Ghana to participate in entrepreneurship week celebration

Accra, Oct 12, GNA - Ghana would join more than 120 countries to celebrate Global Entrepreneurship Week (GEW), from 14th to 20th November this year.

The GEW is a worldwide campaign dedicated to inculcating the spirit of entrepreneurship into young people, raise awareness of its importance in growing economies, advancing human welfare and empowering the youth to tak= e action on their dreams of becoming entrepreneurs. These were contained in a statement signed by Mr Stephen Gyasi Kwaw, Founder/Chief Executive Officer of Youth Enhancement International (YEI), copied to Ghana News Agency in Accra on Wednesday.

It said that the YEI has been the official country host for Global Entrepreneurship week in Ghana since 2008, and was preparing for the fourth annual Global Entrepreneurship Week celebration (GEW-Ghana). The statement said the Global Entrepreneurship Week-Ghana 2011 would connect students, educators, entrepreneurs, business leaders, employees, non-profit leaders, government officials and many others to celebrate the power of entrepreneurship and ignite the nation's consciousness about the importance of being entrepreneurial. It said activities were been planned by more than 35, 000 partner organizations in more than 100 countries including Ghana. The statement said the event was expected to bring two of Ghana's to= p successful entrepreneurs to share their entrepreneurial career journey and experience with aspiring and start-up entrepreneurs on how they started, mistakes they had made, challenges they faced and how they dealt with those challenges. It said the event would be climaxed with questions and answers session= , a programme which is also part of global entrepreneurship week's signature events, which would bring together aspiring entrepreneurs to share ideas an= d form teams to create businesses. The statement said the programme inspires, educate, and empower individuals and teams to form potential sustainable high grow firms within 54 hours. It said: 93the team to be formed within 54 hours would be given the opportunity to pitch their ideas to a panel of judge, who would award the team with best innovative idea with a cash prize and in-kind business support to turn the idea into a profitable sustainable business while their idea will also be entered into the Global Start-up Bartle. "We encourage everyone in Ghana to take part in a Global Entrepreneurship Week activity to promote innovation, creativity, job creation and economic growth. "We will overcome economic stress through our entrepreneurial skills and innovation that have become even more critical than ever before for our economic success. We must nurture the entrepreneurial spirit of our young people to ensure our nation prospers well into the future. We must encourag= e our young people to have the confidence, education and drive to create thei= r own opportunities." The statement said these opportunities could be enhanced by initiative= s such as Global Entrepreneurship Week, where international collaboration could open many doors.

It said last year, more than 5 million people in Ghana were reached through main stream media and activities with messages on the importance of entrepreneurship in driving job creation and economic growth. The statement said Global Entrepreneurship Week was supported by a growing network of business icons and government leaders from around the world, including President John Evans Atta Mills, British Prime Minister David Cameron, Former British Prime Minister Godwin Brown, French President Nicolas Sarkozy, USA President, Barack Obama, USA Secretary of State, Mrs Hillary Clinton, Australia Prime Minister Kevin Rudd among others.