Youth entrepreneurs urged to form cooperative

Mr Yussif Yakubu, the Manager in charge of Programmes at the Ministry of Business Development on Friday, encouraged young entrepreneurs to form cooperatives to make their ideas sustainable.

Mr Yakubu said the establishment of the union would serve as a channel of engagement with government and other stakeholders on issues affecting them and chart a way forward for its growth.

He posited that cooperatives play a vital role in ensuring that the Entrepreneur’s economic progress conforms to the requirements of planning and also provides support and guidance to the youth aspiring to be entrepreneurs.

Mr Yakubu made the call in Accra, at the launch of Entrepreneur Centre, to serve as a hub for training and research for Small and Medium Enterprises in the country.

He said the government had launched an initiative christened ‘National Entrepreneurship and Innovation Plan’ (NEIP), to promote the growth and development of entrepreneurship and to accelerate job creation for national development.

According to him, the initiative is a multi-pronged approach, aimed at creating the conducive and business-friendly environment, to stimulate enterprise activities and provide integrated national support for start-ups and small businesses that would, in turn, generate employment for the youth.

He said the Plan would enable new businesses to emerge and give them the space to grow, receive financing and business development services, secure markets during the critical formative years, and to tap into a wide supply chain and network during their growth years.

“Government would provide tax incentives and incentives under the initiative to help private sector investors to set up business incubator hubs and industrial Parks for youth-owned businesses nationally.”

Mr Yakubu said the government would soon come out with an entrepreneurship policy document through stakeholders’ engagement to provide guidance and direction for Entrepreneurship development.

He said through the NEIP, the government had instituted programmes such as business plan competition to give free entrepreneurship training for the youth across the country and give them financial support to expand their businesses and in turn provide jobs for the youth.

“Government has also instituted entrepreneurship in education to be inculcated into the country’s educational curriculum from Junior High School to tertiary, for students to learn basic knowledge and skills in entrepreneurship to enable them to start a business after completion”, he added. He said the Ministry had introduced an initiative dubbed ‘Small Business Support Programme Entrepreneurship’ for women and the physically-challenged to provide financial support for them to engage in start-up businesses to improve their livelihood.

Mr Yakubu encouraged the youth to take advantage of the opportunities provided by the government to create wealth and improve their livelihood.

Mr Joseph Kingsley Ocran, the Business Development Management in charge of SME, OmniBank commended management for establishing the Entrepreneurship Centre, saying that, it would help accelerate business growth.

He said their outfit had established an SME Clinic Unit, a training department for young entrepreneurs and assured the public of their commitment to providing support for SME’s to grow their businesses.