Movie producer and actress Kafui Danku has revealed her reason for creating the “Dream Achievers Project” initiative. 

According to her, seeing young people succeed in their businesses and in all areas has been her passion.

Speaking to Joy Prime at the debut of the project’s award scheme, she explained that many youths reached out to her during the COVID-19 period for help as the majority of them lost their jobs.

This became a worry for her, but it also sparked inspiration. This was why she and her team collaboratively introduced the “Dream Achievers Project” to help the youth with struggling businesses find their feet and make a good income for themselves.

“What inspired this is that during COVID, a lot of people were asking for support more than usual. Once in a while, I will send money to people I don’t know. I will give 1,000 and 2,000 cedis to people and only call them on video to confirm if they are real. Sometimes I end up sending it to the wrong people.”

“So I decided to save some more money and make it a bigger project so that a lot of people would benefit. So what pushed this initiative is the zeal to see young people and young businesses succeed,” she said.

In February 2024, the actress and her team shared the application process on her official Instagram page for interested youth with startup businesses to send in their entries. Following the announcement, over 2000 young people registered their businesses.

People who applied were given the chance to present their business ideas and share stories depicting the struggles they face and the equipment they need to solve these problems. They stood a chance of winning business essentials worth GHc 1,000 to 5,000 in a collective amount of GHc 50,000 to upscale their businesses.

After thoroughly going through every applicant's business needs and stories, Kafui Danku and her team were able to scale the list down to 300, and 15 struggling start-up businesses were shortlisted to be supported.

The event, which took place at the Accra Metropolitan Assembly, Omanye Hall, saw over 1000 young business owners in and outside Accra troop in to acquire knowledge and skills that will impact their businesses positively.

The panelists present at the event, including Paystack representatives and Kafui Danku, touched on efficient payment solutions for small businesses, digital tips for a visually pleasing brand, the advantages of a website for small businesses, how to leverage platforms for brand management, and tips for mastering mobile videography for business.

Some of the winners took home baking ovens, phones, ring lights, overlock machines, sewing machines, and a host of other great prizes. Each winner expressed their profound gratitude to the actress and her team for introducing this initiative and touching their lives. They are confident that their businesses will move to a new level with what they have gained. Also, those who were in attendance took home certificates for their participation.

Kafui Danku further disclosed that her team will make a conscious effort to constantly visit the businesses of the winners to keep them in check and ensure their businesses are progressing positively.

“This is to help us see real people, support them, and keep them accountable. I have seen a few faces, and we have witnesses here today, so it will be quite easy to track accountability,” she added.

The actress and philanthropist expressed her joy at seeing the number of people who showed up for the first season of “The Dream Achievers Project." According to her, it is a sign of how Ghanaian youth are hungry and ready to put in their efforts to attain success on their own.

Mrs Danku applauded her team and all the start-up business owners for making the event a success. She encouraged those who did not win not to give up but to take all the skills taught at the event seriously, as it will help them improve their businesses.

She has high hopes of coming back soon with the second edition of “The Dream Achievers Project” to keep impacting the businesses of youths positively.