Written by: Anne Asantewaa Sackey

Marketing and Communications Director, GCIC

The issue of climate change has become more pressing than ever, and it is now widely recognized that it is imperative to transition towards a greener economy. However, the question remains: how can we achieve this transition? One approach is the facilitation of round table sessions, to drive discussions on policy alternatives.

GCIC recognizes that fiscal policy has the greatest potential for the speedy redress of policy shortcomings that have slowed the transition to a low carbon economy. Through PAGE-Ghana (Policy Alternative for Green Economy), with a focus on advocating for gender sensitive, green, and climate-resilient fiscal policy interventions, the GCIC hosts policy roundtables, undertakes research on policy alternatives and provides inputs into the Government’s Annual Budget process. The roundtables are an opportunity to demonstrate innovation and to improve the effectiveness of its policy advocacy program by focusing on advocating for green, climate-resilient fiscal policy interventions such as Carbon Budgets. 

The GCIC is mandated to hold four sessions each year, bringing together male and female stakeholders, such as government officials, business leaders, and environmental advocates, to discuss the opportunities and challenges of transitioning towards a greener economy. By engaging in open and constructive dialogue, participants identify biases, discuss gender-sensitive policy solutions and explore different policy alternatives and identify common ground for action in the green economy.

It is important to note that the Ghana Climate Innovation Centre’s work, supported by Global Affairs Canada, over a period of four (4) years, will incubate a total of 240 climate entrepreneurs in the small and growing business sector from across Ghana.

Under the overarching theme ‘Supporting the Green Economy of Ghana’’, four events were held on the 29th and 30th of March, 19^th April and 3^rd May 2023, with support from Ernst and Young (EY), GCIC’s monitoring and evaluation and PAGE partner. The key topics cut across various aspects of the green economy and included,

• Benefiting from The Global Carbon Trade Market: The Case of Green Businesses in Ghana
• Assessing The Adequacy of Incentives for Green Businesses in Ghana
• Sensitive Public Financial Management (Green PFM)- The Case of Ghana 

Key stakeholders who played a substantial role in the discussions comprised the Economic Strategy Research Division (ESRD) and Tax Policy Unit of the Ministry of Finance, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), the Ministry for Environment, Science, Technology, and Innovation (MESTI), the Institute for Environment and Sanitation Studies at the University of Ghana, A Rocha International, the Ghana Revenue Authority (GRA), and the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ).

Discussions concluded, with some observations, on the role of the government in Ghana’s pressing need to establish a Ghana Green fund so that revenue generated from the carbon market is utilized to enhance capacity and serve as an opportunity to attract additional financing, and that this role would need to be integrated into the Environmental Protection Agency bill, which is currently being drafted. It was also noted that although the Government of Ghana has taken significant steps in promoting environmental sustainability in recent years more incentives are crucial to attract businesses to invest in cleaner technologies. There also needs to be clearer tax policies on clean power sales, encouraging foreign direct investment (FDI) and improved processes in issuing permits.  

 With regards to small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), enterprises were advised to take advantage of existing funds accessible to organizations, such as the African Development Bank’s $20,000,000, available through Ecobank, for women-led SMEs in the green sector. Other key points raised included strengthening the National Designated Authorities (NDAs), developing the capacity of stakeholders in the sector, and supporting the creation of proposals and potential entities that seek accreditation in Ghana. The participants also emphasized the importance of mainstreaming women in climate issues and providing them with financial support.

Emphasis was also laid on the role of government agencies and their dissemination of policy information effectively and efficiently on green issues.  Agencies such as the National Commission for Civic Education (NCCE) needs to be equipped with the necessary logistics and expertise whilst the coordination between policy implementing agencies and their customers/beneficiaries is crucial to give attention to both “lesser” green issues as well as major ones, to ensure that all environmental issues are tackled from all angles.

Finally, all 4 events echoed that compliance with environmental regulations and incentives are critical factors in greening the economy.

 

On the 27th of April 2023, the Executive Director of GCIC, Ruka Sanusi had the honor to sit on a panel at the 14th Edition of the Cal Bank Webinar series, organized in collaboration with the UK Ghana Chamber of Commerce.   

The program focused on the importance of green finance as a tool for achieving sustainability and addressing climate change, and emphasized the need for collaboration, transparency, education, and innovation to ensure that green finance is accessible to everyone and has a positive impact on society and the environment.

