IBM to help Ghana launch pre-incubation center

The IBM Corporate Service is collaborating with the Ghanaian Ministry of Communications to launch the first pre-incubation center for technology business development.

The Ghana Multimedia Incubator Center (GMIC) is supported by IBM jointly with the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST) and is aimed at driving business growth in Ghana.

"We are nurturing future generations of business owners in Ghana, making sure they have the skills needed to succeed by providing support when it matters the most -- at the beginning," said K. Dontwi, KNUST dean of faculty of science.

The center is offering workshops to prepare students and female entrepreneurs for careers in technology and business, as well as acting as a testing ground for new business ideas involving collaboration technology.

Under the initiative, commercially viable ideas will be refined, and the students will receive specialized business training to develop their concepts. Upon graduation, select projects will move to the three-year incubation program at GMIC.

IBM's US$250 million Corporate Service Corps global initiative sends high-potential employees from different nations and business units to countries in Africa, Asia and Eastern Europe for one month. The IBM teams partner with local nongovernmental organizations to work on some of the world's toughest societal problems, such as global economic opportunity, environmental challenges and access to educational resources.