The 2019 Citi Business Festival starts today with a launch on Citi FM later this morning.
The most anticipated business festival in Ghana will start with an interview on the Citi Breakfast Show (CBS) with the 2018 Best National Farmer, James Boateng.
The interview, which will be held #CitiCBS will be on the theme “Switching to Agric: The Story of James Boateng”.
James Boateng is a 61-year-old farmer from the Nkoranza South Municipality in the Bono East Region.
He was crowned the 2018 Best National Farmer at the 34th National Farmers Day celebration where he received a cash prize of $100,000, sponsored by the adb Bank.
Mr. Boateng is Married with six children and educated up to the tertiary level.
In his earlier interactions with the media, Mr. Boateng explained that the innovative ways of his farming techniques made it easier for him to reach out to both the local and export markets within the West African sub-region.
James Boateng’s Career
Mr. Boateng has been a farmer for over 18 years, with workforce of about 102, comprising 45 full-time employees and 57 casual workers.
A publication after his award in December 2018 described Mr. Botaeng as a highly diversified farmer in the agricultural sector, covering roots and tubers, cereals, vegetables, plantation crops, legumes and timber species.
He is also reported to have large numbers of ruminants such as cattle, goats, sheep and poultry.
Mr. Boateng also has 40 boxes of beehives which have been colonised with bees, two fish ponds stocked with tilapia and catfish.
About 2019 Citi Business Festival
The Citi Business Festival is a month-long on air and outdoor events series held annually in the month of June to equip the Ghanaian business community with the tools needed to grow and scale their ventures.
The festival is an extensive programme of business events and on-air activities providing inspiration, business ideas and information for persons who are starting, building or growing their businesses.
This year’s business festival’s themes are carefully selected around areas in Agribusiness, The Startup ecosystem, and Personal Finance.
On air programmes
The festival will have on-air radio campaign features on selected areas of Ghana’s economy.
The topics in the first week will touch on Agribusiness, focusing on how players can improve their operations to take advantage of the export market.
This will be followed by ‘The Startup Ecosystem’ which will focus on areas such as branding, ‘navigating the tax terrain’, among others.
The third week of the on air series will discuss Personal Finance.
Some of the topics that will be discussed include “Developing a Savings Culture”, “Investment 101”, “Avoiding Ponzi schemes / common mistakes investors make” as well as “Alternative investment avenues”
The final week will focus on local business with emphasis on topics such as “Celebrating Exceptional Local Businesses” among others.
Sales Revolution
Like previous editions, this year’s Citi Business Festival will feature training programmes.
The first of the kind is the Sales Revolution, which will start from the 13th to 14th June.
The event will be held at the Coconut Grove Regency Hotel at 8:30am each day.
The facilitators include Mawuli Ocloo who is the Managing Consultant, Salesmark Ltd, and Maxwell Dodd, from Econet Media-Ghana.
Topics that will be treated included “Digital and Social Selling”, “Handling Objections and Closing the Sale”, as well as “How to Influence Buyers to Make Positive Decisions that Increase Your Sales” and “Prospecting for Sales or New Business in a Competitive Environment”.
The training programme costs 700 cedis.
Management Boot Camp
The Management Boot Camp, which is part of the month-long Citi Business Festival, is scheduled for 16th to 22nd June at the Volta Hotel in Akosombo..
The Boot Camp is an executive week long advanced management training programme, designed for Senior Management in various industries, including the private and public sector workers.
The programme is aimed at exploring opportunities of latest academic thinking and practical insights by renowned facilitators.
Topics that will be taught include, “Competing for the future –will your business survive the next decade”, “leadership essentials for Team leaders”, Getting it done ! Execution strategy among” among others”
The week long residential executive education programme is targeted at senior managers and businessmen.
This event is a paid for programme.
Ghana Rising
The Citi Business Festival will climax with a two-day outdoor event named Ghana Rising.
Ghana Rising will provide the platform for local businesses to network, share ideas and collaborate for growth.