EISD-NEIP officials in Tamale
EduGha Institute for Social Development (EISD) under the National Entrepreneurship and Innovation Programme (NEIP) Hubs Acceleration Grant Programme (HAGP) has launched the EISD-NEIP Start Up Accelerated Support Programme in Tamale in the Northern region.
The EISD-NEIP Start Ups Acceleration Programme is a Programme designed to support the development of the entrepreneurship ecosystem by building the capacities of startups and existing businesses in the northern region to help their business ideas and services thrive.
The Startup Programme will be focused on ideas and businesses operating in the following sectors: Agriculture, Technology & Innovation, Light Manufacturing & Processing, Waste & Green Businesses, and Technical and Vocational ideas.
The programme will group the various startups and businesses into three zones; the Bimbilla zone for the Eastern corridor block including Yendi, Gusheigu, Karaga, Wulensi, Bimbilla, Kpandai, Chamba, the Tolon zone which would include the Kumbungu, Nyankpala, Tolon, Savelugu environs and Sagnarigu zone which would include Sagnarigu, Tamale and its immediate environs.
Addressing the media at the official launch in Tamale, the Deputy Chief Executive Officer of the EduGha Institute for Social Development (EISD), Mr. Bilal Taimako Shamsudeen, indicated that the Start Up Acceleration Programme will competitively select a number of startups in the zones which will be provided with technical and financial assistance, capacity building to accelerate their ideas and operationalize them.
“With the Ghanaian start-up landscape seeing tremendous growth over the last decade, we cannot help but provide competitive, tailor-made solutions to startups in our catchment area. This is made possible by our collaboration with the Government of Ghana through the NEIP Hubs Acceleration Grant Program (HAGP). With this, we are not only upgrading our Hub Space by increasing our seating capacity as a hub from 20 to 70 with the construction of 50-seater multipurpose Training and Conference Center, we are also upgrading our facilities. We are also better positioned to support more startups as we are seeing with this Startup launch.”
Mr. Shamsudeen encouraged women, youth and persons with disability to take advantage of the programme and apply for the support.
He however noted that the beneficiary businesses must ensure that the ownership must be 100% Ghanaian, startups should be in the northern region and must be ready and willing to undergo rigorous training schedules and other activities of the programme.
By Eric Kombat, Tamale