The Duke of Edinburgh, Prince Edward, last Monday engaged with the founders of start-ups selected for this year’s Commonwealth Startup Fellowship Bootcamp in Accra as part of his two-day visit to Ghana.
The Commonwealth Startup Fellowship is a flagship Commonwealth Scholarship Commission (CSC) programme funded by the United Kingdom (UK) government and delivered in partnership with Imperial Enterprise Lab and Imperial Global Ghana.
In all, the founders and co-founders of 24 start-ups from some Commonwealth countries are attending the two-week boothcamp, which is expected to end on November 28, 2025.
The high-potential startups are all from low and middle-income Commonwealth countries, including Ghana, Uganda, Nigeria, Tanzania, Bangladesh, Pakistan and India.
Through the programme, the participants are expected to be equipped with skills to build thriving businesses, scale operations effectively, and drive job creation in their home countries.
Ghana
Three rising stars from Ghana were selected for the global startup accelerator programme to turbocharge their businesses.
The startup founders were selected for the highly competitive programme, which assessed applications from more than 1,800 companies across 44 eligible countries and territories.
The successful startups are PureLube, a co-friendly, high-performance grease made from cashew shells for automotive and industrial use; ShaQ Express, a tech-powered green logistics company enabling last-mile delivery with electric bikes in Ghana; and SnooCODERED, which delivers emergency logistics software to improve health care in hard-to-reach areas.
The Commonwealth Startup Fellowship (CSF) empowers early-stage entrepreneurs from across the Commonwealth to address global development challenges through innovation and enterprise.
Two of the Fellows from Ghana are funded by Imperial Global Ghana – Imperial’s African hub based in Accra.
Imperial Global Ghana, Imperial College London’s hub in Accra, supports hundreds of academics and entrepreneurs in West Africa by strengthening collaboration on research, technology, education and entrepreneurship between the region and the UK.
Businesses
At the British High Commission in Accra, Prince Edward interacted with the founders and co-founders of the selected start-ups, who briefed him on the nature of their businesses.
Following the interaction, Prince Edward, who was impressed with the activities of the start-ups, wished them well.
Prince Edward described their work in various terms, including “brilliant,” “fantastic,” “excellent,” and “very good.
“Great stuff and good luck to all of you,” he summed up.
Afterwards, the Head of Communication at the British High Commission, Ryan Wilson, explained that the event was intended to highlight the ongoing partnership between the Commonwealth Scholarship Commission and Imperial College London.
Innovation
He said the event was intended to give the start-up founders an opportunity to meet Prince Edward, as young people and innovation were close to his heart.
He said the programme was an annual one and that its impact would continue to grow over time.
The Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of ShaQ Express, Anthony Owusu-Ansah, said his outfit was happy to be one of the 24 that were selected for the booth camp, “so you can imagine the excitement”.
For her part, Fareeda Mustapha of PureLube said the boot camp had helped her develop leadership skills, cultivate a business mindset, and engage investors to secure the necessary funding.
“I can say this programme has actually made a great impact in my life and also PureLube,” she emphasised.
