Madam Vida Akantagriwen Anaab, the Builsa North Municipal Chief Executive (MCE) in the Upper East Region has presented start-up kits to young entrepreneurs under the Assembly’s support for self-employable skills programme.
The kits which would benefit 39 youth, who had acquired various skills and knowledge in dressmaking and hairdressing, included 18 sewing machines, 12 hair dryers, and nine set of luxury hair washing equipment to either start or boost their businesses.
Six beneficiaries were Persons with Disability.
The equipment were part of government’s Local Economic Development (LED) agenda to harness the economic potentials of the Municipality for job creation, livelihood improvement and poverty reduction.
At a presentation ceremony Madam Anaab said the initiative was the beginning of the Assembly’s support to many such skilled youth in masonry, welding, electrical works, carpentry, tiling, motorbike repairers among others businesses.
‘This is in line with the government’s commitment in supporting the youth in obtaining employable skills that would translate into meaningful sustainable jobs,’ Madam Anaab said.
She said government for the past six years, rolled out various interventions targeted at providing jobs and livelihoods to residents in the Municipality, especially the youth.
She mentioned the Ghana Safety Net Project where 313 people were supported with an amount of GHS 446,256.74 to improve various income generation activities in 2022 under the Youth Employment Agency (YEA).
The MCE added that 73 and 25 youth entrepreneurs were trained in various entrepreneurial modules under the jobs and skills project in phases one and two respectively, while phase three of the training was ongoing with 23 beneficiary youth.
To expand the frontiers of the LED in the Municipality, Madam Anaab said the Assembly intended to procure more of such start-up kits to support other skilled apprentices under the Gulf of Guinea Social Cohesion (SOCO) project.
‘The agriculture sector will not be left out in this agenda of LED. To this end, farmers, especially the youth will be supported with equipment and training to undertake dry season vegetable production with the aim of harnessing the huge water resource potentials of the Municipality,’ she said.
Madam Anaab said for the economy to be transformed from consumption to production, there was the need to prioritize and encourage the youth to refocus on hard skills acquisition which had self-employable capacity instead of academic programmes with limited job opportunities.
Mr Thomas Alonsi, the Director-General of the Ghana Maritime Authority, who was the Guest of Honour at the ceremony, said the gesture was part of government’s quest to ensure that the teeming youth in the area and across the country were gainfully employed.
He admonished the beneficiaries to use the equipment for the intended purpose, and urged those yet to receive their share to be patient while waiting for their turn.
Some beneficiaries in random interviews with the Ghana News Agency after receiving their share, thanked the Assembly and government for the support, and indicated how the equipment would help improve their businesses and generate income for their upkeep.
Madam Gladys Gariba Adebanig, a Hairdresser from Bilinsa, a community in the Municipality, said with the luxury hair washing machine, her customers would be comfortable while she washed their hair without them getting wet as compared to the basin she used.
Source: Ghana News Agency