ARA-W 2019 Fellow wins Ghana's Presidential Pitch Challenge

President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo‑Addo has urged winners of the 2019 Presidential Pitch Competition (Season II) to use the opportunity not only to grow their businesses but also to create jobs for others entering the world of work and entrepreneurship.

The President made the call on Tuesday during the official presentation of cheques to the winners at the Jubilee House in Accra, emphasizing that entrepreneurship must ultimately lead to job creation. “You ought to be instruments for job creation, because that is what, at the end of the day, entrepreneurial ability should lead to,” he stated.

The Presidential Pitch, an initiative of the Ministry of Business Development launched in 2018, is a national competition designed to support young entrepreneurs below the age of 35 with innovative, impactful, scalable, and viable business ideas. Through the initiative, 20 successful applicants receive funding ranging from GH¢20,000 to GH¢70,000 to establish or expand their start‑up businesses.

Among the beneficiaries of the 2019 competition were African Research Academies for Women Alum, Miss Emily Otoo‑Quayson, and Miss Matilda Asantewaa Sampong, whose innovation, FLOYABANA PAD, emerged as an award‑winning product. Following their success, the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST) has pledged significant institutional support to help scale the innovation.

On behalf of the University, the Vice‑Chancellor of KNUST, Professor Kwasi Obiri‑Danso, donated One Hundred Thousand Ghana Cedis (GH¢100,000.00) to the winners. Beyond the financial contribution, he announced that the University would provide office space, a production site, machinery, and other essential support to aid in the full‑scale production of FLOYABANA PAD.

Professor Obiri‑Danso made these remarks when the winners paid a courtesy call on him, accompanied by the Vice‑Dean of Students’ Affairs and officials from the Mastercard Foundation Scholars Program at KNUST.

Congratulating the young innovators, the Vice‑Chancellor reaffirmed KNUST’s commitment to innovation, entrepreneurship, and student‑led enterprise development. “As a university, we are ready to provide all the support needed to champion this cause,” he said, expressing confidence that the product has the potential to grow into a competitive brand for both the Ghanaian and international markets.

Together, the Presidential Pitch initiative and KNUST’s institutional backing underscore a shared vision of empowering young entrepreneurs to transform innovative ideas into sustainable businesses that contribute meaningfully to national development and job creation.