Multiple award winning CSR company, Airtel Ghana announced the winners for its maiden edition of the Airtel Catapult your Business competition. The winning contestants were awarded with various sums of money and will be taken through a comprehensive SME program that will equip them with the essential tools, knowledge and strategic planning advice to build their organizational capacity and position their startups to be investor – friendly.
The highly competitive event attracted Airtel Staff, media as well as family and friends of the final four contestants. All received rousing applause from the attentive audience who were immensely impressed and inspired by their candid comments and visionary statements.
In the end, Trash Cash emerged the overall winner. Trash Cash features a mobile app that monetizes separated recyclables from the public and monitors the collection process through independent collection points across the country. Stephanie Lawson, Chief Executive Officer who could not hide her joy when pronounced the winner exclaimed, “Great, great experience! I have gained so much from this competition. Airtel Ghana is definitely a supporter of great business ideas and entrepreneurship.”
The second slot was taken by Wanjo, which makes juices from indigenous plants and creates cocktail recipes out of them. She introduced some of her products to the gathering to taste. When asked what her vison was for her company, this is what the Chief Labourer Officer Yaganoma Baatuolkuu had to say, “I am hoping to grow my business to the size of the major players in the industry and claim my share of the global juice market.”
Winifred Selby the youngest entrepreneur came third with her business called ‘Afrocentric Bamboo Bikes’, a technology for adding value to raw bamboo by producing bicycle frames for export and fully assembled ones for the local market. She started working with bamboo at the tender age of 15 and by 21, had grown her business where she is currently producing about 90 bikes a month.
African Baby Center, a multifunctional website and social media platform provides information and is a reference point for advice on fertility, pregnancy and baby care relevant to user’s unique environment and needs. “We are living in an era where new mums do not have the comfort of having their mothers fully present during the ante and post-natal period because they too are working mums” explained Adeline Esi Asante-Antwi CEO of ABC. “What we hope to achieve is for the modern African woman to find ABC a natural stop for information and advice on baby care.”
“We believe that Ghana needs more people trying to create and grow new ventures, more people to learn from doing, failing and trying again. It is not easy to be an entrepreneur and you need so much more than a bright idea. Apart from a great team, you need the whole support structure: people who can mentor and advise you, people who can fund your venture, people who can work for you and people who can provide you with research and latest knowledge. The Airtel Catapult your Business is a laboratory environment that simulates how such an ecosystem works,” said Em Ekong, one of the judges and CEO of Urban Inclusions.
Commenting on Airtel’s involvement and the success of the Airtel Catapult your Business competition, Lucy Quist, MD of Airtel said, “I congratulate the participants for exhibiting innovative startup businesses all of whom are in operation and are addressing various societal needs. Ghana’s accelerated development will be driven by young innovative people in Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) who by virtue of using ICT will be able to expand their means of production which would otherwise have been limited had they relied solely on traditional means.”
“Airtel is especially proud to be fostering the growth of this competition because we believe in the Power of Potential and we are here to fuel that hunger to reach the top. This competition has demonstrated the kind of entrepreneurial thinking that we seek to cultivate in all of our participants and I’m confident that many of these individuals will succeed in translating their ideas into successful businesses.” She added.
–
Source: Airtel Ghana