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The Vice-President, Dr Mahamudu Bawumia, has launched a project to empower 250,000 young people to access dignified and fulfilling jobs over the next four years.

With an investment of some GH¢660 million, about $55 million, the Business in a Box (BizBox) project is expected to provide young entrepreneurs with essential tools, knowledge and support to start and expand their own businesses.

The project, which is being implemented by the Ghana Enterprises Agency (GEA) and Mastercard Foundation, is scheduled to run till April 2027.

It would offer training in life skills, technical expertise, entrepreneurship and business development to promote growth and scalability.

Others are mentorship, access to markets, regulatory support, appropriate start-up kits and support across various sectors, including agriculture, agri-adjacent industries, tourism, the creative industry, building and construction, among other sectors.

In attendance were the Minister of Information, Kojo Oppong Nkrumah; the Board Chairman of GEA, Selvester Tetteh; the Chief of Defence Staff, Ghana Armed Forces, Vice Admiral Seth Amoama; the Chief Executive Officer (CEO), Accra Metropolitan Assembly (AMA), Elizabeth Naa Tawiah Sackey; the CEO, Private Enterprise Federation (PEF), Nana Osei Bonsu, and a Mastercard Representative, Gottfred Odamtten-Sowah, and other dignitaries.

Collaboration
Launching the project after a campaign in Accra yesterday, Dr Bawumia said that the project was a collaborative effort between the two implementing partners built on the success of a “Young Africa Works” initiative.

He said the Young Africa Works that was implemented between 2020 and 2022, made a substantial impact by opening doors and employment opportunities for approximately 94,000 young people in the country.

Dr Bawumia, therefore, said that the BizBox was to scale up and empower 250,000 individuals.

He said the project would support 125,000 youth with start-up kits, provide market access to 50,000 businesses and offer regulatory support to 40,000 businesses.

“The BizBox is more than a project, it symbolises hope and opportunities which encompass tools, knowledge and support to develop and grow successful businesses,” the Vice-President added.

He said the project would target the youth between 15 and 35 years, persons with disability (PWDs), vulnerable females, women business owners and female youth-led businesses.

Entrepreneurship
The Minister of Trade and Industry, Kobina Tahir Hammond, also said that the project would address some of the soft barriers that confronted women, the youth and PWDs from venturing into high growth-oriented business activities.

It would also tackle mindset change, provide essential start-up tools and kits for sustainable business development and support start-ups to expand and build resilience.

“We also hope that in the course of the project a strong entrepreneurial culture will be imbued in the beneficiaries to aspire to higher heights,” he said.

For her part, the CEO of GEA, Kosi Yankey-Ayeh, said the initiative marked a significant milestone in the commitment of the two partners to empower the youth and foster entrepreneurship in the country.

“The heart of the BizBox project lies in its commitment to foster an entrepreneurial mindset shift that will enable our youth to succeed in a variety of settings.
 
We recognise that this shift is not merely about starting businesses, but about cultivating a mindset that sees challenges as opportunities, failure as a stepping stone to success, and innovation as the driving force behind progress,” she added.