The finals of Lancaster University Ghana’s 2nd Annual Business Cup Challenge aimed at Ghanaian high school students took place on Saturday the 15th of November at the College of Physicians and Surgeons. The competition was won by The Think Tank team from the Roman Ridge School.
The Business Cup Challenge is a unique marketing plan competition designed to challenge high school students and launch them into the business world at a young age while developing new business ideas and gaining valuable knowledge.
A total 72 teams from 20 schools participated in the competition out of which 10 teams were selected for the finals. Teams were awarded scores according to the set criteria by the panel. Each team consisted of 4 or 5 students from the same school.
The competition was sponsored by Stanbic Bank and Lancaster University Ghana and was partnered by Daily Guide, Joy News and Global Media Alliance and supported by the British High Commission
The winning team walked away with a 50% scholarship to study at Lancaster University Ghana along with GHS 5,000. The IQ team from British International School was 1st runner up and they received 30% scholarship along with GHS 3,000 and the 2nd runner up was Wey Gey Hey 1 from Wesley Girls Senior High School, taking home 20% scholarship along with GHS 2,000 in cash prize. All other participants received a 10% scholarship to Lancaster University Ghana
Students are encouraged to review and implement real life business plans, analyse critical business scenarios and present their cases to an academic and professional panel of judges which consisted of Prof. John Grainger – Provost of Lancaster University Ghana, Yaw Busia – Lecturer at Lancaster University Ghana, Randolph Rodrigues – Head of Investment Banking at Stanbic Bank, Frank Hagan Brown – Trade Advisor from the British High Commission and Nana Addo CEO of Invest Eye Capital, also a Lancaster University MBA alumni.
During the finals, all 10 teams were allocated a maximum of 20 minutes each to present a pitch they developed on their various products.
In an interview with Prof. John Grainger, he stated “With what I have seen today, we stand a very good chance of putting Ghana on map with our young people. These are people who are coming through to be the leaders of tomorrow. The way they hold themselves, the way they put together good presentations and they pride themselves in the schools that they come from. I must admit was very surprised by the number of young ladies that took part in the programme and they seem to be very creative and very well spoken”.
The winning team mentioned in an interview that their victory was due to a lot of research, sacrifices, teamwork and open mindedness.