Speaking on the panel, she talked about how the GCIC is helping SME’s to adapt and build resilience, saying: 

“SME’s are the highest employer in Ghana and the biggest contributor to the GDP. At GCIC, we are supporting Ghana’s small and growing business sector to be climate-responsive and climate-smart, so that in years to come, when their businesses are the big businesses of tomorrow, their leadership, strategies and operations will already be intentional about sustainability and climate change” 

“What we have in climate change is an opportunity to do things differently.  Currently, every day activities, for example, the way we cool our cars and homes, the fuel we use in our cars, agricultural and farming methods, are all activities that contribute to global warming greenhouse gas emissions. We have to find new ways of doing. And finding new ways of doing gives rises to new opportunities” She added. 

She also emphasized that ‘in years to come, green financing is going to be more than 90% of financing. “It will be more expensive to not be green than to be green.”  

The other panelist at the seminar were Cynthia Mintah, Head, Corporate & Institutional Banking – Cal Bank, Kobina Otu Okyne, Environmental Specialist, The World Bank and Philip Foster Aqua Africa. 

This year’s Oxford Africa Business Forum 2023, on 10th March 2023, will delve into discussions focused on sustainable transition and climate change, and the role of big business. The sessions will focus on identifying sectors which can play a leading role in addressing how to create a sustainable path to prosperity, how to fund this transition, and how African leaders can spearhead their own narrative.

The Ghana Climate Innovation Centre is very proud to announce that Ruka Sanusi, Executive Director of the GCIC, has been invited to be on the panel which will delve into “What does just transition mean for Africa?” scheduled for 14:00–14:45 GMT on the 10th of March, 2023.

Made up of two other speakers, NJ Ayuk, Executive Chairman, African Energy Chamber and Rolake Akinkugbe Filani, Chief Commercial Officer, Mixta Africa (ARM Group), the panel will look at actions to address climate change that also create particular challenges for social justice, and for the future of jobs in Africa and how with the right choices and measures, African countries can manage the trade-offs and achieve both their development and social objectives to make sure the process of greening African economies doesn’t worsen existing inequalities.

A business advisor supporting companies and their leaders in the areas of strategy, operations and transformation, with a gender and climate action lens, Ruka offers 3 decades of of international consulting experience in Europe and across sub-Saharan Africa. Her professional background and current role as Executive Director at the GCIC affords her a deep knowledge of matters pertinent to business/organizational strategy and operations, sustainability and climate action in the government and business sector; gender and entrepreneurship, as well as SME-growth.

The annual Oxford Africa Business Forum supports the Said Business School’s commitment to creating meaningful networks and opportunities within Africa for a global audience. The Forum also offers an opportunity to develop new and strengthen existing relationships with individuals and organizations who share their vision.

To read more about the speakers for the day, visit https://lnkd.in/dQCEeXV.
The Forum will be livestreamed via LinkedIn between 1pm – 6pm GMT and you can register here at https://lnkd.in/ec3WHJfU
If you are in London, you can also attend in person by registering on the same page.

Having successfully implemented two Cohorts of the Standard Chartered Women in Tech Incubator (SCWIT) Programme, the Bank in collaboration with the Ghana Climate Innovation Centre, an Ashesi University business incubator, this week, announced the third cohort of the Women in Tech Incubator (WIT) Programme  

Launched in Ghana in 2020, the Women in Tech Incubator programme is specifically designed for women-led or women-owned businesses that are applying technological innovation to their operations, or women owned tech start-ups.  

The SC Women in Tech Ghana Cohort 3 programme will focus on 20 shortlisted female-led businesses. The female business owners will take part in an incubator, where they will have access to subject matter experts. These experts will work with the help the businesses scale up and equip them with the necessary skills to thrive in today’s business environment. Upon completion of the training and workshops, the 20 shortlisted businesses will pitch their ideas/concepts and business plans to a panel of judges who will select the top five winners. They will each receive seed funding of $10,000 (GHS equivalent) from Standard Chartered Bank Ghana PLC. Additionally, these selected businesses will benefit from GCIC’s high value Mini MBA and the Women Entrepreneurs Transformation Programs, as well as mentoring and access to a wider network of other companies for these entrepreneurs. 

Commenting on the announcement, Mansa Nettey, Chief Executive, Standard Chartered Bank Ghana PLC said: ““Standard Chartered is committed to gender equity. The objective of the SC Women in Technology Incubator (SCWIT) programme is to help women-led entrepreneurs use technology to grow their businesses. The programme brings to life the Bank’s sustainability aspirations to help bridge the gender digital divide. We are driven by our ambition to lift participation and unleash the potential of women and small businesses in our communities.”  

