Two Ghanaian start-ups have emerged as the winners of the French Development Agency (AFD’s) Inclusive and Digital Business (AFIDBA) challenge 2020, grabbing the grant amount of €30,000. The two promising local start-ups with great potentials, are Trisolace, an agribusiness startup and Giddins, a shoe production startup from Ghana.
The challenge, which was launched in 2019 in Ghana, Senegal, Burkina Faso and Morocco, is targeted at supporting inclusive and digital small businesses in Africa for economic growth. Giddins Ghana Ltd. was awarded €13,100 whilst Trisolace Company Ltd. walked away with €15,000. Both start-ups are to access 50 percent of the sum amount as a grant and the other half as an interest free loan to expand and scale up production capacity.
Director of AFD, Dr Christophe Cottet, indicated that the AFIDBA project encourages and facilitates the development of inclusive and digital young businesses. It has a two-pronged approach: an incubation programme that supports the entrepreneur in the early stages of their project, and the acceleration programme, aimed at more mature start-ups wishing to scale up.
French Ambassador to Ghana, Anne Sophie Avé, stated that through this project, France is strengthening, promoting and empowering these start-ups along their entrepreneurship journey. This in turn goes to strengthen the local economic fabric in a sustainable and inclusive manner and to promote digital and social innovation.
Founder and CEO of Giddins Ghana Ltd, Gideon Dendzo expressed his heartfelt gratitude to AFD and the French Embassy for the comprehensive technical support and topping it up with a funding assistance to ensure they get to the next stage of their entrepreneurship development.
