Heads of the various government youth agencies and programmes under the Akufo-Addo administration have been touting the achievements under their respective units, particularly, the support of more than 2.5 million Ghanaian youth.
Addressing the maiden edition of the Nation Building Updates in Accra on Tuesday 22nd September 2020, on the theme “Leadership that delivers for the Youth”, the six chief executive officers (CEOs) from the National Youth Authority (NYA), Youth Employment Agency (YEA), Nation Builders Corps (NABCO), National Board for Small Scale Industries (NBSSI), National Service Scheme (NSS) and National Entrepreneurship and Innovation Plan (NEIP) said the Akufo-Addo administration had made unprecedented strides by providing opportunities and hope for the Ghanaian youth.
The CEO of NABCO, Dr. Ibrahim Anyars, emphasised that the government recognises the challenging burden of unemployment at various levels of society, and has adequately initiated measures, through the NABCO programme, to address it. He said after a successful implementation of the programme, the NABCO is beginning a transition to permanent employment as the scheme approaches its second anniversary.
“This initiative is to assist address graduate unemployment through a work and learning programme by placing them into work to gain experience, value addition through training, and human capital development, so the trainees would be ready for opportunities of permanent employment and become innovative in establishing their enterprises. And an exit scheme for additional exposure for trainees to enter into the real world of exploring opportunities,” he added.
Touching on government interventions through her outfit, the Executive Director of the NBSSI, Mrs. Kosi Afua Yankey-Ayeh, said the government had provided support to the youth in diverse ways. One of such ways, she noted, was the disbursement of funds through the Coronavirus Alleviation Programme (CAP) Business Support Scheme, an initiative meant to deal with the social and economic impact of the COVID-19 on Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) predominantly owned by the youth.
She explained that through key government interventions, the NBSSI had been able to substantially reduce the high unemployment rate in the country, as well as maximise the contributions of small businesses to the country’s economic and social development.
The Chief Executive Officer of the YEA, Justin Kodua Frimpong, detailed numerous interventions and policy initiatives introduced by his administration, which have created close to 145,000 jobs over the last three years. These include the YEA Job Centre, which connects job seekers to employers, the Artisan Directory, Youth in Elite Sports, School Support Programme, and Flagship Programme among many others.
The CEO did not leave out the transformation agenda, which has also seen the renovation of the agency’s offices and the construction of new regional offices, especially for the newly-created regions. He also disclosed that the YEA had saved over GH¢82 million since the coming of a new administration from the year 2017. This is borne out of prudent management and the institution of an effective validation, verification, monitoring and evaluation practices implemented by the management.
Speaking on the numerous government interventions through his unit, the CEO of the National Entrepreneurship and Innovation Plan (NEIP), Lawyer John Kumah, pointed out the government had supported 9,350 businesses financially to make them competitive and viable. He also mentioned that the government was embarking on a number of projects, including the training of 10,000 students under the Student Entrepreneurship Initiative, and supporting 30 innovative entrepreneurs under the Presidential Pitch Programme.
Highlighting the various youth-centered programmes the government had embarked upon through the NYA, the CEO of the programme, Mr. Sylvester Mensah Tetteh, said the government had trained 3,000 young people in the online digital marketing and entrepreneurship programme, and a further 5,000 young people trained and given adequate skill development in youth entrepreneurship.
The NSS boss, Mr. Mustapha Ussif, noted that his organisation, in the past years, had been able to mobilise and deploy Ghanaian citizens who are 18 years and above for national development. He said the NSS in the current administration has become efficient and proactive, undertaking projects to combat hunger, illiteracy, diseases and unemployment in the country.
The Nation Building Updates is a weekly event designed by the government, through the Ministry of Information, to provide stakeholders in Ghana’s democracy detailed updates on key interventions executed by the government.
Meanwhile, the Minister for Information, Kojo Oppong Nkrumah, has praised the contributions of young appointees under the Akufo-Addo administration, and urged them to continue to make a difference.
Addressing the maiden edition of the Nation Building Updates, Mr Nkrumah encouraged the young CEOs to continue to work hard to make a positive impact.
The Information Minister, who is also the Member of Parliament (MP) for Ofoase Ayirebi in the Eastern Region, said it was not surprising that President Akufo-Addo, through these CEOs, had impacted the lives of 2.5 million youth with direct interventions.
“If you take programme by programme, and agency by agency from where they have come from and heading to, there is no doubt that President Akufo-Addo has done massively for the youth. These young CEOs have not disappointed the President, and are delivering in their various positions.”
He urged them to lay foundations as an encouragement for more young people to occupy positions just like they have and performed.
The post Akufo-Addo supports over 2.5m Ghanaian youth appeared first on The Chronicle Online.
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