In November 2019, Cummings Africa Foundation (CAF) launched its Entrepreneurship Program by hosting the Liberia Entrepreneurship Summit. The Summit brought together almost 300 persons for a series of two days events that included training workshops, expert panel presentations including with CEOs and heads of major Liberian businesses, and networking sessions and other business development opportunities. The workshop presenters and facilitators included persons with experience in finance, management and operations, sales and marketing, strategic planning, human resource management, and many crucial areas for a successful business.
The highpoint of the Summit was “The Pitch Competition” in which over 75 Liberian Entrepreneurs pitched their business ideas to CAF for financial support. The top awards were a first-place grant award of $10,000 and a second-place grant award of $5,000. After extensive evaluations by CAF panel of judges, the top $10,000 prize was awarded to Say No to Hunger, a company that established a commercially driven agricultural cooperative of farmers. Naz Naturals, a woman owned business that produces natural hair products from local resources utilizing high quality and standards was awarded the $5,000 second place prize.
CAF was pleased to host this program which brought together many Entrepreneurs with high potential for success and business sustainability. CAF will continue to explore more opportunities to support Entrepreneurship. CAF invested a little over USD $60,000 in sponsorship of the Entrepreneurship Summit.
