The National Entrepreneurship and Innovation Programme (NEIP) which is a flagship policy initiative of Government of Ghana under the Ghana Economic Transformation Project (GETP), has officially launched the NEIP Hubs Acceleration Grant Programme (HAGP) in Accra to support entrepreneurship and SME growth in non-resource based sectors across the country.
NEIP Hub Acceleration Grant Programme is aimed at addressing the limited development of the SME and entrepreneurship support ecosystem, including early-stage financing to promote and strengthen a growth model that is conducive to economic transformation, to achieve higher rates of investment and productivity growth across the economy, especially in the non-resource based sectors.
Addressing the media, Mr. Kofi Ofosu Nkansah, the Chief Executive Officer of NEIP pointed out that, the Hubs sub-component under Component 3, is a Grant Program to support the development of the entrepreneurship ecosystem by building the capacity of entrepreneurship hubs to bring the quality of their services up to international standards.
He disclosed that, the Grant Programme would competitively select a number of hubs which would be provided Technical assistance and capacity building to address the gaps identified during the benchmarking exercise. “Selected Hubs will receive grants up to $200,000 to support their operations, upgrade their offices and equipments, and run the Acceleration programmes”.
The Hubs Acceleration Grant Programme (HAGP) Mr. Ofosu Nkansah hinted, is going to focus on Hubs operating in sectors such as, Agriculture, Technology & Innovation, Light manufacturing & processing, Waste & green businesses, and Technical and Vocational oriented Hubs. “We encourage the active participation of women, youth and persons with disability in the Grant Programme”.
He stressed that, the hubs can receive up to $200,000 to build their capacities to standards befitting of an international hub.” We hope to grow our hubs to help create the Unicorns of the future “.
Mr. Kofi Ofosu Nkansah however, thank President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, for his continuous support for 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 qualification criteria for applicants are that; Hubs must be legally registered in Ghana; Ownership must be 100% Ghanaian; They must have operated as an Enterprise Support Organizationrganization in Ghana for at least three (3) years. They should have Core expertise in Entrepreneurship Support and business acceleration; They must be able to present a qualified and competent team of Business Development Experts, Mentors, Trainer.
Again, 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 location to the program; They must have adequate space to host the intended programs for start-ups; They must show Traction of Previous Work Experience with detailed Profile; They must Submit a two-year financial report and, must Submit a one-year Acceleration Programme concept design for start-ups.
Selection of Hubs for the Grant would be based on the submission of Sound business plan; Technical Assistance Support plan and Submit Technical, Financial and Procurement management plan.
Prospective Applicants can go to www.neip.gov.gh and apply. Application link for the call is also available on all NEIP Social media platforms. The closing date for the Application is Friday 10th March 2023.
