The Ghana Enterprises Agency has said it was targeting about twenty one thousand (21, 000 ) youth in the Savannah Region as part of its Business In A Box Project on Tuesday.
The Chief Executive Officer made this known during the launch of the project at Damongo the capital of the region.
The Business In A Box Project (BizBox Project) was launched by the Ghana Enterprises Agency in partnership with Mastercard Foundation with the essence of collective efforts to empower the youth to create sustainable economic opportunities for their communities.
The BizBox Project is focused on key sectors of the economy including agriculture, agribusiness, tourism and creative industry, electrical, wood and joinery among others.
The project targets persons between 15 and 35 years, Persons with disabilities, majority of women owned businesses and youth led enterprises and aligns with the vision of the Mastercard Foundation to enable 3 million young women and men to access dignified and fulfilling work by 2030.
Addressing participants at the launch, the CEO Mrs Kosi Yankey Ayeh expressed optimism of meeting the set target in the Savannah region.
” We believe our target of 21,000 youth ( 70% being young women and 10% being persons with disabilities) from this region can be accomplished. It is our hope to work closely with all our implementing partners to mobilize resources and create an enabling environment for the effective implementation of this project.”
Mrs Kosi Yankey indicated that the BizBox Project is a build up of the successes of a previous project dubbed Young Africa Works Project which was implemented between 2020 and 2022 and created appropriately 94,000 jobs for the youth across the country.
” As we look ahead, this new intervention is designed to achieve even more, by providing skills development, mentoring and coaching, access to markets and regulatory support to appropriately 250,000 young women and men including persons with disabilities (PWDs) with a focus on supporting 125,000 of them with start up kits to create new businesses, jobs and by extension better the living conditions of our young people.”
She emphasized that as a nation of fifty percent youth, there was the need to create an enabling environment that creates opportunities and make businesses thrive.
“The nations youth are leaders of change and innovation with the determination to see things through. They only need the chance to demonstrate their skills. This situation calls for smart and sustainable initiatives and policies that prioritize youth development and integration with the Ghanaian government playing a critical role in creating employment and entrepreneurship opportunities for our youth.”
The Savannah Regional Minister Hon Saeed Muhazu Jibril extolled the government for to taking up various initiatives to ameorate the rate of unemployment among the youth.
” The government of Ghana under the leadership of His Excellency President Nana Addo Danquah Akufo Addo recognizes the pivotal role of the youth in national development. Initiatives such as the National Entrepreneurship and Innovation Programme and GEAs Youth Entrepreneurship and Employment Program (YEEP) exemplify the commitment to fostering the entrepreneurial ecosystem providing integrated support for young businesses to grow and succeed.”
A beneficiary of the Africa Work Projects, Miss Adam Christy Afisha recounted her journey through the project after training and graduating 14 apprentices.
Miss Adam Christy lauded the GhC 20,000.00 grant she received as part of the Women in SME program to expand her clothing business.
” This diversification was not just about adding new products; it was about creating a more resilient and sustainable business model that could withstand the tests of time and market fluctuations.”
The Business In A Box Project promises to address key challenges faced youth such as inadequate entrepreneurship education, start up kits among others.
By: Iddrisu Hafiz | Metrotvonline.com | Ghana
