Thirteen Participating Financial Institutions (FPIs) and the Ghana Association of Banks (GAB) have offered to contribute GH¢5 billion to the YouStart programme, the government’s entrepreneurial initiative.
Through the partnership, the PFIs would provide a loan facility of about GH¢5 billion in the next three years, ranging from GH¢100,000 and GH¢500,000 to businesses under the programme.
YouStart is an initiative through which the government intends to provide funding and technical support to youth and youth-led businesses to assist them in starting, building, and growing their own businesses.
The Finance Minister, Mr Ken Ofori-Atta, who disclosed this during the signing of agreements with the Participating Financial Institutions (PFIs) of the YouStart programme in Accra on Tuesday, said the government would provide GH¢3 billion while development partners provide GH¢2 billion to support the implementation of the programme.
The funds would be used to meet the working capital requirement of businesses, support their expansion needs and purchase of equipment or machinery to enhance productivity and create more well-paid jobs, especially for the youth.
Minister of Finance, Ken Ofori-Atta, stated during his speech at the programme that the signing of the agreement demonstrated the government’s and the private sector’s commitment to strengthening links between education and job market stakeholders.
In addition to giving young Ghanaian entrepreneurs access to capital, training, and markets, he explained that the partnership would also enable the private sector to produce more respectable and long-lasting employment.
“Fundamentally, we had to adopt this approach because the pandemic taught us, we must re-orient our approach towards structural transformation and react with a clear plan to reap the benefits of our population dividend by building an Entrepreneurial State,” Mr Ofori-Atta said.
The partner banks are GCB Bank Plc, Absa Bank Ghana Limited, Access Bank Ghana Plc, Ecobank Ghana Plc, FBNBank Ghana Limited, Fidelity Bank Ghana Limited, and Universal Merchant Bank.
The others are Consolidated Bank Ghana Limited, CalBank Plc, OmniBSIC Bank Ghana Limited, Zenith Bank Ghana Limited, Bank of Africa Ghana Limited, ARB Apex Bank and GAB.
Mr. Ken Ofori-Atta noted that the three components of the YouStart programme (Commercial, module, District Entrepreneurship and YouStart Grace Modules) where to ensure that “no one is left behind in building Ghana as an entrepreneurial nation.
Deputy Minister of Finance, Dr John Ampontuah Kumah, adding his voice, said the partnership was critical in the Government’s quest to build future entrepreneurs and make Ghana an entrepreneurial State.
He explained that the YouStart programme was to deliberately grow start-ups and make them contribute to the government’s agenda of creating three million jobs, but depend largely on the support of banks.
He, therefore, urged the PFIs to sustain their support for the programme and ensure its extension to entrepreneurs with businesses in rural areas to help create jobs and uplift many living in those areas from poverty.
The Chief Executive Officer of GAB, John Awuah, said the YouStart was “a positive development.”
He added that “Part of the COVID-19 pandemic has taught us that we need to have a home- grown economy, one that is owned and managed by Ghanaians.”
This signing serves as confirmation that the public and private sectors can collaborate to build the entrepreneurial nation that we have all been longing for, Mr. Awuah said.
He noted that the Banks had worked with the Finance Ministry to design the YouStart programme to help propel businesses forward, particularly younger and smaller businesses.
Providing a brief on the programme, Mr Andy Ameckson, Acting Coordinator, YouStart, said under the commercial part, Banks would provide loans to beneficiary businesses at interest rates lower than the market rate.
“There will not be any collateral for businesses to access loans under the programme, and the recovery is also dependent on the beneficiaries,” Mr Ameckson pointed out.
The pilot phase of the YouStart programme was implemented in February 2022, involving 85 young entrepreneurs, and currently awaiting the availability of the President for the launch and full-scale implementation of all three modules.
YouStart is a programme that seeks to support young entrepreneurs to gain access to capital, training and technical skills that will enable them to start, build and grow their own businesses.
This initiative targets young people and students between the ages of 18-35 years who have brilliant business ideas and viable businesses, to support these individuals to nurture, grow, and expand their businesses and create jobs in the economy.
Government, through the YouStart programme, intends to build an entrepreneurial nation by providing some of the key enablers that make entrepreneurship a success.
These include, access to finance and markets, mentorship, strategic partnerships and digital linkages, technical assistance; and business advisory support service.
The Ghana Enterprises Agency (GEA) and National Entrepreneurship and Innovation Programme (NEIP) are the implementing agencies of the programme, whose goal is to create a Wealthy, Inclusive, Sustainable, Empowered and Resilient (WISER) society.
They would be supported by the National Youth Authority, Ghana Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) Service, and Nation Builders Corps (NABCo).
The Nation Builders Corps (NABCo), which was introduced by the government on Tuesday, May 1, 2018 to temporarily address graduate unemployment, officially ended on September 1, 2022.
However, the finance minister, Ken Ofori-Atta has admonished the NABCo trainees to take advantage of the government’s flagship YouStart programme.
Source: The Independent Ghana