Hot!
Africa’s Business Horoes (ABH) Prize Competition: Ghana’s Prince Agbata listed among top 50 finalists
● Mr. Prince Agbata
The top 50 finalists for the 2022 Africa’s Business Heroes (ABH) Prize Competition was announced on Monday, August 1.
The flagship philanthropic programme, established by the Jack Ma Foundation, identifies, supports and inspires the next generation of entrepreneurs who are making a difference in their local communities.
This year’s competition received more than 21,000 applications and saw applicants from across all 54 African countries with Mr. Prince Kwame Agbata, the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Coliba Waste Management Services Limited, as the only Ghanaian among the top 50 candidates.
The top 10 will be announced in October for the grand finale where they will pitch to global business legends and secure their share of the US$1.5 million prize.
While congratulating other African compatriots on the list, Mr. Agbata is excited to be part of the list as his company continues working to address plastic pollution in the country.
“Our drive to ensuring we put purpose over profit speaks volumes. It is no longer traditional recycling as usual; it is circular, innovative and creating equity across the value chain and I am proud to be at the epicenter,” he said in a LinkedIn post, after the announcement.
Ahead of the declaration of the overall winner, The Spectator delves into Prince’s background and what he and his company have been able to achieve over the years.
Background
Prince is a social entrepreneur, an industry consultant and expert in plastic waste recovery, processing and recycling with focus on the Africa continent and market.
He and his partner Mr. Kafui Honu Wisdom started Coliba in June 2016 after the loss of their best friend in the June 3 flood and fire disaster in Accra.
He is a software engineer by training and worked with some tech companies in Ghana prior to starting Coliba and continues to gain recognition for his work.
In 2015, he became an alumni of the President Obama Young African Leaders Initiative in Ghana and was later invited as scholar to the Mandela Institute of Development Studies on leadership in Tanzania.
In 2017, he won the Eco Hero Awards by Samsung Engineering in South Korea and was recently named Fellow of the International Youth Foundation Action Net programme in the United States of America (USA).
Prince says his mission “is to ensure that every single person in West Africa understands, and begins to refuse, reduce and most importantly recycle their plastic waste.”
He is passionate about topics of circular economy, recycling, climate change and sustainability and speaks strongly on these subjects on local and international platforms. He was part of the Mohammed Bin Rashid conference in Dubai in 2019 where he spoke on climate change and sustainability in waste management.
He received the top Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) Innovator Award by the United Nations in May 2019 and addressed the UN ECOSOC committee on his work, highlighting the prospects and innovation in the waste and recycling sector. In addition to other recognitions, he was named in 2019 as one of the top 40 under 40 most influential young Ghanaian.
Company
Coliba, among other objectives, is “determined to ensure that every district in Accra owns a deposit and plastic buyback centre.” The company offers comprehensive industry-specific recycling services, quality control & sustainability solutions for businesses, corporations and households.
Aside their plastic waste collection and recycling solutions, the company is “helping to address the challenge of unemployment” by training young Africans — most of whom are women to tap opportunities in the plastic and recycling sector.
Prince says, the company since its inception, continues to contribute towards the achievement of the United Nations SDGs specifically goal “1, 3, 8, 10, 11, 12, and 13.”
“To meet the targets of these goals, Coliba prides itself as a one stop destination for all plastic waste recycling related solutions such as assisting clients start and setup domestic plastic recycling programmes, recovery, collection and recycling to various forms of plastic wastes and conversion into new products,” he added.
Mobile App
The CEO again highlights the Coliba App, a waste management web and mobile application that connects households and businesses with affiliated plastic waste collectors.
“With just a click, one is educated on how to start a recycle programme, request pickups and get paid for it. The App is available on Google Play Store but compatible in Ivory Coast,” he noted.
Coliba, he says, continues to contribute to government’s efforts at increasing the recycling rate from two per cent to 92 per cent by 2030 through tech-driven plastic recycling solutions. In line with this, he and his partners are working to build the largest plastic recycling park in West Africa.
Prince, on weekends, plays the violin and joins IDEA Africa, an non-governmental organisation he founded in 2013, to build community libraries in rural communities of Ghana.
By Ernest Nutsugah
Hot!
GEXIM deepens relations with US EXIM Bank
A management team of the Ghana Export – Import Bank (GEXIM) led by the Acting Chief Executive, Sylvester Mensah met with the leadership of the Export–Import Bank of the United States (US EXIM) on Wednesday April 23, 2025 in Washington DC, United States of America.
The Acting President and Chairman of US EXIM, Mr. James C. Cruse and Vice President, International Relations, Ms. Isabel Galdiz received the GEXIM delegation, which included Deputy CEO for Banking, Mr. Moses Klu Mensah and Head of International Cooperation, Mr. Jonathan Christopher Koney at the headquarters of US EXIM.
The meeting offered the GEXIM team the opportunity to share the strategic direction of the Bank in line with the resetting agenda of the President of the Republic, His Excellency John Dramani Mahama for the repositioning of the Ghanaian economy into an export-led one by providing the requisite investment to Ghanaian businesses.
Mr. James C. Cruse expressed US EXIM’s eagerness to deepen its existing relations with GEXIM and proposed the signing of a new Cooperative Framework Agreement following the expiration of a Memorandum of Understanding signed in 2019 to utilize US EXIM’s medium term loan guarantees to procure machinery by GEXIM for qualified Ghanaian Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (SMEs).
Mr.Sylvester Mensah thanked the Acting President and Chairman of US EXIM for hosting the GEXIM delegation and reaffirmed the Ghanaian government’s commitment to strengthening trade and investment between Ghana and its global partners for economic transformation of Ghana with GEXIM playing a pivotal role.
The two teams will be meeting on the sidelines of the 2025 US EXIM Annual Conference on 29th and April 30, 2025 to explore possible areas of collaboration and matching Ghanaian businesses to American companies. The meeting ended with an exchange of gifts.
Hot!
Many SOEs have been used as mere instruments for personal wealth accumulation –Pres.Mahama
President John Dramani Mahama has expressed concern over the misuse of State-Owned Enterprises (SOEs) for personal financial gain by individuals in leadership positions.
Speaking during a meeting with Chief Executives of specified entities under the State Interest and Governance Authority (SIGA) on Thursday, March 13, the President directly attributed the dire state of SOEs to their leadership, accusing chief executives, management teams, and governing boards of prioritising personal enrichment over organisational efficiency.
He pointed to bloated budgets, unjustified allowances, and unnecessary expenditures as factors draining public funds while SOEs continue to rely on government bailouts.
“Many SOEs have been used as mere instruments for personal wealth accumulation by appointees. The chief executives, management, and boards of these enterprises are responsible for this situation. Some SOEs have become perennial loss-makers, draining public funds with bloated budgets, unjustified allowances, and unnecessary expenditures while relying on government bailouts as if entitled to them. Many of these entities are at their lowest point in the entire history of the Fourth Republic,” he said.
President Mahama further noted that many SOEs have been plagued by inefficiencies, corruption, and mismanagement, leading to consistent financial losses. He cited the 2023 State Ownership Report by the State Interests and Governance Authority (SIGA), which highlighted systemic inefficiencies and wasteful expenditures within these entities.
He therefore reaffirmed his commitment to reforming under-performing SOEs and ensuring they serve national interests.
He warned that loss-making SOEs will no longer be tolerated and will either be merged, privatised, or closed.
“I will assess you based on your performance. If you do not align with the pace of the reset agenda, you may be asked to step aside. If that adds to the horror movie, so be it,” he added.
Source: Myjoyonline.com
