Entrepreneurs to Benefit From Impulse Start-Up UM6P Accelerator Programme

By Kingsley Asare

Efforts to promote African start-ups and entrepreneurs have received a boost with the opening of the Impulse Start-up UM6P Accelerator programme.

The $250,000-prize programme is aimed at supporting start-ups and entrepreneurs in Africa working on innovative Agritech, Biotech, Mine tech, Materials Science and Nanotech projects.

An initiative of Mohammed VI Polytechnic University in Morocco, the programme being developed in partnership with MASSCHALENGE and the Ministry of Food and Agriculture, is being funded by OCP Group and OCP Africa, a leading producer and supplier of fertiliser in Africa.

Speaking at an event to introduce start-ups and entrepreneurs in Ghana to the programme, the Director of the Impulse Accelerator Programme Adnane Alaoui Soulimani said the programme was developed by the Mohammed VI Polytechnic University funded by the King of Morocco in 2017 to support agribusiness start-up companies in Africa.

The move, he said, was to promote agriculture in Africa and educate the youth to see agriculture as business.

Mr Soulimani said the programme is opened from now until October this year and urged start-ups in Ghana to register for the programme.

He said the winners of the programme would, among other things, undergo four months mentorship and training programme in Morocco and would be taught good agribusiness strategies for access to business and technical experts of the OCP group.

Mr Soulimani said the team would team would also embark on a road show to Cote d'Ivoire, Ethiopia and Nigeria to showcase the programme to start-ups and entrepreneurs in those countries.

The Business Development and Supply Chain Manager for OCP Ghana Limited, OCP Ghana Limited, Mark Segbefia said OCP's mission was to empower the youth to help them lead independent lives.

"The future of Africa is the youth. The youth of Africa who are below 18 years will drive the change in Africa and such people needed to be identified and supported," he said.

Mr Segbefia said agriculture from a cultural perspective in many centuries had never been considered as a business, stressing that the project would educate the youth to see agriculture as a business.

He said the beneficiaries of the programme would be exposed to the business opportunity in the OCP Group and the Mohammmed VI Polytechnic University.

Read Full Story