On 29th January the National Bank of Equatorial Guinea (BANGE) held a ceremony for the first edition of BANGE Impulsa, a programme conceived to promote entrepreneurship and an increase in self-employment in Equatorial Guinea.
The ceremony took place in the function room at Hotel Anda China in Malabo, in the presence of huge figures from the government and business sector such as the President of he BANGE Board, Martín Crisanto Ebe Mba; the Vice-Minister for Commerce and SMEs, Domingo Mba Esono; the director general and deputy director generals from BANGE, Manuel Osa Nsue Nsua and Pedro Abeso Obiang Eyang; and a full contingent of representatives from the diplomatic corps, civil society and entrepreneurs.
The aim of the meeting was to choose the winners of the projects to be financed using the sum of 250,000,000 XAF that BANGE has provided for the attainment and promotion of national entrepreneurs.
During the presentation at the ceremony, each entrepreneur had the chance to present and explain their projects using slides and attempt to convince the auditorium and the jury that their project should be approved. After the presentation of the projects there were deliberations, in which the jury carried out a detailed analysis that lasted just over an hour, before proclaiming Todos Suman; Escuela Arte Metema; Fábrica Industrial de Malamba; Pollos Guinea; Escuela de Moda, Diseño y Costura Upolo; Piscicultura de Agua Dulce; Fábrica de Papel Higiénico con material reciclado; Fábrica de Yuca Industrial; Té Bioko and Nacash, as the ten best projects from this first edition.
During the ceremony, several speeches for this first edition were heard, including a speech by the President of the BANGE Board, who once again declared the interest of the National Bank of Equatorial Guinea (BANGE) in accompanying the Government in order to promote self-employment in the Republic of Equatorial Guinea. “In an environment of global economic recession aggravated by COVID-19, we have a great opportunity to create synergies between various players from the economic sector of our country. For that reason, at this gala final, we will see ideas that have been transformed into projects via a very demanding education and training programme. Today these projects are ready to be implemented, thus creating successful companies in the Equatoguinean nation”.
The BANGE President of the Board also highlighted that the BANGE Impulsa programme was conceived to cover the entire development and implementation cycle of the idea, training, acceleration and investment, “Through BANGE Impulsa, the aim is to accompany entrepreneurs with innovative ideas and transform them into profitable companies capable of generating jobs and contributing to the diversification of our economy. This endeavour is also the fruit of the results of the conclusions of the Third National Economic Conference held in 2019, in which representatives from the Equatorial Guinea private sector had the honour to take part and support ideas”.
The Director of BANGE Business School, Jose María Nchaso Ikaka, during his interview with the press, indicated that following the launch of the first edition of the BANGE Impulsa project, through the BANGE Business School, in August 2021, the project came about eight months ago, with the main idea of accompanying entrepreneurs so that they can develop their projects. “The National Bank of Equatorial Guinea, through BANGE Business School, put in place all the means so that this project which is culminating today could begin. And with respect to the participants, we have seen a considerable improvement over the months of the training”.
BANGE Impulsa is an initiative which is joining the efforts made by the Equatoguinean Government overseen by the Head of State, H. E. Obiang Nguema Mbasogo, in promoting entrepreneurship and an increase in self-employment. The support for entrepreneurs which has emerged through the BANGE Impulsa programme, once again reflects the importance, interest and support that BANGE gives to the private sector, as the engine of the economy and main creator of employment and wealth.
Source: Official Web Page of the Government