We are excited to share that the inaugural EduPreneur Project has been extended by 7 days! This extension aims to provide additional educational entrepreneurs with the chance to apply.
To apply, please visit https://eisdgh.org/edup24
Call/WhatsApp 0200170173/0540983315
See more details in the material below
In order to gain a deeper understanding of how Business Development Services can enhance the performance, competitiveness, and growth of Micro-, Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (MSMEs), EISD organized a stakeholder engagement event focused on STREET ACCOUNTING PROJECT.
Micro-, Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (MSMEs) play a crucial role in improving the quality of life in our communities.
This event took place at our Success Space on the 18th of January 2023.
The engagement was led by Mr. Bilal Taimako Shamsudeen, our director of Business Development.
During this discussion, the effectiveness of the ecosystem, the challenges faced, and the potential solutions were all key points of focus.
Below are photographs taken from the event
The skilled craftsmen in Ghana, both in the Northern region and elsewhere, have made a significant impact on the country’s history of crafting excellence. Through their trades, they have not only contributed greatly to the economy but also added to the vibrant cultural heritage of the nation.
The objective of this dialogue was to engage with artisans as part of EISD’s ARTISAN EMPOWERMENT PROJECT and gain insights into their views on the effectiveness of the artisan community specifically in the Northern region. We aimed to delve into the challenges they encounter and identify potential remedies to address these issues.
Below are snaps from the conversations ably led by our Director of Business Development, Mr. Bilal Taimako Shamsudeen on the 17th of January 2024 at our Success Space.
As part of EISD’s Edupreneur Ecosystem study, a round table discussion was held with various entrepreneurs in education as well as other stakeholders to understand the effectiveness of existing Edupreneur Ecosystem, discuss challenges and constraints encountered by entrepreneurs in education, and to design appropriate and tailor made interventions to enrich the edupreneur ecosystem.
The discussions were very insightful and fruitful. Divergent views were received from various participants. This exercise feeds into the general discussion on the ecosystem and will lead to higher level engagements and possible interventions.
The EISD-NEIP Sustainable Acceleration Programme is aims to support the development of the entrepreneurship ecosystem in the Northern Region of Ghana. It is part of the National Entrepreneurship and Innovation Programme (NEIP) Hubs Acceleration Grant Programme (HAGP), which is under the Ghana Economic Transformation Project. The program has been implemented since its launch on 27th June 2023.
After a rigorous selection process, twenty finalists were selected from across the various districts in the Northern Region of Ghana. Of the twenty finalists, 50% of all participants were female and the remaining 50% were male. Four finalists were from the Eastern Zone, Yendi and its environs, two were from the Western Zone, Tolon and its environs, and the remaining fourteen were from the Central Zone, Tamale and its environs. The participants were from various business sectors including recycling and waste management, light manufacturing, beauty and cosmetology, events management, agroprocessing, clothing and textiles, software development, e-commerce, among others.
The first phase of the EISD – Sustainable Acceleration Programme [E-SAP] involved 13 sessions, including “Understanding your Business Environment,” “Driving Change in your Organization,” “Improving Productivity Through Communication,” “HR Systems and Practices for Better Workplace Management,” “Workplace Improvements through 5S,” “Enhancing Productivity through Lean Management,” “Essential Soft skills,” “Marketing, Sales, Customer Service,” “Safety at Work,” “Financing your Business,” “Managing Quality for Productivity Improvement,” “Pitching your business,” “Financing Models,” “Equity vrs Owner financing schemes,” “Forming and joining Networks and partnerships ‘dos & donts’,” and “Productivity through Cleaner Production.”
The second phase of the E-SAP involved onboarding all twenty beneficiaries onto the I Am Worth It Project (IAWIP) Success Degree Program on Wednesday, 13th December, 2023. This program provides year-long coaching and mentoring to the beneficiaries .
All twenty finalists expressed their appreciation to NEIP, the Ministry of Finance, and the World Bank for enabling this program. The acceleration experience has provided them with a new learning process, which has better positioned them to witness sustainable growth in their enterprises.”
The EISD-NEIP Start Up Acceleration Support Programme is under the National Entrepreneurship and Innovation Programme – NEIP Hubs Acceleration Grant Programme (HAGP), under Ghana Economic Transformation Project.
