The National Entrepreneurship and Innovation Programme (NEIP) has initiated efforts to support Hubs Acceleration Grant (HAG) programme with $7 million to improve on their performance to meet international standards.
It is under the Ghana Economic Transformation Project (GETP), which is aimed at promoting private investments and firm growth in non-resource-based sectors.
Speaking during the contract signing ceremony on June 8, 2023, at the Labadi Beach Hotel in Accra, the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of NEIP, Kofi Ofosu Nkansah, explained that $4 million of the fund would be used to support existing hubs that had been in operation for three years, while the remaining $3 million would be channelled into hubs which had operated for two years and below.
He stated that the initiative, which is being funded by the World Bank, focuses on businesses operating in the agriculture, technology and innovation, light manufacturing and processing, waste and green businesses and technical and vocational sectors.
He said NEIP’s programmes are under Component Three of the Ghana Economic Transformation Project (GETP), which is aimed at supporting entrepreneurs, including small and medium enterprises (SMEs).
“The Grant Programme was competitively designed to select a number of hubs which will be provided Technical assistance and capacity building to address gaps identify during the benchmarking exercise”.
He therefore, encouraged the active participation of women, Youth and persons with disability in the Grant Programme.
Mr. Kofi Nkansah revealed that, as part of the monitoring and evaluation, the NEIP shall request for quarterly and annual reports, all in a bid to grow the ecosystem to world standards, on the way to producing Ghana’s first Unicorns.
He said, Phase 2 of the Hubs Acceleration Grant Programme is to cover set up and operationalization of new Hubs, including revitalizing Hubs which are not more than 2 years old.
Mr. Nkansah thanked President Akufo-Addo for his continues support towards the growth of Entrepreneurship Ecosystem, for his various interventions to ignite and unleash the innovative and entrepreneurial spirit of young people in a bid to mark conscious departure from job seeking to job creation and job ownership.
The World Bank Private Sector Specialist, Madam Fara Dib, congratulated beneficiaries saying, the World Bank would continue to partner with the government in future projects.
The qualification criteria for applicants were that, Hubs must be legally registered in Ghana; Ownership must be 100% Ghanian; They must have operated as an Entreprise Support Organization in Ghana for at least three (3) years; They should have Core expertise in Entrepreneurship Support and business acceleration; They must able to present a qualified and competent team of Business Development Experts, Mentors, Trainers.
The rest are that, they must be able to demonstrate standard business practices such as good corporate governance, bookkeeping and accounting etc; They must be ready to contribute in-kind resources such as staff time and physical locations to the program; They must have adequate space to host the intended programs for start-ups; They must show Traction of Precious Work Experience with detailed Profile; They must submit a two-year financial report and lastly, must submit a one-year Acceleration Programme accept design for start-ups.
Among the beneficiaries that received the Grant include those from Bono and Ahafo ($180,000.00), Upper East ($150,000.00), Eastern ($100,000.00) and Ashanti (100,000.00).
