The startup ecosystem of Takoradi, Ghana’s third largest city is changing, innovators, designers, software engineersand developers and passionate individuals are emerging by the day, with ideas, products, projects, services and programs in responds to both challenges and potential business partners and investors,to help contribute towards sustainable development and growth of the region and nation at large.
Disregarding the discovery and subsequent commencement of production from the Jubilee oil field, the TweneboaEnyenraNtomme [TEN] field, the Sankofa Gyanamefield etc, all off shore of the Western Region of Ghana, of which Takoradi is the regional capital, these passionate and daring entrepreneurs are willing to sacrifice the luxury of their comfort zone working in the oil and gas sector, to rather start a business and impact their communities.
Technology ecosystems across Africa have witnessed incredible growth over the past few years, mainly boosted by a torrent of venture funds, development finance, corporate involvement, as well as ever-growing, innovative communities.
The hubs categories have been predominantly based on the type of support or facility offered to entrepreneurs, and include incubators, accelerators, university-based innovation hubs, maker spaces, technology parks, and co-working spaces.
The Takoradi Hive was official launch on the 15th of February 2020. The event was very brief but thorough and revealing.
Takoradi Hive sought to achieve its mission to connect and support young and active entrepreneurs and changemakers in the city to make a positive social impact”
The CEO, Mr. Erasmus Ackontook the opportunity to share the captivating story behind the Hive, He spoke about how his interest in information and communication technology which stems from his curiosity to know more about the field thereby enduring some business experiences and pains leading tothe birth of Takoradi Hive, a platform to help and impact the youth.
We must acknowledge the fact that, prior to launch of Takoradi Hive, institutions such as iCode, TED Hub and the likes, created the platform to incubate and accelerate startups, small and medium sized businesses in the region.
The manager, Mr. Bright Bruce-Acquaye,enlightened participants on what Takoradi Hive is and what services it provides. He presented packages such as, coworking, and event spaces and services including consulting, training and software development.
Theprojects unveiled by the Hive are:
StartUp Takoradi – a series of meetups and discussions centered around organizing and development of the Takoradi entrepreneurship ecosystem
Takoradi Hive Incubator – to train and develop 100 startups in Takoradi by 2030
Ewuraba– launched recently at the just ended International Day of Women and Girls forum organized at Takoradi Hive, is aimed at bridging the gender gap in the STEM industry focusing on young girls and women.
IT4Teens- to impact ICT knowledge to children from 8 – 18years for free.
In an exclusive with www.geraldodelima.comMr. Bright Bruce-Acquaye, theHive manager hintedthat IT4Teens was a previous benefactor of the Tigo Reach for Change Initiative which impacted a lot of young people in the western region and beyond.
Mr Ralph Menz of Naa Sika Susu – a micro-savings platform that assists to save small amounts of money for future use, was grateful of such a bold initiative and investment in Takoradi and pledged to commit his time and resource where applicable towards the realization of the Hives vision.
There was intense anticipation by enterprises and households alike that the arrival of the upstream oil and gas industry in Takoradi would fuel a boom in business and personal development opportunities that the much older solid mineral mining, cocoa and timber industries had largely failed to deliver.
Visions of Takoradi evolving into Africa’s version of Dubai were rife and the air of anticipation became so thick that government itself found itself needing to manage those expectations in order to forestall a collective feeling of communal disappointment when the expectations, inevitably, were not quite met.
The youth of Takoradi and the western region are hopeful that, the current development within the technology ecosystem will put the region on the spotlight thereby attracting the necessary investments it requires towards achieving the global goals as we pursue a decade of action and delivering sustainable development by the year 2030.
Source: Ghana|Atsu George Geraldo
