This will be done through a business plan competition and entrepreneurship development programme aimed at turning great ideas into thriving, sustainable businesses.

Shika Acolatse, a coordinator of the competition who disclosed this to ADM said the competition, which is dubbed "Believe Begin Become", will identify entrepreneurial people and equip them with the tools and networks they need to build competitive, self-sustaining small and medium enterprises that will accelerate economic growth and reduce poverty.

"The business plan competition will solicit innovative new business ideas and provide training, mentoring and business development assistance to promising entrepreneurs", she said.

Shika Acolatse noted that the competition would award the ten winners up to $25,000 each in cash and services.

"That extra push for 10 winners will come in the form of $15,000 each in seed capital for their businesses and $10,000 each in professional services, such as strategy, human resources and financial consulting", she said.

"More than 500 entrants are expected; all eligible applicants will be invited to attend a seminar on the high-level structure of a business plan and key success factors in the entrepreneurial process. Sixty of them will be selected to proceed on to intensive business training and one-on-one sessions with consultants who will help them prepare draft business plans", she explained.

The competition's high profile organizing committee comprises Ishmael Yamson, founder and CEO of Ishmael Yamson and Associates, Ken Ofori-Atta, executive chairman and co-founder of Databank; Patrick Awuah, founder and president of Ashesi University; Grace Amey-Obeng, managing director of FC Group of Companies; Tony Oteng Gyasi, managing director of Tropical Cable and Conductor Ltd, and Nick Railston- Brown, country director of TechnoServe/ Ghana.

Nick Railston- Brown, who also spoke to ADM said the competition is modeled on business plan competitions TechnoServe has successfully implemented in Central America and is also rolling out elsewhere in Africa, for which Ghana is the first country.

"Since debuting in El Salvador in 2002, these competitions have helped hundreds of aspiring entrepreneurs to create or expand dozens of businesses", he said.

"It is exciting for us to know that there will be a much more formal way to encourage people to be more creative, to be dynamic, to just dig deep into Ghana on entrepreneurship, and to empower entrepreneurs with the confidence to be global players".

TechnoServe has been working in Ghana since 1971. In the last 10years alone, TechnoServe/Ghana has provided business development services to more than 180 businesses and has facilitated entrepreneurship training and capacity-building programmes for more than 200 potential entrepreneurs, resulting in numerous start-ups and business expansion.