By Deborah Asantewaah SARFO
Tradeline Consult, in partnership with Finance Factory (FinFact), has officially launched the Jobs for Youth, Profit for SMEs (JoY-PS) Program, an initiative designed to create 10 million jobs and build the capacity of one million young graduates.
In addition to the job creation, it seeks to increase business growth and profitability for 20 million SMEs across Africa in 2040 by equipping young graduates with business development, entrepreneurship and job market skills through intensive training and deployment models.
JoY-PS is expected to run for five years in the country empowering 35,000 graduates (7,000 annually) from universities, technical institutions, and potentially from the Ghana Enterprise Agency’s Business Advisory Centres and Business Resource Centres (GEA BACs/BRCs) across all 16 regions.
The program, is spearheaded by Tradeline Consult in collaboration with Finance Factory as a strategic collaboration designed to tackle graduate unemployment and sustainable economic growth across the country and beyond. It was launched in June 2024.
These graduates will be trained as Business Development Officers (BDOs) to provide vital business advisory support to 100,000 SMEs by 2030 as phase 1 of the project.
Leveraging its job placement, business advisory, and entrepreneurship tracks called Bapx, the program will also facilitate the establishment of 5,000 sustainable enterprises, geared towards the creation of over 500,000 jobs in Ghana within the next five years.
Speaking on the impact of the project, the CEO of Tradeline Sam Zeph Atiemo, noted that out of the estimated 2.1 million SMEs in Ghana, 85 percent of them operate informally, with poor financial management and governance structures, leading to high business failure rates and limited opportunities for expansion and growth.
He added that only 10 percent of SMEs currently leverage external business advisory services (BAS), severely restraining their business and economic growth and access to vital financing.
Mr. Atiemo described the program as a game changer in creating employment and solidifying the foundations of SME growth across Africa.
“JoY-PS is a game-changer for Africa’s youth and SMEs. By equipping young graduates with the right skills and directly linking them to businesses, we are creating employment and strengthening the foundation of SME growth across the continent. We are determined to bring hope and wealth to the youth, it is now or never,” he said.
To achieve its vision of creating sustainable employment opportunities across all 54 African countries, the JoY-PS Program seeks to partner with key stakeholders including but not limited to The Mastercard Foundation, European Union, African Development Bank, GIZ, KFW and other strategic investors and partners.
Taking steps to accomplish the vision in the country, they will collaborate with CEO Africa, the National Service Secretariat (NSS), the National Youth Authority (NYA), Tertiary Institutions, the Ghana Enterprise Agency (GEA), the Ministry of Trade and Industry, financial institutions such as Stanbic Bank, GCB Bank, Fidelity Bank, Absa Bank Ghana and SMEs for maximum impact.
