Accra, Ghana ? Sunday, 2 May, 2004 ? Ghana New Ventures Competition (GNVC) has concluded the 3rd National GNVC Business Plan Competition with a Final Awards Ceremony that occurred on Sunday, 2 May, from 12 PM to 3 PM, at BusyInternet in Accra.

At this event, GNVC announced and recognised this year?s three winning companies: Supply Solutions, Greenfield Agro Ventures, and Rejuve Spa & Resort. Supply Solutions won first prize, a start-up grant of $5,000 USD, and will produce and supply aggregates, sand, fill material, and oyster shells from dam reservoirs. Second prize, amounting to $3,000 USD, was awarded to Greenfield Agro Ventures, a team that will process palm fruits into edible and industrial palm oil. Rejuve Spa & Resort earned third prize, equaling $2,000 USD, and will start a spa and health resort facility in Prampram.

The Final Awards Ceremony for the 2004 GNVC Business Plan Competition involved Honorable Dr. Angela Lamensdorf Ofori-Atta (Ministry of Manpower Development and Employment), Ken Ofori-Atta (Databank Financial Services), and Patrick Awuah Jr. (Ashesi University College). These three private sector icons were present as Chairperson, Keynote Speaker, and Guest Speaker, respectively.

GNVC is an international not-for-profit organisation incorporated in Ghana and the US. The organisation was founded by a group of Ghanaian students in the USA who were involved with the leadership of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology?s (MIT) $50,000 Entrepreneurship Competition in Boston, MA. Since its inception, GNVC has aimed to lay the networking and educational infrastructure necessary for entrepreneurs to pursue their goals, learning the skills to start businesses that will benefit Ghana?s people and economy.

GNVC meets these objectives by organising annual business plan competitions centered on training aspiring entrepreneurs to produce effective business plans, empowering them through mentors and role models in the Ghanaian business community, and enabling them to establish their own companies. GNVC also provides the most promising teams of entrepreneurs with start-up grants totaling thousands of dollars.

This year, GNVC has awarded $10,000 in total start-up grant commitments to three companies. In more than two years of operations, GNVC has already catalyzed the formation of three other new ventures in Ghana ? Strategic Accounting Solutions (SAS), Afroduct, and Peco Training Center ? each of which received $1,000 in start-up grants. Following today?s Final Awards Ceremony for the 3rd National GNVC Business Plan Competition, the total number of new ventures funded by GNVC has become six.

Contact:

Ben Cohen, Chief Operations Officer

Ghana New Ventures Competition, Inc. (GNVC)

BusyInternet, Suite 217, PMB 232, Accra-North

021-258-795 (office), 0244-975-352 (mobile)

http://www.gnvc.org

http://www.ghananewventures.com cohen@gnvc.org