Background & Objectives

German Sparkassenstiftung in collaboration with the Delegation of German Industry and Commerce in Ghana (AHK Ghana), Siemens Stiftung and Konrad-Adenauer-Stiftung e.V. organized the 2nd edition of #educataGhana2020 at the Movenpick Ambassador Hotel in Accra, Ghana.

From the 19th to 20th October 2020, the #educataGhana2020 was held to develop upon the foundation established in the previous edition. This two-day "International Education Exhibition & Idea Factory" as dubbed, served as a meeting point for stakeholders in education, business as well as the government sector in Ghana. The event brought together private companies and government institutions in the education and related services sector, pupils, students, professionals, young entrepreneurs, and experts, to share in the experience both physically and virtually. To accommodate the current health situation on the ground, this year’s event was a hybrid version where a limited number of participants were admitted physically allowing the rest to join via virtual platforms.  

German Sparkassenstiftung actively partook in this event as a key partner, exhibitor and also by organizing the flagship Business Simulation Games to some thirty (30) participants physically and live via Facebook. As part of our obligation, Sparkassenstiftung was in charge of one of the four discussion islands – the Entrepreneurship Discussion Island. Discussions were tailored towards identifying existing programmes and services in the entrepreneurship and start-up space, current needs, future projections and outlining the pathway to achieve the desired results.

Guided by our three principles: partnership-based cooperation in a spirit of mutual trust; the transfer of key success factors from the Sparkassen-Finanzgruppe and the implementation of practice-oriented solutions, German Sparkassenstiftung identified a good opportunity where financial inclusion with a focus on our six core topics could be implemented. Reason why the team partnered with AHK Ghana, KAS and Siemens Stiftung to organize the educataGhana2020. This year’s #educataGhana2020 provided such an opportunity for development which aligns with our core values and mandate especially in the area of Entrepreneurship.

Set-up

German Sparkassenstiftung was in charge of coordinating the Entrepreneurship Discussion Island. The entrepreneurship island was one of the most interactive platforms with speakers from both the public and private sector, start-ups and corporations, thriving business owners and financial and investment sectors. The experts from these areas shared their experience and expertise with participants who were present either physically or virtually. Some of the interesting discussions on that island included but not limited to Soft skills in entrepreneurship; Bridging the gap between business operations and credit facility; the discussion on why start-ups are not growing in Ghana; key successes for business among others. On the Basic Education island, these were some of the topics: The challenge unemployment in Ghana possess to the current education setup; The role and future of climate education; STEM education-How can we bridge the gap between theory and practice among others. Higher Education discussed the following key topics: The future after education; The world of work, school theory verses market realities; How to integrate lessons from companies into School curricula; Making a career decision etc. The TVET island also brought together great panellists to discuss interesting topics such as: The TVET reforms for Ghana; COVID 19’s impact on TVET in Ghana; the rise of e-learning; Outlook on the automotive industry in Ghana among others. Through these discussions, questions were answered, solutions were sought, and decisions made to improve upon existing structures and to develop further whatever is lacking.

Othe Side Events

Other interesting side activities were held on both days as well. These included the exhibition of goods and services provided by various organizations in the industry. Over thirty (30) exhibitors were present to interact with the public of which German Sparkassenstiftung was not left out. The exhibition booth was very interactive and had lots of visitor. Each visitor of the booth was informed about the current regional projects, they had the opportunity to spin the savings wheel to answer basic finance and savings questions. They had the opportunity to win branded items with the highlight being an economic and sustainable savings coconut piggy.

On the 2nd Day of Educata, German Sparkassenstiftung organized two abridged sessions of business trainings using our flagship Micro Business Simulation games. Two groups of fifteen (15) participants signed up for the highly interactive training for microentrepreneurs. Fifty (50) more signed up for the post educata weeklong training to be held at a later date.

Innovation Challenge

To crown the event, an innovation challenge was organized in search of ground-breaking tech-based ideas/solutions which would offer financial education to youth partners of German Sparkassenstiftung in rural and semi-urban areas. The event was a success based on the collective effort of all partners, the staff both locally and abroad and all external stakeholders.
 

#educataGhana2020 in Photos

A rich cultural display of the Ghanaian tradition to welcome guests to the event. Following health protocols, participants were ushered in and assisted to register electronically.

The opening ceremony begun with the welcome address, which was delivered by the representatives from AHK, German Sparkassenstiftung, KAS and Siemens Stiftung. Following the welcome address were speeches from the Deputy Head of Mission from the German Embassy, Mr. Hans-Helge Sander; the Minister of Education, Hon. Matthew Opoku Prempeh; and the Country Director of GIZ Ghana, Mrs Regina Barbosa. 

There was a sod cutting to commemorate the official opening of the ceremony proceeded with a tour of the event grounds led by the Minister of Education visiting each booth to interact with the exhibitors.  Sod cutting ceremony (left). The Minister of Education Ghana, signing the German Sparkassenstiftung’s Big Eddy (Right)
 

Interesting discussions were held on the four main discussion islands: Basic Education, TVET, Higher Education and Entrepreneurship. Experts in the various fields were present to share their expertise on key topics. 

On the 2nd day, German Sparkassenstiftung organized an abridged version of Micro-Business Games trainings for thirty (30) participants. This was live streamed on Facebook as well for participants who could not join physically.

Four short-listed candidates had the opportunity to pitch their ideas to the jurors of the Financial Education innovation challenge.

Participant excited to have won a coconut piggy bank at the German Sparkassenstiftung booth (left). Staff interacting with participants who visited the booth to learn more about German Sparkassenstiftung (right).

An exciting Raffle Draw was organized to crown the whole event.