AgriCo Hub

ADWUMAWURA PROGRAM
A business idea without a structure behind it is just a wish.

That's why participants were walked through the Business Model Canvas, step by step, layer by layer. Who the customers are, what value the business offers, how it makes money, and everything in between. The full picture of a business laid out on one page.

Then came the test. Participants were split into groups and handed a dummy business to build a BMC for themselves. No hand-holding, just what they'd learned, put to work. And watching them work through it said more about their understanding than any written test ever could.

ADWUMAWURA PROGRAM
Before you can build a business, you have to build yourself.

That's where the training started. Participants dug into what personal leadership actually means, not a title, but a way of showing up. They worked through self-awareness, understanding their own strengths and the areas that still need work, and what it means to take full responsibility for where you're headed.

Then the conversation shifted to goals. Personal goals, professional goals, and how to set them in a way that's actually achievable. Vision setting, SMART goals, and most importantly, how to stop leaving them on paper and start turning them into real, practical action.
National Entrepreneurship and Innovation Programme-NEIP
ERIC ADJEI

ADWUMAWURA PROGRAM
The Bono East Region got a special visit from the NEIP office.

A team from both the regional and national head offices of NEIP came through as the Adwumawura Program got underway here. They didn't just show up and observe, they sat with the learners, heard their expectations, and listened to what they had to say.

That kind of engagement from the top matters. It tells the learners that the people running this program actually care about what happens to them. And that sets the right tone from day one.

What happens when locally rooted Enterprise Support Organisations are given the right support to scale their impact?

The results may surprise you.

I invite you to take a few minutes to watch this documentary capturing the impact and journey of the ESO Collaborative SCALEx Programme by Impact Investing Ghana—featuring Agrico Hub Ghana, working across the Bono East Region and Ghana’s Middle Belt, alongside Developers Academy in the Oti Region.

Beyond the numbers are real stories of entrepreneurs, enterprises and communities—and a powerful demonstration of what becomes possible when local ESOs are strengthened to deliver impact where it matters most.

Watch the documentary and experience the story behind the impact.

Watch the SCALEx Impact Documentary on YouTube:

www.youtube.com

WAGE PROGRAM

The training is over. The real work has begun.

We handed the learners seed capital to kick off their production, and they got straight to it. They processed their own roasted cashew nuts, branded their products with their own labels, and now they're heading to the market to find out how it all holds up in the real world.

Everything they learned in the classroom, the processing room, and out on the streets collecting feedback, it all comes down to this moment. Their business. Their product.

A very big thank you to Plan International Ghana, NETRIGHT-Ghana, AfriYAN Ghana, and the Government of Canada for equipping the youth of the Bono East Region with the skills and knowledge to start, build and grow their own businesses.

WAGE PROGRAM

A great product in the wrong packaging doesn't sell. And a great product nobody sees doesn't sell either.

That's what today's session tackled. Participants learned how to choose the right packaging for their cashew products, what information needs to be on the label, and why it matters to the customer picking it up. Then the conversation moved to social media marketing: how to use it to get their products in front of the right people and actually drive sales.

What if the most valuable asset an incubator owns isn’t its building, curriculum—or even its funding?

It may be its network.

The OECD’s Incubation in Entrepreneurial Ecosystems: Hatching Growth makes a striking observation: the networks and connections of incubators have become a core part of their value proposition to startups and scaleups.

That makes sense.

Entrepreneurs rarely struggle because they need one more workshop. Often, they need the right introduction:

An investor who understands their sector.
A corporate willing to become their first major customer.
A mentor who has already made the mistakes they are about to make.
A university or research institution that can strengthen their innovation.
A market connection that changes the scale of the opportunity.

Perhaps great incubation is increasingly less about how much support happens inside the incubator and more about how many valuable doors the incubator can open outside it.

If connections are becoming the new currency of incubation, which connection creates the greatest value for entrepreneurs in your ecosystem—and why?

WAGE PROGRAM
Making a great product is only the beginning. The numbers have to work too.

Participants sat down with the financial side of running a cashew business: how to cost their products properly, set prices that make sense, keep clean sales records, and plan for profit. Not just hope for it, actually plan for it.

Because at the end of the day, a business that doesn't make money isn't a business, it's a hobby.

WAGE PROGRAM
Going to the market is one thing. Coming back and making sense of what you found is where the real learning happens.

After hitting the streets and speaking directly with customers, participants came back and presented their findings. They shared what people liked, what they didn't, what would make them reach into their pockets, and how that should shape the product going forward.

Customer feedback is only useful if you actually listen to it. These learners did listen to their customers.