Young people in entrepreneurship have been challenged to take particular interest in the development of themselves in order to create jobs and end unemployment in the country.
Director of Business Support and Policy at the National Entrepreneurship Innovation Programme (NEIP) Franklin Owusu-Karikari who made the call assured of government’s commitment to improve the business environment and urged young people to take advantage and create jobs.
“Do your due diligence and market testing because the economic situations may be different in different countries. Be honest to yourself, increase your time with customers, maintain high standards, concentrate on your core mandate, and build your core business. Build capacity,” he said.
Mr. Owusu-Karikari said this this during a webinar to officially launch the Youth Entrepreneurship and Innovation Multi-Donor Trust Fund (YEI-MDTF which is being run in partnership with the African Guarantee Fund for Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (AGF).
The progamme has targeted to provide mentorship to 80 young people led star-ups and micro, small and medium-sized enterprises in the country.
Beneficiary start-ups will be provided with training, capacity building support, coaching and mentoring to address challenges confronting them to position to attract investors and access funding.
“YEI-MDTF has come to ensure we make something different. This is an idea whose time has come. Let’s take full advantage. Let’s go through mentorship and training programmes. NEIP is here to assist to make dreams come true,” Mr Owusu-Karikari noted.
The coordinating partner for Ghana on the program, GFA Consulting, is expected to use an innovative business diagnostic tool to match young entrepreneurs with business coaches and mentors.
The partner will also provide them with support and capacity building to submit bankable business proposals, with the objective of linking them to local financial institutions and private equity funds.
“If we do not find innovative and creative solutions to address the challenges that young people and women face when setting up and running their business, the continent will struggle to achieve its 2030 vision, where young people have access to education, good skills, and are able to start, build and grow a business,” the Managing Director of GFA noted.
The YEI-MDTF initiative is also implemented in four other African countries, namely Nigeria, Mali, Togo and Zimbabwe.
