Final 2015

The day is finally here and all the participants are ready to tell the various company representatives the relevant, creative, feasible and sustainable solutions to the various business cases provided. It is 14^th August, 2015 and all stakeholders are very expectant of the day. The day’s final has been designed slightly different from the previous years’. This year the participants will have a presentation in two folds; the first was done at a formal session where the solutions were presented to the jury and various stakeholders and then a question and answer session. The second phase was a rather informal session, where the teams had exhibition stands where they further explained the solutions to the various companies and the general public. This was meant to ensure that everyone’s questions were well answered and ambiguities clarified.

Soon, it was 14:00hrs GMT and the teams had to make their way to the Ghana-Netherlands Business and Cultural Council auditorium to have the various presentations. The moments were nervy and tensed as the participants were very nervous. The presentations commenced after various remarks from company representatives present: as the all stressed on their expectation, they were impressed with the extent of consultation that had gone on between the teams and their companies. The organizers brought together a jury of four members from industry and academia that consisted of Samuel Waterberg (CEO, Enviu People’s Trust Ghana), Elsie Appau (Embassy of the Kingdom of the Netherlands to Ghana), Gordon Adomdza (Executive Professor, Entrepreneurship and Innovation), Marcel Jacobs (CEO, Jacobs Lawren Investments).

Witteveen+Bos case was the first that was presented. As an engineering firm, Witteveen+Bos is developing simple, but reliable IT tools, to assist (isolated) communities and international businesses to implement cost-efficient and reliable energy supply systems. The presentations by the two teams were very much on point and both stressed that there was the need for Witteveen+Bos to collaborate with other entities and provided contacts in that direction. As team one focused on Biomass as the best option to provide grid in-dependent Energy supply, team two stressed that whereas biomass could be used, the abundance of sunlight meant that solar could also be well considered.

For the Vlisco case; currently, the Tailoring Training program is aligned with the (High-end) Vlisco Brand. For our younger, mid-segmented brand (Woodin), Vlisco also would like to develop a tailoring offer. Also Vlisco expected lots a projection for about 60% return on investment. Team one considered customization and accessories differentiated garments. Team two provided a multi faceted way to do this that included customization, shop layout and social interactions.

For Städler, Städler Renewable Energy solar power stations are, over a period of five to ten years, considerably cheaper, maintenance-free, environmental friendly and more reliable energy suppliers compared to the National grid or Diesel generators. Nevertheless a high initial price and unfamiliarity with the product play a major role preventing penetration of solar power stations. For team one, it was a Top down approach that would yield best results as they would collaborate with mortgages, real estate companies and town developer to provide. For team two, a community based approach proved rather feasible.

Over the last two years Susteq has gained experience in Kenya with providing improved water access to people, offering business support to entrepreneurs and delivering business and maintenance insight to stakeholders, the water service providers. Susteq is now ready to expand its operations to other countries, such as Ghana. We believe the most promising opportunity lies in directly approaching local entrepreneurs and help them to set up a sustainable water business. Whiles team one provided innovative collaborations as the way forward as they provided areas for the pilot to begin, team two emphasized that brand was necessary to ensure that the product was accepted by the stakeholders.

Spaans Babcock Ghana currently has plans to generate 5 Mega Watts of electricity from waste at the Tema Landfill site. Spaans Babcock considers different technological solutions and technology providers. As Spaans Babcock expects that its operation at the Tema landfill site will grow and that there will be synergies and economies of scale, the company is also interested in the market opportunities of other products that can be produced in Tema, like purified hydrogen, liquid fuels and specialty chemicals. For the above case, team one thought the project was feasible except that the Nsawam and Kumasi landfills were idea due to some external factors surrounding the Tema landfill. Team two considered Tema ideal due to its “energy points”.

After all the impressive presentations and the questions well answered, the first part was successfully brought to a close.

The cocktail brought together a lot of personalities from the Ghanaian and Dutch business community. Various addresses were given by Dutch Ambassador, His Excellency Hans Docter and Honorable Abdul-Rashid Pelpup, a Ghanaian minister of State. Soon, the winners were due to be announced.

With all teams being winners as their various ideas were accepted and being considered by the various companies, the winning team among the winners for the Netherland-Ghana New Business Challenge 2015 is…. Vlisco Team Two (Power of Colour)