GHANA JOBS AND SKILLS PROJECT
BACKGROUND OF PROJECT
Ghana Jobs and Skills Project is a project under the Youstart flagship programme of the Government of Ghana. The project is considered as one of the main forms of support for the government’s top priority agenda of upgrading skills among the country’s population, creating more and better quality jobs, and improving job outcomes for the youth. The World Bank is providing financing and technical support to the Government of Ghana (GoG) for the implementation of the Ghana Jobs and Skills Project. The Ghana Enterprises Agency (GEA) is implementing Component 2.1 of the Project which has the objective of providing Entrepreneurship Training and Competitive Start-up Grants to youth who have the potential to start a business. The project is geared to train 50,000+ youth nationwide.
TARGET BENEFICIARIES AND ELLIGIBILITY
- 50% of the target Beneficiaries are women
- Priority is given to Persons with Disability
- Unemployed youth and existing MSME’s owned by youth between the ages of 18 yrs to 40 yrs
APPLICATION PROCESS
An online portal was opened in November 2022 for interested persons to apply for the project. We received 288,000 applications when the portal closed. After the application, those who scored the past mark were shortlisted. However, training has been broken down into phases due to the number of applicants. Breaking down training in phases also ensures that we limit the trainer-participant ratios to provide a quality learner experience.
EXPECTED IMPACTS
This programme is expected to culminate into job creation, job sustainability, business innovation and growth for enterprises owned by youth in the country, leading to a reduction of social vices due mainly to unemployment among the youth.
TRAINING PROCESS
The Kwaebibirem Business Advisory Centre is in charge of implementation of the project in the municipality with Service Providers from Empretec Ghana.
The Kwaebibirem Municipal Chief Executive Inaugurated phase one of the program on 8th May, 2023 at the Business Resource Centre, Kade.
The Entrepreneurship training was in 3 levels: Basic, Intermediate and Advanced.
Basic Level: All participants went through Basic Training of 5 Days. They needed to participate fully and complete this level to progress to intermediate level.
Intermediate Level: Some participants from the basic level were selected to undergo intermediate stage training. This training lasted for 10days. Participant’s participation was a criterion to complete intermediate to progress to advanced level training. Also, at this stage, existing youth businesses and unemployed youth with vocational skills were being eligible to apply for grant support. The grant support at this stage was highly competitive.
Advanced Level: This level lasted for 15days. It involved an incubation process to fine-tune business plans/idea, provide coaching and mentoring and access to network events/ trade shows.
ATTENDANCE
| LEVEL | MALE | FEMALE | TOTAL |
| BASIC | 12 | 34 | 46 |
| INTERMEDIATE | 7 | 13 | 20 |
| ADVANCE | 5 | 6 | 11 |
ABOUT COMPETITIVE GRANT
The BAC office guided 21 beneficiaries from intermediate to advance level training to prepare their business plans in order to apply for startup grant. After grant applications, an amount of GHS 170,499.42 was disbursed to 15 beneficiaries.
WAY FORWARD
Phase of the project will start on 20th May, 2024 at the Church of Pentecost, Mckeown Assembly. This phase expects to train over 120 youths and also support eligible beneficiaries with startup grants in the municipality. It will also take the same process in phase one of the project including exhibitions, excursions and trade shows.