Finance Minister, Ken Ofori-Atta has reiterated government’s commitment to enhance the infrastructural needs of the country to make Ghana a hub for industrialization as well as create more jobs for the youth. According to him, only 53percent of the population are actively engaged economic activities.
In view of this, he urged the youth to take advantage of the various government initiatives to help build on their entrepreneurship skills to grow their businesses. “We have only 12-14 percent unemployment issue in the country and in creating jobs. It comes with the fundamentals and the macro scheme in order to ensure the stability of the economy,” he said.
He added that 35percent of the population of Ghana is not economically active while 53percent are economically empowered.
Mr. Ofori-Atta announced this at this year’s Springboard Iconic Road Show Youth Dialogue held in Tamale, the Northern regional capital. The event dubbed ‘Repositioning – Bouncing Back from COVID-19 and Finding Opportunities’ brought together students, academia, young entrepreneurs, executives of the National Entrepreneurship and Innovation Programme (NEIP) among others.
Mr. Ofori Atta said government is keen on fixing the economy by employing the citizens to engage in infrastructure development. He urged the youth and the students to take advantage of academic work to help position them in the job market in future.
Northern Regional Minister Shani Alhassan Shaibu commended the management of Springfield for the continued initiative programmes.
Executive Director for Springboard Road Show Foundation, Comfort Ocran said COVID-19 has provided new opportunities through technology and innovation. “This generation of young people are facing challenges that previous generations did not face, they are dealing with pressures their parents are unfamiliar with and they are asking questions, someone needs to answer,” she said.
She noted that the event is to inspire the youth to take advantage of opportunities to create jobs. “The Foundation has been organising the Springboard Road Show for the past 14 years. We have traveled across the country every year since January 2007 and in the process mentored over 250,000 young people in in-person interactions,” she said.
