Girls Start-Up Workshop Empowers SHS Girls with Entrepreneurship and Digital Skills

Koforidua: Seeds of Fortune - Ghana, in partnership with the Black Star Pearls of Ghana, has organised the third edition of the Girls Start-Up workshop in Koforidua, featuring the Pull-Up and Pitch competition. The two-day programme, held at the Koforidua Technical University, brought together about 50 female students from Oti Boateng Senior High School, Ghana Senior High School, New Juaben Senior High School, and Oyoko Methodist Senior High School.According to Ghana News Agency, the workshop was designed to equip participants with practical skills in digital literacy, business ideation and planning, website creation, mentorship, and pitching. Lady Juliet Nyarko Adansi, Country Lead for Seeds of Fortune - Ghana, highlighted the necessity of preparing girls for the digital economy. She noted the integral role of technology in daily life, transforming work, communication, and living standards, and emphasised the importance of creating opportunities for girls to explore their potential.She explained that See ds of Fortune Incorporated, a U.S.-based nonprofit organisation, provides ambitious young women with resources in career development, financial literacy, and leadership. Professor Delia Gillss of the Black Star Pearls of Ghana noted that the Pull-Up and Pitch competition offered students a platform to present business ideas before a panel of judges, receive mentorship, and compete for prizes. She encouraged participants to develop innovative solutions that could support national economic growth, mentioning that the Black Star Pearls of Ghana is an official Interest Group of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Incorporated.Three students were honoured with laptops and certificates of merit for excelling in the pitch competition. Ms. Ernestina Lagbe, a Form Two student of Oti Boateng SHS, secured first prize with her reusable woven shopping bag invention aimed at reducing waste. Her schoolmate, Ms. Onlin Akorfa, also in Form Two, achieved second place with an innovation in fish feed production to support aquaculture. Ms. Sandra Bortsie, a Form Two student of New Juaben SHS, earned third place with her drawstring backpack designed to help students conveniently carry bowls and cutlery to the dining hall. Ms. Bortsie expressed gratitude to the organisers, describing the workshop as a foundation to start a business and earn an income.