Kinbu SHS wins Fidelity Bank/Prince’s Trust International Enterprise Challenge

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Accra-Ghana, Feb 16, GNA— The Kinbu Senior High School in Accra is the winner of the 2022/23 Fidelity Bank and Prince’s Trust International Enterprise Challenge.
The school, which featured an all-female team, presented an innovative green business concept of turning palm kernel waste generated from making palm oil, into briquettes to replace the use of charcoal and wood cooking fuel.
The environmentally friendly alternative to traditional cooking fuel was compact and smokeless and devoid of any harmful effect to human health.
The school has, therefore, received seed money from Fidelity Bank to start the process of registering their business and to build on their business idea and turn it into a viable commercial entity.
The Challenge was organised by the Prince’s Trust International (PTI), in partnership with Fidelity Bank Ghana and Environment 360.
The programme aims at inspiring an entrepreneurial spirit and equipping young people with the requisite skill-set and know-how to run an enterprise.
It also seeks to encourage young people to be socially responsive and responsible, by channeling their creative prowess to make a positive impact on their community.
Additionally, the programme is geared towards developing the participants’ confidence and providing experienced guidance to enable them to make informed decisions about their future.
The inclusion of climate literacy modules provides participants with the principles of sustainable development, and the importance of considering environmental impact alongside profit.
Supported by business mentors, young participants explore the stages of setting up and running a business through a digital business simulation game.
Speaking at the event, Mr. Edward Effah, Founder of Fidelity Bank, expressed delight with the diligence and business acumen demonstrated by the students.
“Looking at the ideas presented by our students today, I can confidently say that Ghana, indeed, has a bright future,” he said.
Mr Effah who is also member of the Prince’s Trust International Africa Advisory Board, added that: “The ability of these young ones to develop environmentally friendly green business ideas and the confidence with which they articulated these ideas is quite impressive.
“I am, particularly, impressed with their level of environmental awareness, and I believe such programmes will go a long way to help Ghana and Africa achieve the SDGs.”
In all, 25 teams participated in the 2022/23 edition of the programme with five teams eventually shortlisted for the finals.
The five finalists were then given four sessions with a green business mentor to support each team to fine-tune their business ideas with particular emphasis on a cost and profit structure, as well as effective sales pitching techniques ahead of the final event.
The five teams are Team Mervs from Kinbu SHS, Team Doyen from Sacred Heart SHS, Teams Texco and Flow from His Majesty’s SHS and Team Phoenix from Brainy Brain SHS.
Mr Eric Frempong Amponsah, Marketing of Fidelity Bank, said education remained a key pillar for the Bank as it tried to serve the community through its social impact initiatives.
“Fidelity Bank is proud to partner with Prince’s Trust International on this programme and we look forward to working with Prince’s Trust International on future projects,” he added.
Prince’s Trust International was founded by King Charles III, of England, formerly the Prince of Wales, to help tackle the global crisis in youth unemployment.
The organisation works with local partners across 18 countries to deliver employability, education and entrepreneurship programmes, including the Enterprise Challenge.
Fidelity Bank is Ghanaian Bank, which currently serves approximately two million customers in 75 branches across Ghana.
The bank has two subsidiaries, Fidelity Asia Bank Limited, which is a wholly owned subsidiary in Malaysia and Fidelity Securities Limited, an asset management firm.