We have been implementing the programme since its launch on 27th June 2023.
The beneficiaries of the programme are about to go through another step in the training cycle.
On the 13th of December 2023, beneficiaries will go through soft skills training and onboarding onto the IAWIP Success Degree Program for one year post training support.
As a new partner of EISD the I Am Worth It Project (IAWIP) joins as training partner.
Tammy Sherger will be our lead resource person for essential soft skills training.
As part of the EISD-NEIP Hub Acceleration Program, EISD has signed an MoU with a world leading provider of mindset, critical soft skills, innovative business skills and personal development training firm, the I Am Worth It Project (IAWIP). The IAWIP is to provide tailor made training solutions to EISD staff, partners, and clients.
The purpose of the MOU is to establish collaborative relations between EISD and the IAWIP in the area of mindset, personal development, and critical soft skills training to increase the personal and economic empowerment of beneficiaries and other stakeholders affiliated to the EISD by embedding IAWIP essential soft skills training solution into the current and future entrepreneurial training program/s of EISD.
As part of the MOU, IAWIP shall
EISD on the other hand shall
Tammy Sherger, the Founder and CEO of IAWIP, on her part said through engagements with relevant stakeholders in Ghana especially the government and its partners, it has become clear that the solution to unemployment and business growth is not only the required hard skills, but the underlying mindset, personal development and critical soft skills that do not usually form part of the educational and other training programs. She reechoed that globally there has been a shift in recognizing the importance of mindset, personal development, and critical soft skills training to support people to successfully become thriving entrepreneurs. IAWIP has developed a strategy to reach out to all beneficiaries of EISD through the I Am Worth It Project Coaching App.
She added that unlike other soft skills providers, IAWIP offers a 1-year post training support that is essential to inculcate the habits that are learned during the training, could track KPI’s and finally has a component of the Experts Calendar where a carefully curated calendar of experts provide specific and targeted training to identified areas to support beneficiaries ongoing growth and success.
Signing the MOU, the CEO of EISD, Mahadi Alhassan indicated that the collaboration with IAWIP is timely since his organization is currently looking at more innovative ways of increasing employability and business growth of their clients and beneficiaries. Mahadi concluded his remarks by saying the collaboration was going to lead to win-win situations for both organizations. He assured IAWIP that EISD will make all reasonable efforts to fulfill its part of the bargain in Ghana and across the African continent. He urged IAWIP to do the same.
Below is as captioned by the WEE-North Project of the Alinea Foundation after a validation workshop to outdoor the findings of the research.
Over 120 industry partners of Alinea Foundation and members of 30 Industrial Trades Associations and in Northern Ghana participated a unique set of workshops in Bolgatanga, Tamale, and Wa from 23rd to 26th October 2023. The workshop aimed to validate the first ever Gender Audit on trades associations in Northern Ghana and promote international best practices for gender-responsive industries. This workshop under the theme "Audit to Action" was facilitated by the Edugha Institute for Social Development (EISD). Following thought-provoking breakout sessions, each trade area within the five regions competed by pitching their ideas to promote gender mainstreaming. A panel of judges from Alinea Foundation's regional Project Advisor Committee (PAC) assessed these initiatives and awarded cash prizes for the best initiatives. The winners from each region were awarded GHS 3,000.00, while the first runner-up received GHS 2,000.00 to start their gender-responsive activities. Additionally, certificates of appreciation were presented to industry partners who provided Workplace Experience Learning opportunities for trainees by the Field Manger, Dr Nancy M. Drost. Participants emphasized the workshop's positive impact on their professional and personal development. They reaffirmed their dedication to supporting the WEE-North project.
We would like to thank the Alinea Foundation (under the WEE-North Project) for the opportunity to have undertaken this task.
Following our partnership with Alinea Foundation through their project WEENORTH, a 12 week Vinyl and Artificial Grass training programme was launched on the 12th of June, 2023. After 12 weeks, a graduation ceremony was organized on 12th of September, 2023 for Twenty Young Women; five from the Upper East region, five from the Upper West region and ten from the Northern region.
The broad goal for conducting the training was to WEE-North’s mission of advancing gender equity and promoting decent work in the male-dominated industrial trades sector.
As part of the Training programme, all twenty young women were provided with Startup packs to enable them better learn their craft and be ready to be independent tradeswomen after graduation.
