Start-up Act Ghana: Community Voices from the ground
Strengthening digital innovation is a key instrument to reduce poverty and achieve sustainable and inclusive development in Africa. Especially in Ghana, which is currently facing economic challenges, the evolving tech entrepreneurship ecosystem can support a positive development and offer a way out of the precarious situation. What is needed is a supportive legislative framework for entrepreneurs and start-ups to grow their businesses, scale to other markets and protect their intellectual property. Exactly this is the aim of the Ghana Start-up Act.
Hybrid event to capture voices from the ground
Make-IT in Africa empowers entrepreneurial and innovation ecosystems to support digital transformation in Africa. In co-developing the Start-up Act in Ghana, Make-IT in Africa is particularly concerned to bring in the voices of the community itself. So that the Start-up Act includes the needs and interests of the stakeholders in the best possible way. In this context, together with the National Entrepreneurship and Innovation Programme (NEIP), the Ghana Hubs Network, the Ghana Chamber of Young Entrepreneurs and i4Policy Make-IT in Africa brought together various stakeholders from the Ghanaian tech entrepreneurship ecosystem. At a hybrid event on April 28th the draft of the Act was presented to 80 tech entrepreneurs & ecosystem enablers to discuss and review it as well as to capture their voices and interests in the Act.
From entrepreneurs and regional stakeholders to parliament
During this productive session there were lively discussions about a clear and definitive description of start-ups, certification processes, funding or the protection of intellectual property. Regional stakeholder engagements will follow the process as part of next steps to broaden the consultations, validate earlier findings and recommendations to give the Act a national character. Eventually, an economic impact analysis is expected to be conducted prior to the presentation of the Act in parliament to justify provisions of the various financial reliefs and support proposed, as well as long term economic benefits that accrue to the state.
Further links
Ghana Startup Act – Co-creating the Ghanaian Startup Act