Finance Minister, Ken Ofori-Atta, has announced an initiative to be rolled out by the government to support entrepreneurs in the country.
According to him, the initiative dubbed YouStart will propose the use of GH¢1 billion each year to catalyse an ecosystem to create 1 million jobs and in partnership with the Finance Institutions and Development Partners, raise another GH¢ 2 billion.
The Minister disclosed this while presenting the 2022 budget statement in Parliament on Wednesday, November 17, 2021.
“Our local Banks have agreed to a package that will result in increasing their SME portfolio up to GHC 5 billion over the next three years. This, Mr Speaker, results in an unprecedented historic 10bn Cedis commitment to the private sector and YouStart over the next three years,” he told Parliament.
He noted it will offer training and skills development, entrepreneurial support and business advisory services to entrepreneurs.
“Entrepreneurs will be able to apply for support through a dedicated YouStart online portal. YouStart is a vehicle for supporting young entrepreneurs to gain access to capital, training, technical skills and mentoring to enable them to launch and operate their own businesses,” he said.
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With regards to funding, he explained they will have access to competitive credit and starter packs as well as enterprise promotion.
This Mr Ofori-Atta said will focus on mentoring and access to markets including portals to facilitate “digital linkages” between youth-led enterprises and other businesses and relevant Government agencies.
He added the Ghana Enterprises Agency, the National Entrepreneurship and Innovation Programme, and partner financial institutions, will serve as the implementing arms of YouStart.