3 Establishments receive GH¢10,000 each as startup
Three establishments have received GH¢10,000 each as startup for emerging winners of the 2021 maiden edition of Champions of Trade for Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
They are Nedie Tech and Media Network, Blackbridge Consulting Group Limited and African Chamber of Trade and Investment.
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The competition is an initiative of the SDGs’ Advisory Unit of the Office of the President and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP).
It presented young entrepreneurs with the opportunity to submit innovative ideas on how the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) agreement can help to achieve the SDGs.
Over 100 innovators, entrepreneurs and startups from across the country participated in the competition out of which the best three were selected.
Commendation
At the presentation of the cash prize in Accra yesterday, the Special Advisor to the President on SDGs, Mr Eugene Owusu, commended the winners and the other contestants for their participation in the exercise.
He said AfCFTA, like the SDGs, must not be the business of the government alone, but also for the private sector, civil society groups and the media.
“I say this because both are transformational initiatives that have tremendous prospects in providing the oxygen that is needed to develop this country, and indeed the oxygen that is needed to transform the African continent.
“When one looks at the acute challenges that this country faces as consequences of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, it is absolutely important that we leverage the opportunities that both the AfCTA and the SDGs present to really build resilience in our economy,” Mr Owusu added.
He said an enhanced intra-Africa trade would help to fully unleash the continent’s potential to achieve the SDGs.
Mr Owusu, therefore, explained that the competition was launched to make AfCFTA and SDGs a people’s movement.
“I am extremely delighted that the initiative seems to have gotten so much traction at the grass-roots level and has also helped to sensitise and popularise AfCFTA and the SDGs,” he said.
Significance
For her part, the UNDP Resident Representative to Ghana, Ms Angela Lusigi, said the primary objective of the programme was to expand choices and opportunities for the people to have better lives.
According to her, the exercise was transformative and had the potential to help deliver the developmental aspirations of the people and for the achievement of the SDGs.
“We are also interested in intra-Africa trade because it is a pathway to inclusion of women and youth-owned businesses and enterprises that were usually not considered. We must ensure that no one is left behind,” Ms Lusigi added.
She lauded initiators of the exercise and called for a deepening of collaboration to accelerate the country’s development.