Ruka Sanusi, Executive Director, Ghana Climate Innovation Centre expressed pride in the third edition of the programme and said: “Women entrepreneurs in Ghana have the potential to make an enormous impact. Our goal with this programme is to help them realize their vision, aligned with the country’s broader economic goals and Vision 2030. Collaborating with Standard Chartered to build the insights and skills and resilience needed by female entrepreneurs to thrive in the technology sector is a huge privilege and responsibility and ties into the core principles and mandate of the GCIC. We are committed to building the tenets upon which women entrepreneurs can enjoy mindset optimization, vision clarity and tried and tested structure that aligns with the operations of their business and their overall personal aspirations.” 

The Government of Ghana has been urged to deepen its efforts of engaging, learning from and supporting local communities to adapt to climate change. This recommendation came from participants of a one-day multi-stakeholder workshop organized by APRI -Africa Policy Research Institute (APRI), in collaboration with the Ghana Climate Innovation Centre (GCIC). The workshop was part of activities aimed at sharing research lessons from the project, ‘Climate Change Adaptation in Ghana: Strategies, Initiatives, and Practices’.

Dr Grace Mbungu, the Head of the Climate Change Program at the Africa Policy Research Institute (APRI), stated in her opening remarks that the ‘Climate Change Adaptation in Ghana: Strategies, Initiatives, and Practices Project’ is aimed at understanding the progress, challenges and opportunities of climate change adaptation in Ghana with a particular emphasis on locally-led adaptation. She stressed that locally- led adaptation empowers local stakeholders and gives communities a voice in decisions that directly affect their lives and livelihoods for greater impacts. According to her, Ghana’s climate adaptation progress and actions risk being ineffective if it fails to adequately prioritise local-specific views, concerns, innovations and voices of local stakeholders. She stated that “local communities that are at the frontline of climate change impacts are resourceful, capable, have deep understanding of their own complexities, and are always innovating to respond to climate change in unique ways. They often just need funding, decision-making spaces or other support to deliver their own effective adaptive solutions”.

Dr Albert Arhin, a Research Fellow at APRI and Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology, presented preliminary results of an ongoing research and engagement with national stakeholders and local communities across Northern, Middle belt, and coastal ecological zones. He showed that communities are actively participating in different actions to adapt to the changing climate and its impact on their lives and livelihoods —but not without challenges. He noted that climate-smart agriculture, community-based conservation actions, community-led irrigation systems, use of energy-efficient cooking stoves, recycling of waste, and local home elevation are a few of the strategies exhibited by communities to respond to different impacts of climate change on their livelihoods. He stressed, however, that districts and communities do not receive enough support for the design and implementation of climate change adaptation interventions; and that communities have limited access to the resources (financial, human, knowledge etc) and agency needed to implement local innovative solutions effectively. He concluded that the examples from the research provide important bedrock for Ghana, both central and local governments, to be deliberate in harnessing local knowledge, agency and power to support its adaptation efforts. “An intentional approach to learning from local-specific vulnerabilities and adaptation responses would help the Ghanaian government capture innovative and indigenous practices that are led by communities, which are likely to be more effective and long-lasting to build the resilience of the communities”, he remarked.

Dr Daniel Tutu Benefour, the Acting Director of the Climate Change Unit of the Environmental Protection Agency also made a presentation that highlighted key takeaways from the recently held climate change conference in Egypt (COP27) and their implications for Ghana’s progress towards advancing Locally Led Climate Change Adaptation in Ghana. He noted that some of the national priorities for adaptation include reducing vulnerability, building resilience infrastructure, strengthening early warning systems, and promoting livelihood opportunities for the youth and women in climate-vulnerable agriculture landscapes and food systems.

We tend not to realize the burden of the social and economic impact of climate change on the day-to-day activities of women; those who work in agriculture, and all other women who by virtue of living in a developing country are affected by social norms and inequalities

 

I recently read an article about the impact of climate change on women, a topic I had never really thought about in depth.  It made me look at how, over the years, climate change had impacted my own daily routine and spending and I couldn’t help but agree that climate changes have a much greater effect on women in general and women in agriculture. 

