Many people participated in the kick-off of the Entrepreneurship by Diaspora for Development (ED4D) project at Humanity House in The Hague on 2 February. Mr. Edward Benjamin Ashong Lartey, Director Investment Services Division of the Ghana Investment Promotion Centre came over especially from Ghana. The event was also attended by the Ambassador of Ghana, Her Excellency Ms. Sophia Horner-Sam.

The ED4D project encourages the Ghanaian and Ethiopian diaspora residing in the Netherlands, or Dutch entrepreneurs in partnership with the diaspora, to engage themselves as entrepreneurs for the development of the private sector in both countries. The project is implemented by IOM in collaboration with PUM (Netherlands Senior Experts). PUM is a volunteer organization committed to sustainable development of small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs) in developing countries and emerging markets.

Mr. Ashong Lartey gave an overview of the business climate and opportunities in Ghana and the services the Ghana Investment Promotion Centre can offer  to starting entrepreneurs or to entrepreneurs wanting to expand their business.

As a retired accountant Mr. Stephen van Kempen is one of PUM’s many expert volunteers. He has helped entrepreneurs in developing countries to further expand their business. During his presentation he shared valuable insights into running a successful business. Staying focused is essential to start a business.

In a short video, Bennet Agyekum shared some inspiring yet realistic thoughts about his journey of setting up a lounge bar in Accra.

Mr. Alain Nkurikiye is an entrepreneur currently developing Wajenzi, a crowdfunding platform promoting migrant investments in SMEs in emerging nations. He recently won the The Hague Innovators Challenge 2019 for his start-up. Alain explained what his platform does in view of crowdfunding and how it could be useful to support starting entrepreneurs.