He said with the adoption of PQ businesses could thrive and grow and remain competitive and meet internationally accepted quality standards.

Mr Sarpong was speaking at the first annual Open house presentation of the Design and Technology Institute (DTI) Industrial Innovation Business to Business (B2B) event in Accra.

A special feature at the Open House was the outdooring of four Small Medium Enterprise and their machines developed through DTI Community Innovation Project.

The businesses outdoored comprised two sole proprietorships and two partnerships, which have produced light machines for the agricultural and hospitality industries.

There are MEKFIX Engineering, Haki Agro Engineering, Lysarp Field Engineering and JEYS Engineering.

The four finalists were chosen from a shortlist of 17 teams who began a six-month training programme in problem identification, research, ideation, and prototype development on May 13, 2021.

The winners were chosen by a panel of judges from industry and academia based on their originality, practicability, potential impact, and scalability.

The winning prototypes were advanced into the DTI Incubation Hub with a $25,000 seed capital to gain extensive business management, financial and operational resources, advisory services, and investment opportunities at DTI within a year.

The Community Innovation Project is an acceleration programme designed to provide student-led enterprises with the tools, funding, and support they need to bring their business ideas or products to market and scale in agriculture, water and sanitation, plastics recycling, e-waste, and other sectors of the economy.

The DTI Community Innovation project is aimed at developing Ghana’s next generation of young entrepreneurs and assists the students to create SMEs for their projects.

Mr Sarpong said PQ was critical at the heart of every business globally and every business needed to adapt it for business growth.

Ms Constance Swaniker, Founder & CEO, of Accents & Arts and DTI, said the project formed part of DTIs three-year partnership with the Mastercard Foundation under Young Africa Works Transforming youth TVET livelihoods for sustainable jobs.

She said the project would provide 40,000 direct and indirect work opportunities for the youth in the country.

The Founder said the businesses graduating from the Incubation Hub all have the potential to solve real problems for customers, create jobs, and drive growth.

“DTI will continue to support young entrepreneurs who want to transform Ghana’s economy and accelerate progress towards the UN Sustainable Development Goals,” she said.

She said, “the determination of the Incubation Hub participants to succeed despite the challenges of starting a business deeply impressed me. The quality of the teams, their entrepreneurial spirit, and the potential of their business ideas are all testaments to everyone at DTI.”

During the one-year Incubation period, entrepreneurs were assisted in developing their innovative ideas into high-potential businesses.

“Through the Innovation Hub programme, we demonstrated what Ghanaian start-ups can accomplish when given the right support.” We are honoured to present to our partners and stakeholders the outcomes of the entrepreneurs’ work over the past year,” she added.

Mr Paul Asiedu, Technical Consultant at DTI Innovation Hub, said the competition required learners to identify within their communities’ problems and come up with innovative solutions to improve the livelihoods of their communities.

He said as part of the competition, learners go through three stages and present their solutions to an experienced industry panel.

“The final five winners are awarded Seed Capital of up to $25,000 and this year, we had a total of seven teams, who won seed capital awards and consolation prizes,” he said.

Ms Elizabeth Amoah, one of the beneficiaries, said the Hub provided her with the opportunity to learn how to run a profitable business and “I have learned how business planning, financial planning, human resource management, teamwork, and business law affect business operations.”