According to www.fao.org,  agriculture contributes to 54 % of Ghana’s GDP, and accounts for over 40 % of export earnings, while at the same time providing over 90 % of the food needs of the country In Ghana, about 52 % of the labor force is engaged in agriculture, 29 % of that labor force is in services and 19 % in industry. And approximately, 39 % of the farm labor force is made up of women.  Theowp.org  also states that about 80% of crops within Ghana are produced by women.  These figures paint a very clear picture of the contribution of women in an industry that is greatly affected by and vulnerable to climate change. 

Gjia.georgetown.edu explains that the disproportionate impact of climate change on women magnifies the existing gender inequities which also includes political disenfranchisement and economic marginalization. 

In Ghana, Africa and in many developing countries, gendered social norms and inequalities mean that women often hold positions burdened by environmental change, such as water collection and smallholder farming, which immediately feel impacts of drought or disaster. This even extends in non-farming women to whom the burden falls on to run the home which includes washing, cleaning, cooking, caring for children amongst others, all of which become more time consuming and challenging when climate change affects water and electricity supply, transportation, food supply and sanitation.

This is highlighted by www.globalcitizen.org, indicating that when droughts and extreme temperatures dry up sources of water, women must travel longer distances to collect water for cooking, cleaning, and managing gardens. As a result, they have less time to pursue other sources of income, which prevents them from becoming economically independent, which has a chain of negative impacts on quality of life for the whole family and the women themselves. 

The Ghana Climate Innovation Centre is continuously identifying the unique challenges that women entrepreneurs in the green space face, and has positioned itself to address some of the key challenges by developing the Women Entrepreneurs Transformation Program, which amongst other things, creates a supportive ecosystem for women in leadership positions, gives advice on access to finance and helps to overcome many other challenges that women face in running their businesses and in their daily lives. This will contribute to the development of skills and tools for women leaders who can in turn support women in agricultural labor as well as women in the workplace and in general. 

 

Forbes’ global statistics show that whilst limited funding is a challenge for both male and female entrepreneurs, women face more hurdles in accessing funding.  Only about 2.3% of venture capital goes to women entrepreneurs, and only 2% of women owned startups eventually generate a $1million as opposed to men who are 3.5 times more likely to achieve this number. Forbes goes on further to say that 48% of women in business also struggle because of the lack of competent advisors and mentors.

In Ghana, total early-stage entrepreneurial activity of women is at almost 60% and according to a study in 2019 conducted by the Mastercard Index of Women’s Entrepreneurship (MIWE), Ghana ranks as the country with the highest percentage of businesses owned by women – a whopping 46.4%!

However, beyond the financial and mentorship challenges, are other challenges like marginalization, social expectations, and personal and professional life balance. The GCIC Women Entrepreneurs Transformation Program (WETP) is a distinct aspect of the GCIC incubator that recognizes the peculiar challenges of female business leaders and attempts to resolve those challenges by creating safe spaces for gendered discourse.

The workshops were specifically and intentionally designed to support women to lead from the inside out, so that they are enabled to lead their businesses purposefully, authentically, and consciously, and ultimately have an impact on the transformation of Ghana’s economy, and especially the green economy.

Last week’s 2 day, WETP masterclass focused on Self Balance: Work + Life and was attended exclusively by the female members of the GCIC’s cohort 7 entrepreneurs. The masterclass was curated and facilitated by the Executive Director of GCIC, Ruka Sanusi, and explored themes of (work + life) balance, wellbeing, selfcare, and mental health.

COP27 at Sharm el-Sheikh, is reported to have brought together over 45,000 participants, with the shared goal of finding ways to ease the catastrophic effects of climate change, by limiting global temperature rise to 1.5°C beyond pre-industrial levels. The event provided a forum to review climate ambitions, ventilate ideas, disseminate critical innovations, research, and best practices, and to initiate strategic partnerships. Being the first COP in Africa, expectations heading into the conference were that issues important to the global south, i.e., climate change financing, and the ravaging effects of climate change, on developing countries especially, were to be top of the agenda. However, the possibility of such expectations being tapered by the challenging geopolitical landscape of the Russia-Ukraine War, and the consequent energy crisis in Europe, as well as the breakdown of ties between the USA and China over Taiwan, were also forecasted.

