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First Biz Camps for Youth and Entrepreneurship Training to Teachers in Ghana

First Biz Camps for Youth and Entrepreneurship Training to Teachers in Ghana

Published 06-23-03

Submitted by TechnoServe, Inc.

ACCRA, GHANA - TechnoServe (TNS) and the National Foundation for Teaching Entrepreneurship (NFTE) will launch their"Business Skills for Youth" program in Ghana from June 30 - July 4 in Accra, providing intensive training for 25 Ghanaian teachers selected from universities and polytechnics in the Northern, Upper East, Upper West, Central and Volta Regions of Ghana. Once they have successfully undergone this training, the 25 Ghanaian teachers will be certified by NFTE as "Certified Entrepreneurship Teachers" and will be provided with the NFTE curriculum to use in their schools.

From July 7 - 16, two NFTE-certified teachers from the Northern Region will join NFTE instructors and TechnoServe staff to conduct Ghana's first-ever "BizCamp" -- an intensive and interactive training program -- in Tamale, the Northern Regional capital. Up to 30 young secondary school and university graduates and budding entrepreneurs from the Northern Region will attend the BizCamp to learn the fundamentals of entrepreneurship and what it takes to start and run a successful business. In addition to classroom seminars, workshops and guest lectures on many topics -- including "elements of a business plan," "supply and demand," "successful negotiating," "record keeping and cost analysis," "market research," and "production and distribution chains" -- BizCamp students will take field trips to a local factory and bank to learn about quality control, pricing, inventory, packaging, merchandizing and all of the other elements needed to produce and successfully market a product.

During the BizCamp, students will also work with instructors and mentors to prepare individual business plans. The students will present their business plans to a panel of judges, who will select the winners during a daylong "Business Plan Competition" on July 16.

TechnoServe staff and two NFTE "certified entrepreneurship teachers" from each of the remaining four regions will replicate the Tamale BizCamp in the Upper East and Central Regions concurrently, on July 21 - 30, at Bolgatanga and Cape Coast, while BizCamps for the Upper West and Volta Regions take place concurrently, from August 4 - 13, 2003 at Wa and Ho. Participants at all BizCamps will be given the same experiential exposure as in the Tamale program.

"The students and teachers will benefit enormously from this intensive business training," said Nick Railston-Brown, Country Director of TechnoServe/Ghana. "And we hope that a number of promising entrepreneurs with good business plans will emerge, so that we can assist them to launch new businesses that will create jobs in Ghana."

"NFTE is excited to continue our dynamic relationship with TechnoServe through teacher training and BizCamps? in Ghana," said Victor Salama, NFTE's Director of Program Partnerships. "The level of commitment of TechnoServe's staff in Ghana is remarkable and will surely lead to extensive educational opportunities for both participant teachers and students."

By mid-August, 150 "business-literate" young entrepreneurs in Ghana will graduate from BizCamps with skills to start and operate successful businesses, and 25 "certified entrepreneurship teachers" will be able to incorporate the entrepreneurship curriculum into the teaching programs of their various institutions.

TechnoServe is a U.S.-based non-profit international development organization that was founded in 1968. TechnoServe currently operates in 10 African and Latin American countries -- El Salvador, Ghana, Honduras, Kenya, Mozambique, Nicaragua, Peru, South Africa, Tanzania and Uganda --where it is helping entrepreneurial men and women in poor rural areas to build businesses that create income, opportunity and economic growth for their families, their communities and their countries. TechnoServe has been operating in Ghana since 1971 -- with offices in Accra (headquarters), Wa, Bolgatanga, Tamale, Techiman, Kumasi, Kade, and Cape Coast -- where it is helping to build businesses in the pineapple, cashew, palm oil, grains, legumes and shea butter subsectors. In partnership with the Aspen Institute and their local partner, Databank Financial Services of Ghana, TechnoServe also launched the Africa Leadership Initiative in Ghana in March 2002. This four-year program, involving 20 leaders drawn primarily from Ghana's business sector, is designed to foster a new generation of community-spirited business leaders in Africa and encourage them to play a more active role in promoting equitable social and economic development in their country.

The National Foundation for Teaching Entrepreneurship's mission is to teach entrepreneurship to low-income young people so that they can become economically productive members of society by improving their academic, business, technology and life skills. NFTE was founded in 1987 and began as dropout prevention and academic performance improvement program for students in America's inner cities. To date NFTE has trained over 55,000 students and certified over 2,000 teachers at the NFTE University. NFTE impacts students' basic academic and life skills through a hands-on entrepreneurship curriculum that reinforces mathematics, reading and writing, and develops skills in critical thinking, teamwork, communication and decision-making.

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TechnoServe, Inc.

TechnoServe, Inc.

TechnoServe is leading a movement that empowers people in the developing world to build businesses that break the cycle of poverty. Growing enterprises generate jobs and other income opportunities for poor people, enabling them to improve their lives and secure a better future for their families. Since its founding in 1968, the U.S.-based nonprofit has helped to create or expand thousands of businesses, benefiting millions of people in more than 30 countries. The Financial Times has rated TechnoServe one of the top five NGOs for corporate partnerships. Charity Navigator has also awarded its highest Four Star ranking to TechnoServe.

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