Young entrepreneurs to be equipped with business skills
The government will roll-out a project in April this year to scout for young entrepreneurs in tertiary institutions and equip them with business management skills.
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The move is to help them to establish their own businesses in the country.
Under a public-private partnership, the Ministry of Business Development and other stakeholders are working to draft the modalities of the first edition of the projects which will soon be an annual programme to support the small and medium enterprise sector, the Minister for Business Development, Mr Ibrahim Mohammed Awal, told the Daily Graphic at the launch of the Royal Banking and Finance Challenge in Accra.
Lauding the Royal Banking and Finance Challenge, he said the government was aware that about 7,000 people graduated from the various tertiary institutions in the country every year, explaining that this was part of the government’s initiative to support the small and medium enterprise sector.
“Usually when people come out of school, they cannot fit into the job market. So, we want to get doctors, academia, engineers, bankers, journalists, among others, to go to various universities and polytechnics to groom them on various areas of the economy. We will also help them to come up with business plans and we will support them to turn the business plan into projects so that by the time they come out of school, they become job owners not job seekers,” he added.
Royal Banking and Finance Challenge
Royal Bank Limited in partnership with Edufair Ghana Foundation and other stakeholders launched the Royal Banking and Finance Challenge to educate the youth on the importance of financial literacy across the country.
The programme, which will be an annual competition for undergraduate students in the various tertiary institutions, also seeks to provide a platform for the educated youth to contribute meaningfully to the growth of the financial services sector in Ghana.
The Executive Director of Edufair Ghana Foundation, Ms Ewura-Esi Enyimayew, said the idea was conceived after the Foundation introduced the very successful ‘Model Democracy’ last year.
Model democracy was a debate tournament among selected tertiary institutions which was launched for students to have an intellectual discourse focused on national issues through research.
“With the proliferation of financial institutions in Ghana, the introduction of modern trends in technology and a host of business schools, we thought of connecting them to the benefit of the society. Our dream is to make this the paramount platform for intellectual discourse on financial sector issues in Ghana, where industry meets academia,” she said.
The executive director observed that the platform should also encourage the various universities in the country to modify their curricula in terms of training for banking and finance students to meet the expectations of industry.
Modalities
Touching on the modalities of the programme, she indicated that 16 public and private universities across the country would take part in the maiden edition of the Royal Banking and Finance Challenge 2017.
“It would be organised over three rounds; the quarter-finals, semi-finals and finals,” she added.
For his part, the Chief Executive Officer of Royal Bank Limited, Mr Osei Asafo-Adjei, explained that his outfit decided to support this programme because the bank believed that an educated people was a right step in nation building.
“Our belief is that a competition of this nature, which brings together 16 universities across the country to brainstorm and compete in ideas, will bring out the best in our young graduates,” he added.