The European Union has indicated that technical and vocational training will form the bedrock of creating sustainable jobs for Ghana’s youth.

The Head of the European Union delegation to Ghana, Diana Acconcia, made the disclosure when she visited the No Business As Usual Hub in the Asokore Mampong Municipality of the Ashanti region.

The visit was to assess progress of the NBU Hub which has been ably funded by the EU with support from the SOS Villages and the Asokore Mampong Municipal Assembly.

The project is targeting to directly train 500 youth in the Municipality in employability and entrepreneurial skills with rippling effects expected to reach over two thousand others.

Another leg of its objectives is to foster accountability, social inclusion and community involvement in the local governance and development of the municipality.

Speaking to the media after a briefing from the NBU Hub, Diana Acconcia commended the managers of the hub for the successes they had chalked in equipping the youth with the skills required to liberate them from the scourge of unemployment and hopelessness.

“Vocational and technical training is at the core of employability of young people. What we will like to see is people who have skills that are employable and that guarantees them a good life not only economically but also from the point of view of fulfilment. Training in vocational and technical skills forms the core of creating fulfilling jobs that engender economic empowerment for today’s Ghanaian youth,” she observed.

She indicated that “last year the president of the European Commission launched the alliance for sustainable investment and jobs between the EU and Africa and at the core of this new initiative is the need to create sustainable jobs.”

The Municipal Chief Executive of Asokore Mampong Alhaji Alidu Seidu endorsed the work of the NBU Hub and the impact it had chalked within its third year of existence in the Municipality

He however beckoned for the extension of the five year program to create more opportunities for the youth who form more than half of the population of the municipality most of whom get caught up in vices, vigilantism and narcotics which is rife in the area.

“For some years now, anytime you hear of Asokore Mampong, it is always unpleasant but now we are trying to take ourselves from where we used to be to something positive. It is my humble plea to our investors that Asokore Mampong is a place to offer your support because of the position where we find ourselves with a huge chunk of youth in our municipality,” he implored.

Programs manager with the NBU Hub, .Esther Martey pointed out that even though their outfit had trained several youth, its biggest hurdle WAS finding seed capital for the graduates who turn out from the employability class.

She indicated that the NBU Hub has begun liaising with some Rural Banks and the Business Advisory Centre of the Assembly to find money for businesses of NBU graduates that have been vetted, analysed and registered awaiting the needed financial investment to take off.

The No Business As Usual Hub in March churned out a hundred and forty youth equipped in employability and entrepreneurship skills

Fifty five (55) of the graduates had secured lucrative jobs with the skills they had gleaned through internships and professional training at the hub.

Twenty six (26) of the graduates had been supported to register their businesses and had already launched out as managers of their young burgeoning businesses cutting across recycling, manufacturing; packaging; landscaping; architecture and agri-business.

The remaining had also recorded tremendous successes in apprenticeship programs where they have been enrolled for continuous training.