There is a glimmer of hope for beneficiaries of the Nation Builders Corps (NABCO) despite the economic challenges of the country.
According to the Information Minister, government intends to roll trainees of NABCO onto the yet-to-be-launched YouStart programme.
Kojo Oppong Nkrumah, who was speaking on JoyNews’ The Probe, noted that the move is a sustainable approach to resolving the growing rate of unemployment in Ghana.
“The government has been clear that for NABCO persons, they are going to be rolled on the YouStart programme which is aimed at ensuring that they have capital and technical support to start up their own businesses,” he said.
The YouStart initiative under the Ghana CARES programme has been introduced to ease constraints for existing and aspiring young entrepreneurs.
Finance Minister, Ken Ofori-Atta had earlier stated that empowering the youth who were a driving force for change was a key component of the government’s plan.
He emphasised that the initiative would ensure that skills training becomes much better aligned with the needs of sectors as drivers of future productivity growth and socio-economic transformation.
Even before the government could choose a date for the programme’s launch, a group of NABCO trainees has asked for it to halted until their allowances are paid.
The trainees for months have complained about non-payment of allowances which has been in arrears for the past seven months.
While admitting that NABCO beneficiaries are struggling to make ends meet, the Ofoase-Ayirebi MP said the Akufo-Addo administration still prioritises youth employment.
He asked for the trainees to cooperate with the government on the initiative.
“I feel the pain of the NABCO beneficiaries which has been occasioned by the limited resources. There are many times I go to my constituency and I have to pay for some of my NABCO people who are helping out in the hospitals just that we are not making noise about it.
“But we feel their pain and our expectation is that the YouStart Programme will be rolled out shortly so that they all can be moved onto it,” he said on Sunday.