As part of measures to address unemployment and boost the government’s industrialisation agenda, the 1D1F Enable Youth programme has been launched.
Under the initiative, beneficiaries will be provided with financial and technical assistance to manage agro-processing companies, which will operate under the Rural Enterprises Programme (REP).
Already, 58 agro-processing companies which will engaged in the production and processing of agricultural products such as fish, cassava, cashew, rice, oil palm, mushroom, pineapple, groundnut, soya beans have been established in selected district across the country.
Speaking at the launch of the initiative on Friday, the Minister of Trade and Industry, Alan Kyerematen, explained that the beneficiaries will be equipped to grow the factories and employ other people.
According to him, the initiative will directly create employment for 3,000 youth and over 16,000 indirect jobs for unemployed persons across the country.
“It is an uncontestable fact, that one of the problems confronting our country is how we deal with youth unemployment. This particular initiative will contribute to employing almost 3000 youth. It is also going to contribute indirectly to creating over 16, 000 jobs,” he said.
Wake-up call
Mr Kyerematen said that the rising spate of youth unemployment was a wake-up call for the government and the private sector to roll out innovative modules that would create sustainable jobs and make the youth self-reliant.
He believes the support being given to the youth to invest in the agriculture value chain would help to properly link the sector to industry for socio-economic development.
“Agriculture without industrialisation is not sustainable; that is why we have been struggling with our agricultural sector for many years. We are unable to process what we grow and produce. So in this case, the industrialisation component of this programme is going to enhance and deepen a culture of production and productivity, and that is very important for the industrial transformation of our country,” he stressed.
He said the focus of the government was to tap into the entrepreneurial skills of young people as a measure to create avenues for more job creation to bridge the youth unemployment gap.
“This programme is comprehensive and well integrated, and in my view, it will empower the youth of this country. The government must support such initiatives. Our partners must support this programme too,” he urged.
The Minister said deliberate investment in the youth was one of the surest way to achieve the Ghana beyond Aid agenda.
“Ghana Beyond Aid does not mean we do not need aid. We need support for investment to transform our economy, not for consumption,” he said.
Support
The Country Director and representative of the IFAD in Ghana, Hani Abdelkader Elsadani, said the institution’s decision to partner the government to roll out the initiative was because of the cooperation it had with the Government of Ghana dating back to 1970.
Mr Elsadani said IFAD was committed to supporting projects that would enable rural poor people to have sustainable livelihoods.
In his remarks, the Director of REP, Kwesi Attah-Antwi, said the initiative would be a game changer in terms of youth unemployment.
He called on all stakeholders, especially at the district levels, to support the programme to succeed.
The initiative is funded by the government, the African Development Bank (AfDB) and the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD).
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