The Ghana Climate Innovation Centre offers specialized programs for entrepreneurs in the green economy that are tailored to the needs of both male and female business owners, and this includes gender-sensitive business advisory services to ensure that t SMEs led by both genders can participate in the business sector on an equal footing.
One of these innovative programs is the Inclusive Masculinity program, which explores the evolving concept of masculinity in the context of changing social norms and that men no longer need to conform to traditional hypermasculine behaviors to be accepted in society. This week, GCIC’s Cohort 7 male business were privileged to benefit from this program, as the last workshop of their incubation.
The sessions were facilitated by Kwami Williams, CEO and Co-founder of Moringa Connect and Alloysius Attah, founder and CEO of Farmerline.
Kwami Williams is an alumni of the GCIC Business Incubator. His company, Moringa Connect, uses its vertically integrated supply chain to turn nutritious moringa leaves and seeds into moringa-powered superfood beverages, snacks, and clean beauty products, mitigating the effects of climate change in Ghana through climate smart farming of the moringa crop.
Farmerline on the other hand, supports Smallholder Farmers to adopt drought-resistant seeds, use a combination of organic and inorganic fertilizers, crop rotation best practices and transition to solar-powered equipment, at scale.
The masterclass, titled “Masculinity and entrepreneurial leadership” was carefully curated for male GCIC entrepreneurs to learn from the lived experiences of their fellow men, who have painstakingly nurtured and established a successful business or businesses. The session was primarily interactive and involved Q & A’s between the facilitators and the male entrepreneurs in attendance and touched on self-leadership, sustainable entrepreneurship, operational and managerial challenges of running a business, as well as work-life balance for the modern man who does not limit himself to financial provision only.
Speaking on the expectations and pressure of leading a business, Kwami Williams said, “Because you are the leader, there is little room for mistakes. And when you do make mistakes, your mistakes are magnified because the people who work for you can see and feel your energy.”
He advised entrepreneurs to be mindful of their self-care and mental health, even in the face mistakes.
On compliance with statutory and regulatory frameworks, Alloysius Attah advised strict compliance by sharing “If you want to do well, you must follow the rules. You are young and people are suspicious of young people sometimes. We paid one of the big four Consulting Firms to audit us because we wanted to preserve the integrity of our work. The last thing we want is for people to doubt the integrity of our work.”
The masterclass concluded with a networking session between the facilitators and the participants.
