The government’s flagship program on youth development, the YouStart Program Kickstarts in all 261 districts in Ghana on 8th May 2023. The YouStart Ghana Jobs and Skills project is designed to equip young people between the ages of 18-40 years with practical entrepreneurship skills, access to the market and provide competitive grants. This current phase of training and funding support is implemented by the Ghana Enterprises Agency (GEA) with funding support from the World Bank under Component 2.1 of the Ghana Jobs and Skills Project (GJSP).
The YouStart Ghana Jobs and Skills project will support 50,000 young women and men to start their own businesses. This will support the government’s plan to build an entrepreneurial economy to support job creation.
Background of the project
The YouStart Ghana Jobs and Skills project is the product of a collaboration between the World Bank and the Government of Ghana. The project’s main objective is to facilitate the development of skills and create jobs for Ghanaians over a period of five years. The project will involve a nationwide implementation and consist of a host of activities to promote entrepreneurship.
The four components for skills development and job generation under the project are.
Component 1: Provision of Apprenticeship and Entrepreneurship Support to Individuals for Jobs.
Component 2: Provision of Competitive Grants to Private Enterprises for Expanded Employment.
Component 3: Operationalization of the Ghana Labour Market Information System, Upgrade of District Public Employment Centres and Services, and Independent Performance Reviews of Selected Government Youth Employment and Skills Development Programs; and
Component 4: Capacity Development, Technical Assistance, and Project Management Support to Coordinating, Implementing, and Partnering Agencies for Enhanced Skills and Jobs Impact.
The Ministry of Finance will coordinate the project. The Council for Technical and Vocational Education and Training (COTVET), under the Ministry of Education (MoE); the Ghana Enterprises Agency (GEA), under the Ministry of Trade and Industry (MoTI); and the Ministry of Employment and Labour Relations (MELR) constitute the main implementation agencies. The Ministry of Environment, Science, Technology, and Innovation (MESTI) is the main partnering agency.
OVERVIEW OF COMPONENT 2.1 UNDER GEA
The Ghana Enterprises Agency (GEA) as a state agency, is responsible for the implementation of Component 2.1 of the Ghana Jobs and Skills Project (GJSP). This component has the objective of supporting 50,000 youth with entrepreneurship training and competitive start-up grants. This is part of GEA’s Youth Entrepreneurship and Employment Programme (YEEP). The focus of this Project is job creation specifically for unemployed youth with women being 50% of the target beneficiaries while priority would be given to Persons with Disabilities (PWDs).
The 30-day comprehensive training cycle is designed to provide Basic, intermediate, and advanced entrepreneurship skills development. It will also provide bespoke financial literacy and Kaizen training.
The target group includes existing GEA beneficiaries (clients), school dropouts with existing businesses, School graduates and apprentices in various trade areas. Beneficiaries will receive equipment, regulatory and working capital support.
Relevance
The successful implementation of the YouStart Ghana Jobs and Skills Project will support young people with a shift in mindset. The country is currently bewitched with the notion that young people should go to school and gain employment. The training will expose the youth to entrepreneurship hence promoting the idea of creating their own businesses.
Job creation remains a major reason for the implementation of the YouStart Ghana Jobs and Skills project. The project will support 50,000 youth to start their own businesses or grow their businesses. The intention is to support beneficiaries to create and sustain employment.
Fear
A lot of people on social media and on live radio have expressed worries about the mode of selection of beneficiaries. The CEO of Ghana Enterprises Agency, Mrs Kosi Yankey-Ayeh, explained on Peace Fm’s Kokrokoo program that application and selection were done online. The online portal has a scoring scheme that rated the applications received. According to Kosi ‘Questions were asked if applicants were interested in training’ some of them said No! She added. The project is focused on the youth who are willing to learn entrepreneurship and willing to nurture their ideas for support, the CEO explained.
She concluded by insisting that the project is designed for all qualified Ghanaians who applied.
Conclusion
The youth especially selected participants are encouraged to venture into entrepreneurship and create their own businesses. This way, they will create dignified and fulfilling jobs for themselves and other youth.
