In order to provide young Guinean entrepreneurs initial management and capital skills that enable them to develop business ideas with potential for innovation, the official launch of the Business Plan Competition, GB CHALLENGE, took place in Bissau last January 18th.

Covering all the country, GB CHALLENGE assures, at first, training to about half a thousand candidates with the best innovative business ideas. In a second phase, the entrepreneurs who presented the 200 best business projects will be provided with detailed training in business skills so that each participant can prepare their own Business Plan and present it to a national and international jury. Subsequently, the initiative provides for the 50 entrepreneurs who come up with the best ideas and have submitted the most viable and innovative projects, start-up capital up to 5,000,000 CFAA, advice and follow-up over a period of one and a half years.

The competition is financed by the World Bank and is part of the Private Sector Rehabilitation and Agro industrial Development Project that is being implemented by CESO, Expertise, Inovisa and PD Consult consortium.

This project focuses on the creation of new business opportunities that are not only focused on cashew production, in order to confer skills and access to financing that contributes to improve the investment climate for investment. To boost business ideas that demonstrate potential for innovation, job creation and wealth generation, the project envisages the launching of new start-ups that can provide to Guinea-Bissau entrepreneurs launch capital and management capacity to develop new sustainable business ideas.

For more information, consult the project website here and the facebook page here.

You may also watch the promotional vídeo GB Challenge (crioulo version).

The Business Plan Competition project was launched in June 2016 and is expected to last until May 2019.

Find more here.

January 2017.