McDan to provide funding to young entrepreneurs

The McDan Group has begun a process to establish an Equity Fund to provide funding to young entrepreneurs.

The Executive Chairman of the McDan Group, Mr Daniel McKorley, announced the new project at a news conference in Accra yesterday to unveil the 10 finalists for the McDan Entrepreneurship Challenge.

He said applicants would be required to present their business models to a panel of judges, which would in turn vet the proposals and recommend funding when the proposal met the set requirements.

Mr McKorley said it was his dream to support as many young entrepreneurs as possible to propel them to create more jobs to boost the economy.

He said the project would be announced for the youth to apply when the modalities were finalised.

McDan Entrepreneurship Challenge

The McDan Entrepreneurship Challenge is a 13-week reality TV show, an initiative of Today’s Entrepreneurs Network Ghana (TEN Ghana) and sponsored by the McDan Group of Companies.

It identifies and nurtures entrepreneurs with viable businesses to start and scale up their own ventures.

The show offers participants the opportunity to pitch their business ideas to a four-member jury in a period of 13 weeks.

It also offers the contestants the chance to benefit from a mentoring and coaching programme.

At the end of the competition, one of the participants will walk away with $100,000 seed funding for his/her business.

The final contest is expected to be held at the end of September 2019, after which entries will be opened for Season Two.

Finalists

The 10 finalists for the McDan Entrepreneurship Challenge are Agrizone, Agrifund, Alkoshear, Kente Master, Seepig Farms, Better Services, Mydafoods, Tiger House, Coliba and Premor Tea.

They were shortlisted from 20 businesses.

Mr McKorley congratulated the finalists and urged them to put in their best to clinch the ultimate prize.

He said the project was geared towards propelling them to be change agents and employers for large numbers of job seekers in the near future.

Mr McKorley said it was the dream of his group to see the businesses of the young entrepreneurs grow into multi-million dollar businesses in future.

“It’s not about the McDan Group but it is about the opportunity we are creating for young entrepreneurs,” he stated.

Encouragement

The Executive Director of the Chartered Institute of Marketing (CIMG), Mr Kwabena Agyekum, and the reigning Marketing Woman of the Year, Mrs Yvette Tekpe, congratulated the finalists and encouraged them to strive to give of their best in the competition and beyond.

They commended Mr McKorley for living up to his position as the reigning Marketing Man of the Year.

One of the 10 finalists, Prince Agbata, on behalf of his colleagues, expressed gratitude to the McDan Group and all the stakeholders in the entrepreneurship challenge for their support.

He assured the stakeholders that the finalists would live up to expectation.

Background

The maiden edition of the McDan Entrepreneurship Challenge was launched on March 12, 2018, and it attracted more than 7,000 entries from young people across the country.

After a rigorous screening process by a team of consultants, some 600 applicants were shortlisted for the semi-finals.

The semi-finalists were taken through several entrepreneurial tests and activities after which they were screened and reduced to 20 businesses out of which the top 10 businesses for the final pitch were chosen.

Writer’s email: mabel.baneseh@graphic.com.gh