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Sunday, 8 March 2015

World Bank-supported bootcamp jump-started the 20 most innovative green startups in Ghana

Twenty Ghanaian high-potential startups have concluded the first national bootcamp designed to promote local entrepreneurship and innovation in clean technologies. The initiative was organized last week by the soon-to-be-launched World Bank/infoDevs Ghana Climate Innovation Center (GCIC). The bootcamp aimed to identify and launch growthoriented Ghanaian e n t r e p r e n e u r s and new ventures involved in d e v e l o p i n g profitable and locally relevant solutions to climate change. Several studies, including the World Banks report Economics of Adaption to Climate Changeand Ghana's National Climate Change Policy Framework, have stressed how significant the impact of climate change will be on Ghana's economy, people and development. Crop yields are predicted to decline by 7% by 2050 due to higher temperatures, while sea levels are expected to rise over one meter this century, causing the erosion of 1,120 square kilometers of land.

Ghana is highly vulnerable to the impacts of climate change and as such, its prospects for continuous growth will depend on the country's ability to build competitive and climate-resilient industries, said Yusupha B. Crookes, World BankCountry Director. In line with the National Climate Change Policy, by accelerating the development of local clean technology companies the Ghana Climate Innovation Center will help reduce the countrys vulnerability to climate change, while also creating jobs and promoting investments in new clean technologies.

The twenty clean-tech companies in the bootcamp were competitively selected after a nation-wide campaign that led to almost 90 applications in a few weeks. Only the companies with the highest level of innovation, technical expertise, and potential for commercial success were invited to the bootcamp. The bootcamp consisted of an intense two-day training program designed to refine the entrepreneursbusiness concepts and a pitching contest held in front of a panel of local investors and industry experts. The bootcamp is the first of a series of activities that the Ghana Climate Innovation Center will implement to support the countrys National Climate Change Policy. After its official inauguration in mid-2015, the center will provide up to 200 local companies with business facilities and a targeted suite of services that includes early-stage financing, technology commercialization, business development and capacity building support.

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