Ghanaian food company wins US investment prize

Wanjo Foods, an indigenous food company based in Accra has been announced the winner of a $25,000 investment prize at a pitch competition hosted by an American based organisation, Case Foundation.

Wanjo Foods processes indigenous crops into food products including juices, jams and syrups and employs hundreds of Ghanaians while Case Foundation invests in people and ideas that could change the world.

The outcome of the competition was disclosed to journalists on Tuesday during a tour to some enterprises by a member of the US Presidential Ambassador for Global Entrepreneurship and co-founder of Case Foundation, Mr Steve Case.

Mr Case’s tour covered SMSGH Solutions Limited, an indigenous IT company and a local fashion design company, Dignity DTRT, where he interacted with the heads of the companies.

The event dubbed: “Pitch for Accra,” brought together nine companies representing Ghanaian burgeoning entrepreneurial sector across a number of industries including fashion, agriculture, manufacturing and financial services.

“By leveraging its unique cultural assets, Accra is rising as a promising entrepreneurial ecosystem in West Africa and another proof point that Africa is open for business,” Mr Case said.

“Wanjo Foods is a testament to the increasing democratisation of entrepreneurship and the idea that promising young companies can be found anywhere,” he added.

Mrs Salma Salifu, Managing Director of Dignity DTRT, and Mr Alex Adjei Bram, Chief Executive Officer, SMSGH Solutions Limited in an interaction with Mr Case’s team highlighted some problems facing entrepreneurs in the country.

Among other things, they noted that lack of access to capital, market volatility, uncertainty in the power sector, particularly frequent power cuts, and unstructured local policies, largely impede entrepreneurial growth in the country.

Mr Bram said Ghanaian entrepreneurs require smart capital that goes with learning, training, mentoring as well as monitoring and evaluation to properly build knowledge and skills of local entrepreneurs to withstand the global competitive market.

He also called for a policy direction towards promoting intra-Africa trade to chart a new course for the African large, but unexploited, market.

Source: GNA