The Finance Minister, Ken Ofori Atta, has announced government’s decision to support young entrepreneurs with GHS1 billion in 2022.
He mentioned that the support will be under government’s framework which seeks to provide direct funds for young entrepreneurs to enable them to create new businesses and expand existing ones.
Mr Ofori Atta had earlier urged fresh graduates from the various tertiary institutions to find innovative ways of becoming entrepreneurs.
“Government payroll is full because we are spending some 60% of our revenue on remunerating some 650,000 people. That is not sustainable. You have the skills set to be able to do what you have to do. Our responsibility as a government is to create the environment and the macro stability, currency stability and ensure that you have access to the relevant skills and financing,” Ofori Attah told students at a graduation ceremony at the University of Professional Studies, Accra (UPSA).
Speaking on the floor of Parliament today, Wednesday 17th November 2021, Finance Minister, Ken Ofori Atta said government will introduce a ‘You Start’ programme which will see to it that young entrepreneurs have the necessary funds to create and sustain viable businesses and create more jobs.
“Mr. Speaker, this understanding of the youth employment challenge, as well as extensive consultations with stakeholders including youth associations and educational institutions across the country, have led to the development of the YouStart initiative which proposes to use GH¢1 billion to create 1 million jobs and in partnership with the Finance Institutions and Development Partners. In addition, our local Banks have agreed to a package that will result in increasing their SME portfolio up to about GHC 5 billion over the next 3 years.
“YouStart is a vehicle for supporting young entrepreneurs to gain access to capital, training, technical skills and mentoring to enable them launch and operate their own businesses. The Ghana Enterprises Agency (GEA), the National Entrepreneurship and Innovation Programme (NEIP), and partner financial institutions, will serve as the implementing arms of YouStart. Entrepreneurs will be able to apply for support through a dedicated YouStart online portal. NEIP will also engage our Faith-Based Organizations as partners for the delivery of essential artisanal skills,” he added.
‘YouStart’ initiative is designed to instill proper commercial orientation in the beneficiaries. This he said will include financial institutions determining the credit metrics and GEA and NEIP providing training support especially for the standardized SME loans noting that the initiative will be operational by March 2022.
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