Standard Chartered Bank Ghana PLC continues to support the youth to learn earn and grow with its community initiative programme Youth to Work. The Youth to Work programme is a flagship project under the Futuremakers initiative of the Standard Chartered Foundation aimed at supporting young people by providing them with skills and experiences to transition into employment or entrepreneurship.
This year, 2 cohorts of over 80 young people enrolled on the programme and helped provide business development services to more than 50 SMEs in Accra. The Youth to Work programme encourages junior associates to have a meaningful community-based impact while on the programme through an Active Citizenship event.
Over 1,800 young people were reached in these sessions, which focused on entrepreneurship and employability skills, providing participants with the opportunity to think about the next phase in their lives as they transition to either further education or entrepreneurship.
Asiedua Addae, Head Corporate Affairs, Brand & Marketing, Standard Chartered Bank Ghana PLC in her remarks stated: “Through our Youth to Work programme, we create opportunities for young people to become job-ready. We are confident that by giving young graduates the opportunity to gain experience in Small and Medium Enterprises, there will be positive transfer of knowledge from both sides.”
Marcel Koomson, Programme Lead, Challenges Ghana said, “We are grateful to the Standard Chartered Foundation for their continuous funding of this project and giving the youth the opportunity to gain employability and entrepreneurial skills. We are proud to see them gainfully employed and working.”
During the closing ceremony of this cohort, the junior associates and business owners shared testimonies and benefits they had gained by being part of the programme. The fourth edition of Youth to Work was also launched with a call for entries.
The Youth to Work programme is run in partnership with Challenges Ghana and funded by the Standard Chartered Foundation. Till date 124 junior associates, 95 SME’s and over 2900 young people in the active citizenship sessions have benefitted from the programme since the launch in November 2020. The programme will be extended to 90 junior associates and another 60 SMEs in 2023.
