5th Presidential Pitch to award GH₵3.5 million to innovative entrepreneur
By Daniel NONOR, Accra
Government through the National Entrepreneurship and Innovation Programme (NEIP), has announced the commencement of the fifth Presidential Pitch, a national competition aimed at nurturing innovative business ideas and providing substantial financial support to budding entrepreneurs.
The top prize for this year’s competition has been increased from last year’s top prize of GH₵2.5 million to GH₵3.5 million.
Deputy Chief Executive Officer of NEIP, Abigail Swad Laryea who launched the 2024 competition said the programme reflects the government’s ongoing commitment to fostering entrepreneurial growth and innovation in the country.
She explained that over the last 4 seasons of the programme, 95 finalists have emerged with 891 direct jobs and some thousand more indirect jobs have been created.
She singled out Pizzaman Chicken as one of the success stories of the programme.
She reiterated that the Presidential Pitch, now in its fifth season, focuses on five core sectors: Agriculture, Fintech and technology, manufacturing and processing, tourism and creative arts, and technical and vocational education and training (TVET).
Ms Laryea explained that each sector will have five finalists, amounting to 25 competitors.
In a bid to be inclusive, the competition has also introduced an ‘any other business’ category, that would ensure that all innovative ideas, regardless of their fit within the primary sectors, have a chance to be showcased and supported.
She maintained that while the focus of the competition remains on the five core areas, the organizers recognize that innovation knows no bounds.
She thus encouraged all entrepreneurs with unique ideas to bring them forward, even if they don’t neatly fit into one of the predefined categories, organizers will evaluate these submissions and ensure they find their place within the competition.
“In retrospect we have noticed that when people apply in all these categories, somebody might have an idea that doesn’t fall here. That doesn’t mean your ideas is not good , so whatever it is , you just bring it to us we will narrow it down and make sure we put it in one of these categories
Furthermore, the selection process will mirror that of previous years. Applications will be called for, and from these, the top 30 will be selected.
This cohort will then be scaled down to the top 20, then to the top 10, who will have the opportunity to pitch their ideas directly to the President.
The winner would have a prize package of GH₵3.5 million financial support.
Reflecting on last year’s competition Abigail Swad Laryea noted the high quality of entries and the difficulty faced by judges in making final decisions. “We had numerous exceptional ideas that reached the final stage. For those who narrowly missed out, we are offering an automatic spot in this year’s top 30. These entrepreneurs will still need to pitch again, but their previous performance gives them a slight edge.”
She noted that the criteria for eligibility remain stringent to ensure only the best and most impactful ideas are considered.
Applicants must be Ghanaian citizens, aged between 18 and 40, verified through their Ghana card.
The business ideas must be innovative, original, feasible, scalable, and impactful, addressing societal problems and offering viable solutions.
“We want only Ghanaian citizens to apply so we are going to verify this with your Ghana card”
She stressed that the essence of the competition is to foster creativity and originality adding that the selection process would be particularly vigilant about intellectual property rights.
She urged all participants to ensure that their ideas are genuinely theirs and not copied from others. “The businesses must be very importantly the original work of the person who is bringing it” she stressed.
