The Minister of Finance, Ken Ofori-Atta, has disclosed that the government’s much touted youth entrepreneurship programme, YouStart, is ready to take off next month.
The initiative is expected to be a vehicle for supporting young entrepreneurs to gain access to capital, training, technical skills and mentoring to enable them to launch and operate their own businesses.
Speaking at a business pitch event as part of the pilot phase of the programme in Accra yesterday, the Minister said the programme is expected to remove the primary impediment to the growth of enterprises in Ghana, and improve access to credit by young entrepreneurs who are in need of support to start or expand their businesses.
Unemployment
According to him, the country’s unemployment rate is inching closer to unacceptable levels, occasioned in part by the ravages of the COVID-19 pandemic, emphasising the need for government to put measures in place to address the situation.
To this end, he explained, the YouStart programme is one of the measures to curb the problem of unemployment in the country and create a brighter future for our people especially the youth.
“So today, government is acting with a plan that gives our people confidence to pursue their ambitions. Our strategy is a simple one. We will back hardworking people to create local businesses and support existing ones.
“Government’s policy direction is to create an enterprise-driven economy. In this regard, government will continue to strengthen the links between education and job market stakeholders and provide access to finance, skills, and markets for our young entrepreneurs, so that the private sector is well resourced to create jobs for our teeming youth,” he added.
Available data from the Ghana Statistical Service (GSS) indicate that 11.5 million people are considered economically active. Of this number, 1.5 million people are unemployed, estimating the unemployment rate among the population 15 years and older at 13.4 percent.
YouStart
Reversing this downward slide, Mr Ofori Atta said, the ‘YouStart’ is a comprehensive initiative that will provide an effective solution to the country’s youth unemployment challenge and create about 1 million jobs for the teeming youth of the country in the next three years.
“The programme will be implemented by the Ghana Enterprises Agency (GEA) and the National Entrepreneurship and Innovation Programme (NEIP) with funding of up to GH₵10 billion by government. It is meant to support startups with founders under 35 years old, university and high school leavers with unique and innovative ideas and youth Micro Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs),” he stated.
He added that YouStart would support youth-led enterprises with soft loans of up to GH¢50,000 to help start-ups, particularly by young graduates and school leavers and small businesses to expand, provide starter packs of up to GH¢50,000 for individuals and GH¢100,000 for associations and groups as well as a standardised loan package of between GH¢100,000 to GH¢400,000 at concessional rates for SMEs from financial institutions.
“It will provide skills development, entrepreneurial support and business advisory service to young businesses, provide access to competitive credit and starter packs and create access to markets for businesses including portals to facilitate “digital linkages” between youth-led enterprises and other businesses and relevant government agencies,” he added.
The pilot pitch event provided a platform for beneficiaries like IoT Network Hub, Packway Ghana Limited, SheaMe and many others drawn from all five zones of the country. Additionally, it included those in sectors such as agribusiness and technology to pitch their business ideas and demonstrate how government support for their businesses will help create opportunities for the youth of the country.
Present at the event were the two Deputy Ministers of Finance, Dr. Ampontuah Kumah, Abena Osei Asare, and key government officials from the Ministry of Finance. Also present were representatives from Ghana Enterprises Agency (GEA), the National Entrepreneurship and Innovation Programme (NEIP) and other partner financial institutions.
About The Author
