Business Administration department holds public exhibition for student and alumni startups

May 23, 2017
Ashesi’s Business Department held the maiden edition of the Ashesi Business Exhibition at the Impact Hub, Osu.

Organized in partnership with Innohub, Growth Mosaic, Impact Hub, Premium Bank and the Ashesi Design Lab, the event formed part of the department’s efforts to expose students and alumni startups to the general entrepreneurial ecosystem in Ghana.

“At Ashesi, regardless of the major our students choose to do, we train and inspire them in the area of entrepreneurship,” said Anthony Ebo Spio, Head of the Business Administration Department. “The whole idea is that when young people leave Ashesi, instead of they becoming a part of job market, they will be the people creating the jobs. Through exhibitions like this, and Ashesi’s mission to train entrepreneurs, we hope we can contribute to addressing the unemployment problem in Africa.”

Overall 9 startups, ranging from clothing lines to low-cost micro-flush toilets, pitched their ventures, and also engaged with the over 70 industry experts, professionals and entrepreneurs in attendance. The exhibition also provided the students and alumni the opportunity to connect with potential clients, partners and investors.

“This was a chance to gain better insight into the entrepreneurial landscape in Ghana,” said Makafui Amezah ‘15, who co-founded kebab shop, MeatBar. “Such opportunities will help more budding entrepreneurs ease their way into putting structure into their businesses. I thank God I participated, it was a worthwhile experience.”

“At the Impact Hub, what we try to do is open up our space and our community to help create synergy with other organizations like Ashesi that are driving entrepreneurship in Ghana,” said Kelechi Victor Ofoegbu, Community Engagement Leader at Impact Hub. “The more inroads we make into the entrepreneurship space, the better the chances of us succeeding in the impact we want to make.”

As part of the exhibition, some of the startups were awarded for their presentation, viability, market-readiness and outlook.

“Our goal is that one out of every five Ashesi graduates starts a business, and every year we have ventures coming out of the entrepreneurship class, including ones that students are running themselves,” said Dr. Sena Agyepong of the Business Administration department. “However, when they graduate it is necessary that they are able to sustain these businesses. So the exhibition was born out of the need to expose them to the general entrepreneurial ecosystem, investors, accelerators, and incubators mainly, so the experts can guide them through investment and guidance.”