The newly appointed President of the Ghana Chamber of Young Entrepreneurs, Richard E. Addison, has called on government to decentralise all youth entrepreneurship policy initiatives. He said this in his new year message to members of the Chamber and young Ghanaian entrepreneurs.
2022 is a year for young entrepreneurs as government starts with many youth entrepreneurship policy initiatives. According to the Young Entrepreneur’s President, these interventions are laudable. However, government should ensure they get to discerning young entrepreneurs in all corners of the country.
“Let us make sure these good initiatives – like the YouStart, Ghana CARES Obaatanpa etc. – are not centred only in Accra and Ashanti but the whole of Ghana. Let’s make sure those in the hinterlands get the needed support as well,” he said.
The Full Statement
A Happy New Year. Today, me and my team at GCYE would like to extend our New Year’s greeting to every young entrepreneur in Ghana and across the world. As we begin the year, I hope to look back at 2021 before talking about the prospects for 2022.
The year, 2021, was another year that saw the world greatly affected by COVID-19. Lockdowns and declaration of states of emergency in many countries and regions placed restrictions on economic activities and our daily lives.
Amid this, The Ghana Chamber of Young Entrepreneurs, through partnerships, were able to implement several projects that support the businesses of Ghanaian young people in diverse ways.
As the chamber’s new President I am very encouraged by the steady progress, and I wish to express my sincere appreciation to everyone for putting in your best.
Looking at the prospects for the new-year 2022, I call on young people to come together and develop homegrown ideas that can solve our problems so we won’t continue to rely solely on central government.
This year, the chamber will be embarking on projects that provide financial support to young entrepreneurs, build their capacity, and help youth transition to green and agriculture. We’ve already initiated a funding project dubbed the ‘Young Entrepreneurs and Support Fund (YESS Fund)’, which seeks to be a sustainable funding pool for young entrepreneurs.
Our flagship Youth Agriculture project (Brafie Youth Agric Project) will follow soon. Brafie will be one of the biggest agricultural revolutions of the year. Through Brafie, young people will return to their communities and have land to invest in farming.
Also, the Young Entrepreneurs Summit and Expo is coming back bigger and better. The Summit, now renamed as the Youth Entrepreneurship and Innovation Summit and Expo (YEIS), will showcase the products and innovations of young Ghanaian entrepreneurs and create an avenue for emerging and established businesses to meet under one umbrella to network and form lasting partnerships.
I use this opportunity to call on government to ensure that all the excellent youth entrepreneur policy interventions are spread across the country, so all discerning entrepreneurs can benefit. Let us make sure these good initiatives like the YouStart, Ghana CAREs Obaatanpa etc., are not centred in only Accra and Ashanti but cover the whole of Ghana. Let’s make sure those in the hinterlands get the support as well.
To our development partners and all stakeholders, we anticipate stronger partnerships and collaboration as we continue to promote youth entrepreneurs in the country.
We, as a chamber, have declared this year to be a year of financial support for youth businesses. With government funding projects and our initiatives and partners, access to finance should not be a big problem for youth businesses in 2022.
