The Honorable Eastern Regional Minister, Mr Seth Kwame Acheampong has handed over start-up kits to 436 beneficiaries of the Apprenticeship to Entrepreneurship (A2E) component under the MasterCard Young Africa Works Project at Akim Oda in the Birim Central Municipality.
The 436 graduates form part of the 1, 300 beneficiaries in the Eastern Region who have currently been enrolled in the programme.
This follows the successful completion of an apprenticeship in Dressmaking/Fashion, Hairdressing, Barbering, Auto Electricals, Welding and Fabrication and other trade.
These youth have undergone apprenticeship training under approved GEA Skilled Craft Persons (SCPs) or artisans and have completed technical and entrepreneurial training, written NVTI examination, and are being supported with Start-up Kits to start their businesses.
The delivery mechanisms used by the Ghana Enterprises Agency to implement the Young Africa Works Project consider all the facets of youth entrepreneurship; which included Innovation, Creativity and Entrepreneurship (ICE), Apprenticeship to Entrepreneurship (A2E) and Business Acceleration.
Hon. Acheampong commended MasterCard Foundation for complementing the government’s efforts at training and empowering the youth in this country to obtain skills to support the government’s economic transformation agenda.
He said the government recognises that the youth was a critical human resource with a global outlook that could be channelled for the national development agenda, emphasising that it was imperative for the government and all relevant stakeholders to work together and implement more sustainable policies and strategies that means to create employment avenues for the teeming youth.
He commended the government under the leadership of President Akufo-Addo for implementing several initiatives and interventions to better the lives of Ghanaian youth.
He indicated that the “YOUSTART” Programme which would be launched in July this year is an additional initiative to support young entrepreneurs to gain access to capital, training and technical skills to enable them to start, build and grow their own business.
He, therefore, urged graduands to start small and use the equipment for the intended purpose so that subsequently they could attract the unemployed youth in their area and offer them the needed training as well.
In an interview with the media, the Chief Executive Officer of Ghana Enterprise Agency, Mrs Kosi Yankey-Ayeh indicated that the programme had registered and enrolled over 12,000 youth nationwide, exceeding the initial target of 8,000 with a female population of over 70%.
She also thanked MasterCard Foundation for partnering with GEA to bring the project to fruition, expressing the hope that the collaboration between the two institutions would grow from strength to strength to make the youth earn a living.
Madam Kosi Yankey-Ayeh consequently assured that GEA would continue to monitor and offer the necessary support to the beneficiaries to ensure that they succeed.
Source: Mybrytnewsroom.com/Kwabena Nyarko Abronoma
