- This event will be held to celebrate the recent announcement on the start of trading under the interim Economic Partnership Agreement between the EU and Ghana.
- Panellists include inter alia representatives from institutions, scholars on EU-Ghana/Africa relations, several experts on mobility and energy, and entrepreneurs.
- It will take place on Friday 19 November 2021 at 16:00 (CET)/15:00 (Accra time) on the eve of Africa Industrialization Day.
- The event will feature the launch of the open call to find potential partners in Africa to carry out the Energy Africa Startup Europe Awards in early 2022.
Brussels, 18 November 2021 – To commemorate the recent announcement on the onset of effective implementation of the interim Economic Partnership Agreement (iEPA) between the EU and Ghana, Finnova Foundation will hold a webinar on Friday 19 November 2021 at 16:00 (CET)/15:00 (Accra time) with representatives from both regions. The event will also be held on the eve of Africa Industrialization Day (20 Nov.), an initiative launched by the United Nations to foster Africa’s sustainable development.
According to the European External Action Service (EEAS), the EU is one of Ghana’s key trade partners – Ghana’s total trade value with the EU was estimated to be nearly 20% in 2018. These figures, however, are expected to rise in light of the recent announcement on the start of trading and the effective implementation of the interim Economic Partnership Agreement between Ghana and the EU, which facilitates commercial exchanges and the removal of a number of technical hindrances.
The event will be held on the eve of Africa Industrialization Day (20 Nov.), which was proclaimed by the United Nations within the framework of the Second Industrial Development Decade for Africa (1991-2000). In 2016, the UN approved the Third Industrial Development Decade for Africa (2016-2025), which focuses on ensuring Africa’s sustainable industrialisation by respecting the planetary boundaries. Consequently, this event will devote a specific panel to discussing green energies and carbon-free mobility as a means to reach Africa’s sustainable industrial development. The webinar will be broken down into five main panels: institutions, innovation and entrepreneurship, energy and mobility, EU funds, and training and education. It will feature Finnova CEO Juan Manuel Revuelta‘s keynote address as well as the contributions of some institutional representatives like Regina Nesiama Miller (African Development Bank Group), Alexander Charalambous (EU SWITCH to Green Facility), and Juan Jesús Rodríguez Marichal (Cámara de Comercio de Fuerteventura); scholars and innovative entrepreneurs like Jacob Fohtung (Global Prosperity at Clayton Christensen Institute),Prof Leendert de Bell (Utrecht University of Applied Sciences), Gameli Adzaho (Just One Giant Lab) and Cornelius Nartey (Africa Association of Entrepreneurs); experts on mobility and energy like Shantha Bloemen (Mobility for Africa), Festus Loma (Nigeria Electrification Project), Tony Tiyou (Renewables in Africa), Roberto Vigotti (RES4Africa Foundation) and Gonzalo Piernavieja Izquierdo (Instituto Tecnológico de Canarias); and Finnova’s experts on EU funds i.e., Juan Viesca, as well as training and education i.e., Alberto Navarro.
“Finnova is committed to Africa’s and Ghana’s green transition and endeavours to tackle climate change. We hope EU-Ghana’s arrangements will play a decisive role in ensuring successful follow-through as well as contributing to the United Nation’s ambitions e.g., SDGs and the goals of Africa Internationalization Day. Similarly, we believe public-private partnerships remain crucial and that innovation is pivotal, as can be seen in all the projects we are involved in and which were discussed at COP26. In this regard, EU-funded initiatives like Startup Europe Awards and breakthrough and low-cost technologies will surely help meet our common challenges, which will require a public-private partnership approach”, said Juan Manuel Revuelta, CEO of Finnova Foundation.
This event will take place following Finnova’s participation at COP26, where it co-organised four official events, one of them being on green energies and bioeconomy and another one being on sustainable mobility. The event will feature the launch of the open call to find potential partners in Africa to carry out the Energy Africa Startup Europe Awards in early 2022. This announcement will take place against a backdrop of the new 2021-2027 EU financial period, which will enable to advance green energies and sustainable mobility. The announcement will be made by Foro Euroafricano (Josu Gómez Barrutia) and World Diplomatic Institute (Jean Aznar). As a sidenote, Finnova endorses the CLIMA-RISK project, which will be presented during the Africagua event as well as in the Next Ghana Generation EU webinar.
By holding this webinar, Finnova is kicking off its cooperation with Ghana and Africa. This event will provide a timely opportunity to bring together European and Ghanaian and African actors to meet the challenges the 21st century poses through open innovation.
If you represent a public or private institution, if you run a business, if you are a youth or if you have innovative or disruptive ideas, do not hesitate to join us by registering here: http://ghana.inscripciones.finnova.eu/.
About Finnova Foundation
Finnova Foundation is a Belgian-Spanish foundation which helps institutions and organisations receive funds for innovative projects. It aims to promote private-public cooperation through innovation in order to address social challenges, e.g., employment, training, entrepreneurship, SDGs, circular economy, etc. Finnova is in charge of organising Startup Europe Awards, a joint initiative by Finnova and the European Commission to reward the best European start-ups.
About Startup Europe Awards
Startup Europe Awards is an initiative by DG CONNECT which has been implemented by Finnova Foundation since 2016. Startup Europe Awards is an open innovation mechanism to identify disruptive start-ups and to promote private-public partnerships. SEUA also seeks to raise awareness on the importance of self-entrepreneurship as a driving force for job creation. In addition to promoting networks to meet the UN SDGs and the European Green Deal objectives, SEUA also contributes to the circular economy, sustainable tourism, and the fight against climate change.