The Technical Working Committee of the Ghana Start-up Bill, in celebrating the 2021 International Youth Day, has called on the government to pass laws that would support entrepreneurship development and job creation in Ghana.
The call, according to the Technical Committee, is strategic as the theme for this year’s Youth Day celebration dubbed: “Transforming food systems – Youth innovations for human and planetary health,” calls on the youth to generate creative and innovative ideas, which would be transformed into businesses to solve the developmental problems and save the planet from climate warming.
Meanwhile, in a communique issued by the Technical Committee, it indicated that it was essential to identify the challenges the youth face during the various stages of starting and growing businesses and address them accordingly.
In a bid to tackle some of the issues, the Technical Committee indicated that it has partnered SNV Ghana under its European Union-Funded; Boosting Green Employment and Enterprise Opportunities in Ghana (GrEEn Project), to draw up a bill that would be presented to parliament for approval.
Moreover, according to Mr. Sheriff Gally, Coordinator for the Technical Committee, the bill would create a framework to make it easier to start a business in Ghana with the aim of promoting creativity, innovation and the use of new technologies to achieve a culture of value addition and promote competitiveness at the national, Regional and District levels.
In addition, he also recommends capacity and financial support for startups to protect their intellectual property, access to market, among others.
He explained that it would provide legal backing for business growth and promote start-ups for decent job and wealth creation, in accordance with the Sustainable Development Goal 8, which aims at creating decent work and economic growth, among others.
According to the Coordinator, the team had engaged all key stakeholders across the country and have come out with a draft, Ghana Start-up Bill, which is currently undergoing regional validations.
The Coordinator prayed the Government and Parliament would see the need for the Bill to be passed urgently to curb the perennial youth unemployment and under-employment.
He also called on funding partners to support the processes, especially the advocacy to ensure that the Bill gets passed as soon as possible.
However, Mr. Gally urged the youth to be innovative and enterprising in not only starting businesses, but businesses that are Sustainable and make good use of waste.
The technical working committee of the Ghana Start-up Bill was formed by the then Ministry of Business Development in 2017, but presently falls under the Ghana Chamber of Young Entrepreneurs.
The Ghana startup act provides the opportunity for policymakers to create a startup-friendly ecosystem that would accelerate the digital transformation agenda and post-Covid-19 recovery of the Ghanaian economy.
Meanwhile, the success stories of tech startups such as mPharma, ZeePay, AgroCenter, Dext technology among many others are bringing positive attention to the startup ecosystem in Ghana. These startups have thrived despite the unfavourable regulatory conditions and limited funding opportunities they faced.
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