Despite mixed feelings, COP27 made progress, some of which mimic expectations going into the conference. The fact that the decades-long conversation of establishing a loss and damage fund eventually came to fruition, the launch of the African Carbon Market Initiative, the emphasis on the need to accelerate financial support to developing countries by developed nations to address access to finance inequities, the call on the World Bank and other multilateral development institutions to be more aggressive with scaling up private capital mobilisation in blended finance schemes, and the reproach to developed nations in particular, on the temptation of using the global geopolitical situation and the energy crisis, as a pretext to sliding back on climate change commitments, are reminiscent of these reflections.

The conference witnessed several dozens of forums at different levels, on different themes, and across different sectors, but with the common denominator of winning the climate change fight. Participating on behalf of the Ghana Climate Innovation Centre, our Entrepreneurship, Partnership, and Investments Director, Dramani Bukari, who attended the conference with Roland Ganah, our Finance Officer, reflected on some of the conversations that took place at the conference. According to them, the sessions covered several important topics including regenerative agricultural, methane emission concerns, fossil fuel non-proliferation, insurance for climate resilience, voluntary carbon markets in Africa, the role of innovation, science, data, and research, biodiversity restoration, private finance mobilisation, circularity or circular economy practices, decarbonisation of transport, steel and cement sectors, just energy transition, climate-resilient infrastructure, loss and damage, green entrepreneurship, and inclusivity of business driven climate action, among others.

On accelerating private capital mobilisation for resilience financing, the team observed that discussions often highlighted effective pricing of climate risks, expansion of investor base, innovative financing instruments, growing the involvement of multilateral development banks and development finance institutions, and strengthening of climate data, as key solution points. The Alliance of CEO Climate Leaders, which involves over 120 global CEOs in 26 countries across 12 industries, and who have committed to delivering corporate climate action in line with the Paris Agreement, actively advocated for their peers to join in accelerating the transition to net zero, by setting science-based environmental targets, collaborating within and across sectors, and contributing to harmonising reporting standards. Whilst such initiatives can help to expand private capital investor base in developed nations, their effectiveness may still be tempered by the general lack of obligation and attention to ESG investing by corporates and investors in the global south.

Institutional investors such as insurance companies, impact investors, and philanthropic capital, were frequently mentioned to be crucial as well to scaling up resilience finance, although insignificant at present. Herein, the declaration by 85+ African insurance companies, including two insurance companies in Ghana (Ghana Reinsurance PLC and GN Reinsurance Company), under The Nairobi Declaration on Sustainable Insurance, to underwrite $14 billion of cover for Africa’s climate risks by 2030, can be said to be a major step forward. The increasing inclusion of carbon credits in the net zero efforts of many global companies, is seen to be a significant opportunity for African countries for driving development priorities. However, concerns around greenwashing and the integrity of some credits, fair distribution of value, paucity of expertise, and the complex and uncertain nature of regulatory frameworks, were noted to be capable of impeding the potential of voluntary carbon markets in Africa.

On biodiversity day, the conversations suggested that the current focus on emissions reduction and carbon sequestration to address climate change, was a narrowed approach to solving an interlinked environmental crisis. And that, a broader systems level approach, involving biodiversity conservation, would go beyond the slow down climate change to supporting resilient ecosystems. There were calls on governments and companies, to move beyond net zero commitments to nature positive ones, underpinned by bioprospecting, ecotourism, and biodiversity offset and tokenised markets. The voluntary biodiversity credit market is however deemed to be more complex and currently suffer from the lack of an agreed method of biodiversity quantification and standards, but organisations such as rePLANET UK are offering thought leadership in this light.

In the context of energy transition, activists’ groups mainly pushed the issue of oil non-proliferation treaty, on the backdrop of the recent energy crisis in Europe and the resulting flurry of deals to expand gas production and exports in countries such as Egypt, Senegal, Angola, and Republic of Congo. Despite the push, not much progress was made in this regard. Some blamed the lack of progress on the large presence of oil companies and lobbyist at this year’s COP. However, African leaders appeared to be unanimous on the position that the fossil fuel phase out needs to be gradual as the financial resources therein, are still needed to lift a large majority of its citizens out of poverty. The role of green entrepreneurship featured in the discussions but can be said to have been a shadow of itself in the scheme of events. Organisations such as SEED, held a few side events to highlight the potential and raise awareness on the challenges of sustainable businesses. They also presented the Sustainable SME Action Agenda, outlining five areas of support needed for accelerating the impact of the sustainable business sector, as well as launched the Coalition for Innovation, Circularity and Entrepreneurship.

