NEIP launches $7m Hubs Acceleration Grant Programme
The Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the National Entrepreneurship and Innovation Programme (NEIP), Kofi Ofosu Nkansah, yesterday launched the NEIP Hubs Acceleration Grant Programme (HAGP).
The HAGP will see some $4 million being set aside in the first phase to boost the overall capacities of selected business acceleration hubs from around the country.
A further $3 million has been set aside for the second phase of the programme, which will see the establishment of new hubs in areas that lack them.
Speaking at the launch, Ofosu Nkansah indicated that, the purpose of the Programme is to support the development of the entrepreneurship ecosystem by building the capacities of entrepreneurship hubs to bring the quality of their services up to international standards.
He explained that the Ghana Economic Transformation Project has four components, with the NEIP’s programmes falling under ‘Component 3’ of the project.
The CEO said that in this structure, ‘Component 3’ “supports entrepreneurship and SME growth in non-resource-based sectors, and has the aim of 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 non-resource-based sectors.”
He further iterated that “the Hubs will be supported to run programs, that would benefit firms and startups within our communities. There will also be mapping and benchmarking of Hubs as part of our ‘Component 3’ programmes.
Nkansah went further to say that “the grant Programme will competitively select a number of hubs which will be provided Technical assistance and capacity building to address gaps identified during the benchmarking exercise. Selected Hubs will receive grants up to $200,000 to support their operations, upgrade their offices and equipment, and run the Acceleration programmes.”
Application deadline and requirements
He urged interested parties, including business incubators, accelerators, technology centers, University Hubs and other entrepreneurship support organizations, to submit their applications by March 10.
Eligible applicants must 100% Ghanaian owned and be legally registered in Ghana.
They must also have operated as an Enterprise Support Organization in Ghana for at least three years, and have core expertise in entrepreneurship support and business acceleration.
Further to that, they Must be able to present a qualified and competent team of Business Development Experts, Mentors, Trainers, and must be able to demonstrate standard business practices such as good corporate governance, bookkeeping and accounting.
Other requirements include the readiness to contribute in-kind resources such as staff time and physical locations to the programme, as well as possess adequate space to host the intended programs for start-ups.
Finally, applicants must submit a two-year financial report and a one-year Acceleration Programme concept design for start-ups.
