A Graduate from the University of Mines and Technology (UMaT), Tarkwa Wins Young African Entrepreneurship Award for the Second Time – 2018
Kwame Ababio With His Award
A UMaT graduate, Mr Kwame Ababio, has won the Young African Entrepreneurship Award for the second time in the competition’s history. The 2017 Awards saw 41 finalists out of 5,349 applicants from 19 African countries and were brought together for a boot camp in Casablanca, Morocco. Mr Ababio was the only Ghanaian among the twelve winners. In the 2016 edition, Mr Ababio was also the only Ghanaian among fifteen winners which competition attracted 756 applicants from 38 African countries.
According to the Organisers of the award, the Journey is made up of 4 rounds of mentoring and starts by applicants taking a few minutes to submit an idea and, begin a journey with real entrepreneurs who have been where they are today. Since the competition was launched by BMCE Bank of Africa in 2015, the awards have recognised 33 entrepreneurs, who were supported by more than 300 African and global mentors.
Mr Kwame Ababio’s business, Green Afro-Palms (GAP) is working to put more money in the pockets of smallholder palm farmers and also introduces best practices to the sector. GAP’s processing technology known as GAPROTECH, which processes 1,000 litres of Palm oil per day also increases crop yields and steers farmers away from non-sustainable practices. According to the Company, in Ghana, 80% of oil palm cultivation comes with low output and is archaic. With Green Afro-Palms’ technology, smallholder farmers now process nearly 3 times more oil from their crops, and earn 3 times more.