Accra: March 11, 2010: 100 semi-finalists of the Ghana Innovation Marketplace awards have received training to fine-tune their proposals for the final stage of the competition.
At the end, 50 winning participants will receive direct awards of up to GHC 50,000 to be used towards implementation of their business plans. Others will receive recognition or other in-kind services.
To shortlist the semi-finalists, 142 applications were received under the categories of waste collection, value addition as well as advocacy and education.
Closing the training session, the Programme Coordinator of the Ghana Innovation Marketplace, Mrs. Maureen Odoi, said the objective was to stimulate small and medium-scale actors in the waste sector to generate innovative and sustainable proposals that address deficient waste management practices in Ghana.
The Manager of The Micro Small and Medium Enterprises Project at Ministry of Finance, Mr Francis Kusi noted that the school system often destroys creativity and therefore advised that children be encouraged to cultivate their creativity and knowledge.
A past winner of the marketplace awards, Mr Prince Sackey Tawiah, who is CEO of Toetalk Shoes, also admonished that as entrepreneurs, the competitors must develop attitudes that would enable them to overcome the pressures of society.
The Ghana innovation marketplace awards is coordinated by African Aurora Business Network.
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Contact:
Mrs. Maureen Odoi - 021-325930/024-4383293
