Telecel Group to partner Accra Digital Center to roll out the 'Ghana Telecel Initiative Project.'

African-focused mobile network operator Telecel Group has revealed that it will soon partner with the Accra Digital Center to roll out the Ghana Telecel Initiative Project.

The new project the Group says, when rolled out, is expected to see many digital startup firms currently under the Accra Digital Center's incubation system benefit from the Telecel Group's acceleration programs geared towards exposing startups to funding and market opportunities to enable them to scale.

Speaking in Accra during the Telecel African Startup Initiative Program (ASIP) pitching event for Ghanaian tech startups, the Telecel Executive Deputy and ASIP Director, Eleanor Azar, said the new upcoming project soon to be carried out between Telecel Group and the Accra Digital Center partnership will involve the provision of different services aimed at equipping startups with an industry skill set and the platform to cooperate with international startups all over the world.

She stated that Telecel Group believes in the Ghanaian economy despite the effects of the current global economic challenges and is ready to support small and medium-scale enterprises (SMEs), especially startups working within the country's digital space, to grow.

"At Telecel Group, we believe there is an opportunity here. The important resource for this opportunity we see in Ghana are the youth who are innovating every day and coming up with wonderful and disruptive ideas that would change the world," she said.

Managing Director of the Ghana Digital Centre, Kwadwo Baah Agyemang, in his address during the event, said he is confident that the ongoing collaboration between Telecel Group and the Accra Digital Center Limited (ADCL) will create more opportunities to accelerate the growth of digital startups in Ghana, adding that such partnerships are in line with the Center's objective of fostering innovation and entrepreneurship through the provision of platforms for business incubation, business acceleration, digital research, and development programs.

Henry Ojuor, the Director of the Accelerator Program, remarked, "We usually encourage startups to attend the country FastTrack events to enable them to get real-time feedback from our panel of experts. From our experience, about 20 percent of startups that attend the events usually make it to the final round. It is a fantastic opportunity to network with our investment team and gets more information about the program."

Founded by Telecel Group CEO Moh Damush, the Telecel Group ASIP is designed to develop new businesses across the continent by working with startups and early-stage companies to define their business strategy and secure funding. With the support of leading pan-African tech accelerator, Startuobootcam AfriTech, the program has since 2021 empowered 21 businesses with a combined valuation of over USD 80 million.

ASIP is  supported by partners such as DER/FJ (a Department of the Republic of Senegal), the Dutch Entrepreneurial Development Bank (FMO), ENRICH in Africa (a European Union-funded project), AWS, Microsoft, and Google. 

By: Kanto Okanta