Government Trains 19,000 Entrepreneurs

By Esther Atubiga And David Gomado

The Minister for Business Development, Dr. Ibrahim Mohammed Awal, has disclosed that government has trained 19,000 young entrepreneurs under the Presidential Business Support Programme (PBSP) in sourcing for funds, marketing,

accounting and book keeping across the country, out of which 1,550 have received funding between GH¢ 10,000 and GH¢ 100,000 which has created 4,000 jobs.

He said this when the ministry took its turn in the meet-the-press series in Accra.

According to the Minister, the mandate of the ministry is to develop and implement policies and programmes to improve the entrepreneurial capacity of Ghanaians, particularly the youth to create jobs and wealth.

As part of government's initiative to build an entrepreneurial culture among the youth, the Presidential Pitch programme which seeks to discover and support young entrepreneurs between the ages of 18 to 35 years with innovative business ideas and plans, was initiated.

Dr. Awal noted that in 2018, 20 entrepreneurs were assisted with funding between GH¢ 25,000 and GH¢ 50,000 which lead to the creation of over 200 jobs and 10 young entrepreneurs have received funding between GH¢ 25,000 and GH¢ 60,000 in 2019.

The Minister announced that 920 jobs have been created under the Green Business (DOMES), an initiative which has built 75 domes at Dowhenya to train young entrepreneurs in the production of organic vegetables.

He mentioned that, the Student Entrepreneurship Initiative which is targeted at exposing Senior High School students to business concept and plans at an early age whiles in school, is so far benefiting 7,500 students nationwide.

To build capacity for women in business, 2000 women entrepreneurs have received training in fashion, information technology, agribusiness, tourism, communication and media, the minister said.

He added that a fund has been launched to support 1,000 women entrepreneurs with disability of which 100 have received funds and training.

The Ministry by the end of this year would begin training of 2000 head porters (Kayayei) on book keeping and financial management skill to improve upon their business skills. This training would be done in conjunction with the Ministry of Women and Social Protection Affairs.

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