At the invitation of GCIC’s Advisory Board Chair, Christina Stanton, the team also had the rare privilege of attending a side event at which Atlantic Ocean hosted Speaker of the US House of Representative, Nancy Pelosi. The discussion emphasised a number of issues including America’s strong commitment to leading the fight against climate change, referencing the landmark Inflation Reduction Act, 2022 and climate change commitments therein.

Overall, COP27 was exciting, and insightful, but tainted with exhaustion and mixed prospects. That said, we look forward to building forward better in partnership with various institutions and professionals encountered during the event.

There are many benefits that businesses enjoy for implementing proper financial accounting systems. Having the right financial accounting systems help businesses to track their performance and financial position at every point in time. This assists businesses to make the right decisions and manage some of their risk exposures relating to their inventories, receivables, payables, revenues, expenses, cashflows and other fixed assets.

The Ghana Climate Innovation Centre held its second workshop for its Cohort 7 entrepreneurs, on Commercial Accumen, on the 15 and 16th of November 2022, at the Airport West Hotel in Accra.

The first day of the workshop focused on Building Financial Accounting Systems to Drive Sustainable Business Performance in the Small and Growing Business (SGB) and positions the entrepreneurs with the right knowledge and tools on how they can use financial accounting systems to drive sustainable business performance. At the end of the session, enterprises will be exposed to various accounting systems that can be deployed to build strong and robust financial systems. The facilitator, David Kadeh, Director of Finance – Ashesi University, a Chartered Accountant has a wealth of experience in helping small and growing businesses with their accounting systems. His expertise cuts across accounting systems restructuring, payroll management, financial planning & forecasting, treasury management and statutory reporting.

The second half of the masterclass on day 2, took the cohorts through a class on Taxation and Insurance for the Small and Growing Business.  This class provides a detailed and practical understanding of the tax and insurance regimes in Ghana as may be relevant for small and growing business owners and will help GCIC-assisted entrepreneurs optimize their tax obligations to reduce the burden of being compliant through effective tax planning, but will also take a look at how relevant insurance policies can be leveraged to mitigate future risks. This session was delivered by Mr. Kwami Williams, the co-founder and CEO of True Morringa and a seasoned entrepreneur and an alumnus of Ghana Climate Innovation Centre’s Incubation Programme. His in-depth knowledge on the topic and practical experience of how businesses can harness insurance and navigate the Ghana tax environment to grow their businesses is invaluable. He emphasized that “the adoption of financial accounting systems is very low among SGBs in Ghana. Businesses therefore lose out on the enormous benefits that accrue from having the right financial accounting systems in place. Equipping enterprises with the requisite knowledge and tools can be instrumental in improving the adoption of financial accounting systems in SGBs.”

The purpose of this Masterclass is to provide the entrepreneurs with the knowledge and tools on how they can use financial accounting systems to drive sustainable business performance and will provide the GCIC entrepreneurs with an understanding of financial accounting systems, assist them to identify various financial accounting software they can use in their various enterprises and guide GCIC entrepreneurs on how they can use financial accounting systems to drive performance in their enterprises.

A member of the cohort, at the end of the event commented that ‘ I now know how to track, understand, interpret and communicate my performance, and therefore I am able to assess expected risks and returns on my investments. I wish I had all this information earlier in my business’.

In February 2022, nineteen (19) entrepreneurs from across Ghana were inducted into Cohort 6 of GCIC’s incubator, and School of Sustainable Entrepreneurship. Nine months later, on the 23rd of November 2022, the Cohort has exited the incubator, at a ceremony to mark the event. The cohorts’ sectors of operation span across domestic waste management, energy efficiency, greening and climate smart agriculture and are in eight (8) out of the sixteen (16) regions in Ghana.

The exit event also included the premiering of the Centre’s annual Climate Focus documentaries that showcases Cohort 6 entrepreneurs’ climate-smart innovations and their impact on the community and country. The documentaries cover businesses from each of GCIC’s five key economic sectors and greening businesses from across the country with emphasis on representing male and female businesses equally and will be subsequently aired on tv3, on Monday 28th November, Wednesday 30th November and Friday 2nd November 2022. The documentaries highlight how the entrepreneurs during their incubation with the GCIC, are pioneering adaptive and mitigating solutions for climate change issues in Ghana, how they are impacting their communities as well as spotlighting the results of their capacity building.

