Twenty-two entrepreneurs in agriculture, renewable energy and Water, Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH) have been awarded matching grants of 3,000 Euros each under the SNV, Netherlands Development Organization, Boosting Green Employment and Enterprise Opportunities in Ghana (GrEEn) project.
The grant is under the 2021 GrEEn Business Plan Competition Award. The matching grants is to help them expand their green businesses and provide employment opportunities for job seekers at the local level.
The 22 entrepreneurs were selected out of 99 applicants who presented their business ideas out of which 10 were selected from the Western Region with the other 12 from the Ashanti Region.
The project funded by the European Union, is entrenched in GrEEn’s entrepreneurship skills development intervention based on the Opportunities for Youth Employment (OYE) approach. OYE, is a training programme centered on basic introduction into employability and entrepreneurship pathways in the green and circular economy.
Sarah Agbey, Green Project Manager SNV at the Award Ceremony in Takoradi explained that the GrEEn Project, which is funded by the European Union and the Government of the Netherlands is committed to offering skills training in green businesses and supporting green business plan development for young entrepreneurs.
According to her, the business plan competition is initiated to encourage service recipients to design and develop innovative green business ideas into business plans created on the market realities.
She mentioned that apart from the three main categories that have been awarded (agriculture, renewable energy and Water, Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH), there are also awards in Female led Businesses, Businesses led by Returning Migrants, Youth Cooperative and Waste to Cash Businesses. “A total of €60,000 is available to selected entrepreneurs from Western and Ashanti Regions and ten districts of implementation for this project,” she added.
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She urged the beneficiaries to serve as change-makers in combating the harsh effects of climate change.
Kwabena Okyere Darko-Mensah, Western Regional Minister congratulated the entrepreneurs for developing brilliant businesses that will minimize the effects of climate change, promote sustainable agricultural practices as well as solve the issue of unemployment. “Count yourselves lucky since many people did not get the opportunities provided by SNV and its partners” he said.
He encouraged them to work hard to sustain their businesses. “Use what you have been given judiciously, multiply it so that the entire country can benefit from it.”
The GrEEn project is a four-year action from the EU, the Embassy of the Kingdom of the Netherlands in Ghana, SNV Netherlands Development Organization and the United Nations Capital Development Fund (UNCDF). The project seeks to improve the ability of women, the youth and returning migrants to take advantage of green jobs and entrepreneurship opportunities in their localities.
