History was made on Thursday, 30th September 2021 as Innohub in partnership with Stanbic Bank officially launched the Stanbic-Innohub Aspire Business Academy, an exciting initiative designed for student entrepreneurs to ensure their businesses survive beyond campus.
In line with Innohub’s mission to provide innovative business support services and programs for Small and Growing Businesses (SGBs) to achieve growth and impact, the partnership with Stanbic Bank, sponsors of this worth-while initiative, could not have come at a better time.
The 21st century has seen several youth-led businesses taking center stage in driving critical innovations in varying sectors and industries. However, an equally good number of businesses that start at the university level, ends up dying off with the exit of the founders from school due to many reasons. Key among these factors are the lack of financial support, mentorship, economic constraints, and market access.
These are the tenets upon which the Stanbic-Innohub Aspire Business Academy has been founded; to allow student entrepreneurs to test the viability of their ideas, build strong business structures, and connect them with the right customers to improve their chances of survival beyond campus.
In his speech, Chief Executive of Stanbic Bank Ghana, Mr. Kwamina Asomaning emphasized that Africa’s Youth are the key to ending continental poverty. He stressed keenly that the opportunities available to Africa’s large youthful population should be leveraged to ensure the achievement of financial independence. Thus, Stanbic Bank’s commitment to youth-led innovations.
The CEO of Innohub, Mr. Nelson Amo in his remarks also noted driving innovation and entrepreneurship at the right places, one at a time, is always core to Innohub’s approach in contributing to the economic development of Ghana and beyond, therefore the Stanbic-Innohub Aspire Business Academy is a solid representation of what Innohub stands for. He further urged the beneficiaries to capitalize on this opportunity, to enhance their skills and creativity to be the impactful business founders needed for economic growth.
Apart from the CEO of Stanbic Bank, and the CEO of Innohub, the much-awaited virtual launch event was attended by Stanbic’s Head of Consumer & High Net Worth Clients, Benjamin Mensah, the Head of Main Markets Segment, Pearl Nkrumah, the Stanbic Incubator Team, Innohub’s program team, the Vice Chancellors and delegates from the participating universities, Staff of Stanbic Bank, and the beneficiaries of the program.
Over the course of 12-weeks, participating students of the Stanbic-Innohub Aspire Business Academy will refine their ideas and businesses while engaging each other, and benefit from local case studies which explore challenges that the entrepreneurs are likely to face. The Academy has a unique blend of recorded video sessions, guest speaker interviews, and live calls with facilitators to give students an enhanced experience. The initiative promises to open doors of endless opportunities for the students, and bring their exciting innovations to life!
