The Minister in charge of Information, Kojo Oppong Nkrumah has described as exciting the content of the 2022 Budget Statement and Economic Policy Proposal of the government as he insists that it will create jobs for the youth.
Speaking on the floor of Parliament on Tuesday, November 23, 2021, Mr. Nkrumah said the government has the youth and unemployed at heart.
According to the Ofoase-Ayirebi Member of Parliament, government is introducing the YouthStart programme to cushion young men and women seeking to set up their own businesses.
“By 2016, when the immediate past administration was leaving office, growth had come to as low as 3.4%. Until COVID hit us, this government was growing the economy at an average of 7% on year on year. What that meant was that a lot of young people were getting jobs in the private sector. Additionally, even in the public sector, the government of Ghana under the leadership of President Akufo-Addo ensured that at least about 300,000 young Ghanaians were recruited in the public sector both for those who are paid by the Controller and Accountant General and from those from the Non-Subverted Agencies.
“This is very different from the days we were told that because we were down to the bone and had gone to the IMF, we couldn’t have recruited people into the public sector. But what is even exciting is that in this 2022 budget, this administration has made available GHS1 billion to support young men and women who want to embark on their own business known as the YouthStart initiative. And so, Mr. Speaker, the most important issue on the minds of Ghanaians is being answered by the 2020 budget,” Kojo Oppong told Parliament.
The YouthStart Initiative was announced by Finance Minister Ken Ofori-Atta a week ago when he was in parliament to present the 2022 Budget Statement.
He said it will be the vehicle for supporting young entrepreneurs to gain access to capital, training, technical skills, and mentoring to launch and operate their businesses.
Source: Modern Ghana
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