As part of efforts towards nurturing and mentoring young entrepreneurs, the University of Professional Studies, Accra (UPSA), in collaboration with the Catholic University of Milan, Italy, has organised a five-day entrepreneurial bootcamp and business model competition for first-year MBA students pursuing the Impact Entrepreneurship and Innovation programme.
The bootcamp session, held from November 8 – 13, 2021, is an integral component of the MBA programme and aims at providing a common platform for student entrepreneurs to network with prospective investors while obtaining real-time feedback on their businesses.
It was attended by over twenty-five (25) students, and participants had the opportunity to display their products and services during the practicum which was facilitated by faculty members from the Catholic University of Milan.
The students were also provided with tools and resources to develop a value model for customers and ideate a prototype or new business models while learning how to mix the business model stereotypes using the business model canvas.
They also learned how to design the value streams and agile portfolio required to deliver their products and services to their targeted market.
The bootcamp was climaxed with a pitch session where the 25 students were divided into two groups (Stand-up businesses and Start-up businesses) to present a viable business model.
At the end of the competition, Angelina Diyuoh Minski of Eastbridge International School emerged winner of the stand-ups project while Josephine Jacoba Amoah (Positive Impact Consult) won the best start-up model.
Speaking at the closing ceremony, the Italian Ambassador to Ghana and Togo, Her Excellency Daniela D’Orlandi, who was the special guest of honour, reiterated the immense contributions and support of Italian companies to Ghana’s economy.
She disclosed that the Embassy through its Trade Agency and Italian Export Credit Agency is committed to promoting local businesses by facilitating access to technical training, technology transfer, marketing, partnerships and joint ventures between Ghanaian and Italian businesses.
Ambassador D’Orlandi further added that these agencies also offer credit opportunities to Ghanaian-Italian companies.
Present at the event were Prof. Abigail Opoku Mensah, Director of CIEC; Prof. Albert Puni, Dean, Distance Learning School; and Dr. Andrews Ayiku, Coordinator for the MBA Impact Entrepreneurship & Innovation programme.
Other high-profile dignitaries in attendance included Alessandro Gerbino, Director of Italian Trade Agency (in charge of Ghana, Nigeria, Cote d’Ivoire, Burkina Faso, Guinea, Mali and Niger), Mr Nathan Kwabena Anokye Adisi, Chief Executive Officer of the EIB Network, Ouda Moustafa, Execution Manager (Eni), Anna Lixi, a representative from the European Union delegation in Accra as well as some alumni of the MBA programme.