The Training Programme had the following components; the Vinyl and Artificial Grass Installer Training (Theory and Practicals), the Empowerment and Soft Skills Training, the 360 Degree Industrial Attachment, final Practical Sessions and advocacy.
The young women were taken through both theory and practical sessions of the Vinyl Tiles and Artificial Grass.
These sessions were tailor-made to ensure that young women are able to appreciate the market niche and take full advantage of the niche. Their understanding of the product, site preparation, estimations and costing as well as the financial benefits of the products, both vinyl and artificial grass, is remarkable.
As part of the programme design, the young women had a number of empowerment sessions to enable them to have a good appreciation of the gender issues at stake and know they can thrive in male-dominated trades. They were also taken through a number of soft skills training sessions to equip them with the essential tools to make a difference along their professional journeys.
This was followed by the 360 Degree Industrial Attachment. The 360 Degree Industrial Attachment aimed to provide young girls with a practical glimpse into their future post-training. This phase followed their empowerment program and allowed them to put their acquired knowledge into practice. It commenced with marketing Vinyl Tiles and Artificial Grass in Tamale’s Central Business District, extending to engaging with people on the main streets. Regular review sessions were conducted to evaluate the outcomes and lessons learned from these interactions with the public and potential businesses.
Additional field visits focused on proper site preparation before product installation then followed. To complete the experience, participants conducted further field visits in their home regions, scouting potential clients and intensifying the marketing efforts for Vinyl and Artificial Grass.
More practical sessions followed during the last fortnight of the 12-week programme. The trainees dedicated themselves to further refining their installation skills for Vinyl and Artificial Grass. With several clients having already commissioned installation projects, this period provided an excellent opportunity for these women to showcase their craftsmanship. In total, each young woman successfully completed installations covering no less than 100 square meters of Vinyl Tiles and a portion of artificial grass. This intensive practice allowed them to sharpen and firm-up their abilities in estimating, executing installations, achieving impeccable finishes, and delivering exceptional customer service.
At EISD, we are very particular about each of the young women and we are happy to have a 100% job placement rate. We would have
• 5 of them managing our Upper West Showroom and handling all installation services required
• 5 of them managing our Upper East Showroom and handling all installation services required
• 2 in Tamale managing our Showroom and handling all installations required
• 2 in Yendi managing our Showroom and handling all installations required
• 2 in Damongo managing our Showroom and handling all installations required
• 2 in Techiman managing our Showroom and handling all installations required
• 2 of the young women are being engaged by Alinea Foundation in the Eastern region.
We are proud to say that the 12-week Training Programme has been a transformative journey for these young women, offering them valuable insights into self-discovery, teamwork, self-reliance, and self-belief. Beyond acquiring essential skills that empower them to achieve financial independence, they have emerged as shining beacons of inspiration for numerous other young women aspiring to thrive in traditionally male-dominated trades.
We are grateful to WEE-NORTH for financing this project. WEE-NORTH is a five-year (2020-2025) project funded by Global Affairs Canada (GAC) and implemented by Alinea Foundation in Northern Ghana. We are equally grateful to Modern Floors Ghana for providing the technical know-how.
The young women have the world at their feet, and it behoves on all of us to support them. Their journey has only just begun.
After a hectic week of meeting many entrepreneurs, young and old, male and female alike, from pregnant women to nursing mothers and physically challenged, the EISD-NEIP Startup Acceleration Selection Train has covered all the districts in northern region across the three zones. The week has not only been successful but all the more insightful.
In all, we received a total of 568 applications and shortlisted 270 applicants for interviews across the three zones. 237 of the shortlisted applicants turned up for interviews and pitching, with 132 (56%) being females and 105 (44%) being males. There were 5 physically challenged applicants across the zones.
The businesses were in Agricultural services, Agribusiness and Processing, ICT, Energy, Education, Green Industries, Beauty and Personal Care, Hospitality, Water and Sanitation, Health, Clothing, and Accessories.
All of these applicants are out there breaking their backs trying to make a living; doing their very best to be relevant and make a difference in one way or another.
After sifting through all the interviews and business ideas presented, the team would be selecting the finalists to face off at the Regional Pitch Competition in a fortnight.
Stay tuned for more details on that.
Below are pictures across the zones.