The event kicked off with an electrifying spoken word performance by Nana Adwoa Adoma and was attended by several thought leaders in the climate space including the Director of Development and Head of Cooperation at the High Commission of Canada in Ghana, Mrs. Kathleen Flynn-Dapaah, Fosuah Adjei, Director, Climate Change at Ghana’s Forestry Commission, Yvette Tetteh, CEO, Pure & Just and GCIC Alumni and Abdul-Nasser Alidu, Marketing and Strategy consultant as well as members of the GCIC’s Cohorts 6 and 7.

To conclude the event, an interactive panel made up of a panel of three industry experts, and moderated by Ruka Sanusi, the Executive Director of the GCIC spoke in depth the importance of collective action and investment in solutions to address climate change mitigation and adaptation.

Nasam Brand, a Cohort 6 member and a Ghanaian clean stove manufacturer, which designs and manufactures clean wood stoves, gas stoves and charcoal powered cookstoves has recently signed a six-month contract with EKI Energy Services Limited (EKIESL).

Based in India, “EKIESL” is a Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) listed company, working in the realm of “climate change, carbon credit and sustainability solutions” across the globe. Offering strategic and profitable solutions to businesses and organizations globally to achieve their climate ambition, the company contributes significantly for the development of a climate resilient global economy.

The contract will cover a pilot project of the production of 20,000 Charcoal Cookstoves and which will result in a five-year contract. The cookstoves will be distributed in rural areas within the Central and Western Regions of Ghana.

NASAM’s wood and charcoal stoves have been rigorously tested and have an impressive thermal efficiency of 33% and 30% respectively, culminating in more than 67% fuel savings. Through GCIC, NASAM has been able to mechanise its operations, conducted ISO testing requirements, improved cookstove efficiency and carbon emission reduction potential. Also, under GCIC incubation programme, NASAM has been able to significantly contribute to CO2 emissions avoided, which improved from 7,849 metric tons to 62,791 metric tons in 3 months, primarily due to the award of a sub-contract for the supply of 24,000 cookstoves.

The GCIC is extremely proud of NASAM for the great strides they have made in contributing to climate control and emissions avoidance. The company is a testament to the GCIC’s objectives of supporting businesses who are developing profitable and locally appropriate solutions for climate change mitigation and adaptation. Evidently, our support has enhanced production capacity, quality of cookstoves and investor readiness of NASAM.

The Ghana Climate Innovation Centre (GCIC) is committed to supporting female entrepreneurs in its Incubator with training and opportunities that will help them scale up their enterprises and empower them with the tools to grow sustainable eco-friendly businesses. 

As part of the training offered to female entrepreneurs in the GCIC Incubator, GCIC has held a two-day masterclass aimed at equipping them with the skills to compete on a larger business scale while still engaging in best practices that reduce their carbon footprint.  

Female led enterprises are often met with peculiar challenges in business, including barriers to financing their businesses. The World Bank has asserted that, barriers to accessing finance are generally associated with gender differences in income, legal rights, and lack of access to legal identification, credit histories, collateral, and technology.1  

The two-day masterclasses were facilitated by Ruka Sanusi, the Executive Director of GCIC and Leticia Browne, Director at Intelligent Capital Group. On the first day of the masterclass, Ruka held a session called Mastering the Marketplace where she shed light on the features and characteristics of the marketplace whilst identifying mechanisms and measures necessary to ensure that women in business are fully leveraging their business’s value proposition in the marketplace. 

According to Ruka, passion alone will not sustain a business owner on their entrepreneurial journey. One needs strong knowledge and understanding of the marketplace in their sphere of work, as well as a deep appreciation of what that marketplace needs for them to operate successfully and sustainably in the medium to long term. For the entrepreneur, mastering the marketplace is vital for going the long haul in business. 

Ruka also engaged participants on the tenets of the marketplace – from having a strong compelling business vision and purpose, to successfully and deliberating identifying preferred clientele, delivering a responsive branding, marketing, and communications framework that is responsive to the needs, wants and expectations of that niche clientele, to choosing and leading a team whose values are aligned to that of the business and to that of the target clientele.  

The second session of the masterclass, led by Leticia Browne, focused on elevating investment readiness. She explored ways to properly plan and package businesses to potential financiers in a manner that will attract the right type of investments, to grow and sustain the lifespan of an enterprise. She also spoke extensively about the challenges women face in business such as imposter syndrome and recommended countering feelings of incompetence and negativity with intentional words of affirmation and positivity.