The Enterprise Support Organisation (ESO) Collaborative was set up to increase the quality and quantity of enterprise support programs in Ghana. It brings together government agencies responsible for enterprise support; The Ghana Enterprises Agency and the National Entrepreneurship and Innovation Program (NEIP) with innovation hubs from the Ghana Hubs Network and other leading ESOs from across Ghana. The ESO Collaborative has created a collaborative action plan and set up sub-committees to take action on identified priorities.
1. Launch and grow a digital platform to help enterprises easily find any ESO program in Ghana and evaluate if it is a good fit for them. The esoghana.org platform was subsequently launched and currently highlights programs from 38 ESOs from around the country. The platform provides businesses with details on programmes, events, opportunities and resources that are all useful to businesses.
Take Action: If you are a Ghanaian business looking to access funding opportunities, investment readiness sessions, accelerators and other opportunities to grow your business, sign up at https://esoghana.org/.
2. Implemented a structured quality improvement program to increase the quality of businesses coming out of ESO programs. The Collaborative after extensive research chose to implement the SCALE tool developed by the Argidius Foundation. 15 ESOs are currently participating in a pilot program to implement SCALE. The Collaborative also signed an MOU with the Government’s National Entrepreneurship and Innovation Program to use SCALE as part of its Hub Acceleration Program.
3. Innovate to increase sustainable financing for ESOs. The ESO Collaborative is designing an innovative fund which combines a pre-seed fund for high-growth potential businesses coming out of ESO programs in Ghana with a grant facility which will provide incentives for ESOs to consistently enable innovative businesses to launch and scale.