By Prince ASUMAH
The Ghana National Chamber of Commerce and Industry (GNCCI) has committed to supporting student entrepreneurs at the University of Ghana.
This comes as a significant effort to address the persistent problem of youth unemployment.
Speaking to the media after the launch of the University of Ghana-Ghana National Chamber of Commerce and Industry Junior Chamber launch (UG-GNCCI), the President of the chamber, Stephanie Miezan, reiterated the business community’s commitment to fostering entrepreneurship among the youth.
He stated that the focus of the junior chamber is ‘to encourage the youth to come into entrepreneurship’. He added that the Junior Chamber of Commerce is to set as one of the key objectives of the chamber’s initiatives to help the government in tackling youth unemployment.
The launch brough together senior officials of the presidency and the Ministry of Education. Addressing the media, the Chief of Staff to the President, Julius Debrah, emphasised the President’s commitment to job creation through private sector support. He said that this project is ‘the first step we are taking to grow entrepreneurs by encouraging our students to take interest in owning their own businesses and running their own enterprises.
He reaffirmed the government’s commitment to supporting start-ups and young businesses. Considering this, he stated that the government is willing to give well-equipped entrepreneurs the ‘necessary capital and support to establish their own businesses.
In her comments to the media, Vice Chancellor of the University of Ghana, Prof. Nana Aba Amfo, stated the university’s commitment to working with the GNCCI to promote entrepreneurship among the student body.
“This is a very important programme which will benefit our students greatly,” she said, adding: “ We are going to work with the chamber to ensure that our students have an entrepreneurial mindset even before they leave”. According to her, this adds up to other programmes such as the ‘Student Venture Support’ which seek to build entrepreneurship among the students at the university.
The Junior Chamber is a programme launched by the Ghana National Chamber of Commerce and Industry in partnership with the University of Ghana. The programme was created to encourage young people, especially the student body, to venture into entrepreneurship. The programme will provide mentorship, start-up capital and resources for young people at the university.
