The Design and Technology Institute (DTI) has rewarded 5 freshmen Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) with a complete seed capital of $25,000 to help their enterprise thoughts below its pre-accelerator programme as a part of the Community Innovative Project.
The opposition is a enterprise pitch and accelerator initiative designed to identify, apprehend and help promising student-led organisations with the capability to scale and create sustainable jobs for the teeming unemployed children.
The initiative honours freshmen with innovative and progressive thoughts in agriculture, water and sanitation, plastics recycling, e-waste, and different sectors of the economy. Participants, as a part of the opposition, have been worried in in-intensity studies and engagement with groups to co-layout answers to deal with communal issues in a sustainable manner.
The winners will graduate and boost with their prototypes right into a six-month pre-acceleration programme. The pre-acceleration programme will function a platform for the winners to benefit giant enterprise management, economic and operational resources, and could be the catalyst for fund elevating sports and funding possibilities at DTI.
Ms Constance Swaniker, Founder and CEO of DTI congratulated the 5 groups on their hard-earned qualification for the grand finale. “As a TVET centre of excellence, we agree with that empowering children-led SMEs is essential in using Ghana’s monetary improvement and accelerating development toward attaining the UN Sustainable Development Goals. We are pleased with a purpose to offer possibilities for children-led SMEs to scale up and attain their entrepreneurial capability thru our Community Innovation Project, and we look ahead to seeing the quantity of increase their corporations experience.”
“As West Africa’s surest prototype improvement centre, we're on a adventure to teach and broaden freshmen who're attuned to the socio-monetary desires of people, network and enterprise, and are prepared and inclined to broaden progressive answers to satisfy such desires to generate earnings for themselves and additionally create sustainable jobs for the children,” she added.
The winners have been decided on via way of means of a panel of judges drawn from enterprise and academia to assess the thoughts for his or her originality, practicality, capability impact, and scalability.
The normal winner, Master Kraft advanced a multi-reason wheelchair for the elderly and the bodily challenged received $ 10,000
First runner-up, Tom SB advanced a burglar evidence protection gadget received $ 7,000
Second runner-up, Quickserve advanced a cellular app for deliver of welders and virtual innovators received $ 5,000
Consolation prize, FIRM-JZ advanced a Multipurpose Ladder Trolley received $ 1,500
Consolation prize, Nine Tech Engineers – AdvansRule received $ 1,500
The Competition
The 5 finalists have been decided on out of a shortlist of 15 groups that went thru a six-month schooling in trouble identification, studies, ideation and prototype improvement which started on fifteenth December 2021. The finalists had the maximum progressive thoughts with the capability to scale and create sustainable jobs.
The opposition bureaucracy a part of DTI’s three-yr partnership with the Mastercard Foundation below the Young Africa Works “Transforming children TVET livelihoods for sustainable jobs’’. The undertaking will offer 40,000 direct and oblique paintings possibilities for the children withinside the country .
The Community Innovation Project seeks to construct a portfolio of progressive start-ups with a purpose to be incubated and supported with seed capital, enterprise improvement services, get entry to to market, and a makerspace to develop their improvements from ideation into sustainable corporations.
Commissioning of Ultra-Modern Machine Workshop and Makerspace
DTI additionally commissioned an ultra-current system workshop and makerspace for powerful coaching and schooling on the institute.
The machines will allow the leaners to efficaciously paintings on their thoughts and concepts, layout and broaden prototypes, and additionally make sure merchandise advanced are particular and meets the necessities of enterprise and consumers.
Speaking on the commissioning of the workshop and makerspace, Ms Swaniker entreated the enterprise to collaborate with TVET establishments together with DTI so that you can broaden merchandise which can be applicable to them. “We are open to operating intently with enterprise to champion a motive geared toward growing prototypes and merchandise with a purpose to deal with the desires of enterprise whiles growing jobs for the children’’.
The activities have been attended via way of means of representatives from the Ghana TVET Service, CTVET, Ghana Standards Authority, Financial establishments, academia, enterprise experts, freshmen, and younger entrepreneurs.