The National Board for Small Scale Industries (NBSSI) in collaboration with MasterCard Foundation has organized an orientation programme to train the youth.
As part of efforts in implementing the ‘Young Africa Works’, the collaboration proffers to train some 39,000 individuals by 2021.
The Greater Accra Regional Coordinator for ‘Young Africa Works’, Jemima Arthur in an interview, asserted that, the programme will provide adequate skills for craft professionals.
According to her, the A2E programme is among many projects aimed at reducing unemployment especially in the youth.
“In this programme, we had three components; we have the A to E, and we have the ICE and MSME acceleration. With the A to E, we want to equip young men and women with technical and vocational skills so that they can get the skill and establish themselves in the near future.
“With the youth who have brilliant business ideas but they don’t know how to go about it, with this program, we equip them with the necessary skills in entrepreneurship and how to start a business; so we can transform them into successful entrepreneurs.
“With the MSME acceleration, we are targeting women-led businesses. So, at the end of the day, we had three support which is access to market, the next one is products improvement and quality and the last one is access to finance, so their businesses can move from one stage to the other”.
The Coordinator for Apprenticeship to Entrepreneurship project, Cynthia Debrah, commenting on the training, stated that, her outfit will support the trainers with the necessary tools in order to sustain them in their quest to equipping the youth with skills.
“For this project, what we seek to do monetary-wise, we cannot give them anything but what we plan to do is to give them other support services that they need. Those that are going to help their businesses then pay for the apprenticeship fee though it is not going to be what they wish to charge but it is something that we’re trying do to help the youth”.
Madam Debrah also stressed on the necessity to put these trainees in close proximity to where they live to avert any inconvenience which might inform their decision to “stop the training along the line”.
Also present was the Chief Executive Officer of Medi vocational institute, Maame Esi Darkoa Grant additionally commended the initiative by the MasterCard Foundation and NBSSI as they have provided talented individuals with relevant trainers.
She however cautiously advised stakeholders to be committed to fulfilling their end of the bargain.
“From what they’re saying, it is a good idea. My only challenge is that, really, as they are saying, they should go by it, because if they are going to give us people to train, then the money that comes with it should also be made available. Because of a personal experience I had with an institution, it affected my business; I don’t want [this] to be a second time”.
Contrarily, Eric Amevor, a digital security executive and participant at the program held the belief that, as an entrepreneur, the orientation provides apt skills and advised entrepreneurs to have backup so they do not become reliant on government.
