah, who presented a dummy cheque to the committee through the Minister of Information, said the UMB had the belief in the ability of Ghanaian youth to be innovative and decided to sponsor the award for the ultimate winner out of its corporate social responsibility.

He said the gesture was also the bank’s contribution to the Diamond Jubilee celebrations of the country.

Writer’s email: [email protected]

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