The Final Boot Camp of the 2nd edition of the E4Impact MBA started on September 20th and ended on September 25th, 2015, at Catholic Institute of Business and Technology of Accra (Ghana).
Critical aim of the Boot Camps is to support entrepreneurs in finalizing their business plan and pitch ahead of the Business Plan Competition. The objective is reached through different activities: courses, coaching sessions, self-assessments, group works and moments of sharing with successful entrepreneurs.
The courses that took place during this intensive week where three:
- Social Impact Measurement, run by prof. Bradley Googins, that aimed at helping students finalizing their work on the social/environmental impact of their business.
- Corporate Governance, taught by prof. Fred Awindaogo with the aim of exposing students to criteria and options in structuring the governance of their own business.
- Business Ethics, held by prof. fr. John Louis, focusing on ethical dilemmas that entrepreneurs face in Ghana by means of providing concrete cases to discuss.
During the Boot Camp the entrepreneurs had also the occasion to meet different successful entrepreneurs such as Sheila Azuntaba, CEO of Innovative Microfinance, Francois Kaboré, MBA Project Leader at CERAP (Ivory Coast), Peter Lansana, MBA Project Leader at Unimak (Sierra Leone) and Unisa Kamara, MBA Strategy Lecturer at Unimak.
While Sheila shared with the entrepreneurs her experience in a high-impact and high-growth company (Innovative Microfinance was indeed able to reach more than 2.500 customers over 5 years of operations); Francois, Peter and Unisa focused on how entrepreneurs should deal with the unknown, how to endure tough situations and build a stronger business out of them. The three guest speakers gave concrete examples of how they kept their respective universities operative during the 10-year unrest in Ivory Coast and Ebola outbreak in Sierra Leone.
The Boot Camp ended with the long awaited Business Plan Competition. It took place on September, 25th from 8.30 am to 12.30 pm and was a real hive of innovative ideas and sharing.
The decision was extremely difficult, but at the end the jury nominated as overall winner Mabel Ansah. This fabulous entrepreneur presented Premier Day Care, a business based in Accra that offers services to pick & drop Prep School students.
Eric Kojo Nti is the 1st Runner-up; his business Precise Medical Supply is a one-stop shop for medical & laboratories supply in Western Ghana. The 2nd Runner-up, Patience Mensah is the founder of Indulgence an enterprise that operates in the field of door-to-door home services.
Finally, Hammond Korsah is the entrepreneur that got the title of “Best Social Impact” for his Emah cleaners that produces natural cleaning products for hospitals.
The 2nd edition of the program will end with the MBA Graduation Ceremony at the end of January 2016. In that occasion 27 entrepreneurs will receive their Master degree delivered by Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore.