Finance Minister, Ken Ofori-Atta has indicated that some 70 entrepreneurs below the age of 40 years have benefited from the YouStart pilot programme.
The Minister made this known Thursday November 24, 2022 during the presentation of the 2023 budget.
The YouStart programme is a government initiative towards the support of youth-led Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) in poultry, agro processing, ICT, textiles, and food processing sectors.
This programme also aims at government’s desire to build an entrepreneurial state and also give young and innovative entrepreneurs the chance to help boost the country’s economy.
The Minister added that an amount of GH¢1.98 million was disbursed to support these youth-led SMEs and the government has also successfully signed an MoU with the Ghana Association of Banks (GAB) and eleven (11) other commercial Banks for the implementation of the commercial component of the programme.
Mr Ofori-Atta further added that YouStart also brought about the launch of the District Entrepreneurship Programme (DEP) component of the programme and it is expected that the launch of the Commercial component of the Programme will occur by the end of 2022 to enable qualified beneficiaries access support for their businesses.
The YouStart programme under the Ghana Enterprise Agency will provide entrepreneurship training to 50,000 youth and early adults who have the potential to start a business.
Three levels of entrepreneurship training will be offered: basic, intermediate, and advanced.
The training will be based on standardized, quality-assured packages in different locations nationwide.
All training will be delivered using an experiential participatory approach conducive for adult learning and will also be district based and non-residential.
All advanced training participants will receive mentoring and coaching support, which encompasses guidance to prepare business plans, meet business registration and licensing requirements, and connect with input and output markets.
Short duration internship, mentoring and guidance sessions would be arranged for some selected beneficiaries.
