STORIES

The Ghana Climate Innovation Centre to hold its 2nd annual thought leadership symposium – Incubating Innovation- on 7th June 2019

Climate Action || Enterprise Agility || Economic Prosperity

Organized by the Ghana Climate Innovation Centre (GCIC), a pioneering green business incubator with a unique focus on developing SME ventures and entrepreneurs in Ghana’s ‘Green Economy’, the 2nd annual thought leadership symposium, Incubating innovation, will convene on the 7th June 2019 at the Accra Marriott Hotel.

This year’s edition convenes under the theme ‘Climate Action, Enterprise Agility and Economic Prosperity’, and will bring together entrepreneurs, venture capitalists,  incubator managers, donors and policy makers in Ghana’s green entrepreneurial ecosystem, plus a host of distinguished climate innovation practitioners and entrepreneurs from across the continent.

The symposium creates an international platform for knowledge sharing, interaction and engagement amongst stakeholders, premised on the principle  that entrepreneurial ecosystem interventions, responsive financial and technical support, and redistributive modifications in fiscal policy for green private sector-led growth (particularly the SME sector, the largest economic sector in most African economies) are needed to deliver social and economic transformation as well as climate action for an economically and ecologically prosperous world.

Some of the keynote speakers and panelist at this year’s Incubating Innovation Symposium include:

  • Henry Kerali, World Bank Country Director for Ghana, Sierra Leone and Liberia
  • Michael Ehst, Senior Private Sector Specialist with the World Bank’s Finance, Competitiveness and Innovation Global Practice.
  • Ruka Sanusi, Executive Director, Ghana Climate Innovation Centre
  • Achenyo Idachaba-Obaro, founder of MitiMeth, an international award-winning climate innovation enterprise in Nigeria.
  • Djabanor Narh, Partner, Advisory Services – EY Ghana
  • Joe Tackie, CEO – Global Entrepreneurship Solutions and former Chief Director at the Ministry of Business Development
  • Fumani Mthembi,  co-founder of the Pele Energy Group, the largest black-owned independent energy and development company in South Africa.
  • Cordie Aziz, Founder and Executive Director – Environment360
  •  Hubert Ruzibiza – CEO of the Rwanda Green Fund, one of the largest climate finance institutions in Africa..

The strictly by invitation symposium will also include sessions with an international award-winning female green business entrepreneur, a case study of EY’s global Entrepreneur of the Year program, and the launch of The Ghana Climate Ventures Facility.

The Ghana Climate Innovation Centre (GCIC) is a pioneering business incubator whose objective is to support entrepreneurs and ventures involved in developing profitable and locally appropriate solutions to climate change mitigation and adaptation in Ghana. The Centre’s key focus is on supporting climate innovation SMEs operating within the areas of energy efficiency, domestic waste management, solar energy, water supply management and purification, and climate-smart agriculture. GCIC is part of the World Bank Group’s infoDev Climate Technology Program, and is supported by the governments of Denmark and the Netherlands.  The  Centre is managed by a consortium led by the Ashesi University, with  Ernst & Young Ghana, SNV Ghana, and the United Nations University Institute for Natural Resources in Africa as implementing partners. 

Incubating Innovation is the Ghana Climate Innovation Centre’s annual thought leadership symposium for key actors in Ghana’s entrepreneurial ecosystem. Media partners for Incubating Innovation 2019 are Citi FM and BFT