The Kofi Annan Enterprise Hub for Agricultural Innovation (KAEHAI) at the West Africa Centre for Crop Improvement (WACCI), University of Ghana (UG), in partnership with the KGL Foundation, launched the KAEHAI – KGL Foundation Entrepreneurship Training & Incubator Programme on Monday, March 13, 2023 at WACCI’S Auditorium.
Present at the launch were Professor Eric Yirenkyi Danquah, Founding Director, WACCI; Mr. Elliot Dadey, CEO, KGL Foundation; Mr. Nii Annorbah-Sarpei, Director of Projects, KGL Foundation; Mr. Pius Enam Hadzide, CEO, National Youth Authority; Professor Matilda Steiner-Asiedu, Chair of the College of Basic and Applied Sciences (CBAS) Research Board, representing the Provost of CBAS; Professor Irene S. Egyir, Dean, School of Agriculture; Professor Marian Quain, Deputy Director-General, Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) and Dr. Naalamle Amissah, Head of Department, Crop Science. Also present were officials from the National Entrepreneurship and Innovation Programme, Ghana Enterprises Agency, the Chamber of Agribusiness, Ghana, Agricultural Development Bank, Prudential Bank and Ecobank Ghana.
In delivering his welcome address, Prof. Danquah took the guests through WACCI’s story, highlighting the Centre’s success in training plant breeders in Africa for Africa. He recounted the Centre’s innovative partnerships with prestigious institutions like the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and the Erasmus Centre for Entrepreneurship (ECE), Netherlands in training agricultural entrepreneurs who are driving change in the agricultural sector. Prof. Danquah noted that the Centre’s partnership with KGL Foundation was unprecedented and challenged government and the private sector to follow suit to provide significant investments in Centres of Excellence like WACCI and agriculture as a whole so as ensure that the we as a nation are "able to sustain and feed ourselves someday.”
Prof. Eric Danquah, Founding Director, WACCI
Mr. Elliot Dadey, CEO, KGL Foundation, opined that it is time to develop structures and create enabling conditions for public-private partnerships to improve the country’s agricultural sector. He expressed excitement about the partnership with WACCI and thanked the Centre for giving KGL Foundation the opportunity to invest in agriculture and Ghanaian youth.
Mr. Elliot Dadey, CEO, KGL Foundation
In brief remarks, Prof. Steiner-Asiedu reiterated the importance of such training programmes, encouraging the youth to venture into entrepreneurship to make something of themselves instead of engaging in social vices. She commended KGL Foundation for investing in this initiative and repeated Prof. Danquah’s call to the public and private sectors for significant investments.
Prof. Steiner-Asiedu, Chair of the College of Basic and Applied Sciences (CBAS) Research Board, representing the Provost of CBAS
Speaking at the launch, Mr. Pius Hadzide commended KGL Foundation and appealed to corporate organisations to allocate a percentage of their corporate social responsibility budgets to support such initiatives as a practical way of addressing youth unemployment.
Mr. Pius Hadzide, CEO, National Youth Authority
Mrs. Jereme Keren Agyemang, Programme Manager of KAEHAI, WACCI, gave a brief overview of KAEHAI’s origins. She shared that KAEHAI was established by WACCI in 2019 as part of efforts to expand its scope of activities to include agricultural innovation and entrepreneurship. Speaking about the KAEHAI – KGL Foundation Entrepreneurship Training & Incubator Programme, she mentioned that overall objective of this 5-year project is to address the youth bulge and unemployment by bringing together like-minded individuals from both the private and public sector to provide training and support to the youth, mentor them to become successful agro-entrepreneurs to drive innovation and new product development for agricultural transformation in Ghana. She described the structure of the programme as an intensive 1-year programme consisting of a 6-week training period during which trainees will be introduced to the principles and concepts underlying the entrepreneurship process and a 10- month incubation period during which they will develop their business ideas into viable, functional seed businesses. Each team will receive US$10,000, courtesy of the KGL Foundation, in addition to mentorship and tailored guidance from facilitators and other resource persons to help them set up their seed businesses.
Mrs. Jereme Agyemang urged the trainees to take full advantage of this opportunity and expressed gratitude to the KGL Foundation for sponsoring this exciting initiative.
Mrs. Jereme Keren Agyemang, Programme Manager of KAEHAI, WACCI
Dr. John S. Y. Eleblu, Coordinator of Research (Francophone Africa) at WACCI, delivered a heartfelt closing remark on behalf of the Director, expressing gratitude to all those who contributed to the success of the launch.
Dr. John S. Y. Eleblu, Coordinator of Research (Francophone Africa), WACCI