GHc50m for 5,000 start-ups

• Posted on June 9, 2020June 9, 2020
• by Nana Kwesi Coomson
• Comment

-Under 3rd window of Presidential Business Support Programme (PBSP) – Dr Awal

Some 26,000 start-ups and young entrepreneurs are going to benefit from capacity building, mentoring, training, business advisory services, technical support and access to market in the Presidential Business Support Programme (PBSP) window III.

5,000 to receive between GH?5,000 and  GH?50,000
Out of this number, 5,000 will be supported with funding ranging from GH?5,000 to GH?50,000, to a tune of GH?50 million, to grow their businesses and create more jobs.
In 2017, President Nana Akufo-Addo launched the PSPB to provide capacity building and funding for young entrepreneurs and start-ups.
Speaking at the launch yesterday in Accra, Minister for Business Development, Dr Mohammed Ibrahim Awal disclosed that his ministry expects to create over 50,000 direct and indirect jobs out of the training in window III.
More than 19,000 start-ups trained in windows 1 and 2
He disclosed that his ministry has trained more than 19,000 start-ups in windows 1 and 2 alone, out of which 4,350 were provided with loans of 10 per cent interest.
Ghana, according to him, is largely a youthful population, with over 60 per cent below the ages of 30 years, and even though most of them have viable business ideas, they do not have the funding or collateral for loans.
More than 200,000 graduates produced each year
He added that Ghana produces more than 200,000 graduates. Out of this number, he said only 10 per cent are employed into the public sector, with the rest struggling to get a job, a situation he described as alarming.
“Because of this, the President decided to launch the PBSP, in which we are launching window 3 today to build the capacity of young people, train them and give them funding to scale up and employ more,” he explained.
The President, he emphasised, is committed to seeing the youthful population as a resource to enhance national development and create wealth for the people.
He further stated that this training has become more important in the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic, adding that even before the pandemic, most start-ups were struggling in Ghana and across the world.
Call for application starts today
From today, June 9, 2020 to July 31 2020, prospective applicants are expected to go to their district offices and fill their application form.
Chief Executive Officer of NEIP, Mr John Kumah explains that the application process will be done manually in window III due to feedbacks from previous two windows that suggest that applicants in remote areas do not get access to internet.
He, therefore, appealed to all Metropolitan, Municipal and District Chief Executives in all the 260 districts to make the programme accessible to interested applicants who live in their communities and districts.
Average of 100 trainees per district
He said his outfit is expecting to train an average of 100 trainees per district in all 260 districts of the country.
According to him, NEIP tracks the jobs created through the programme based on the reports and feedbacks it receives from its Monitoring and Evaluation Department.
“What we have done with all our beneficiaries is that we keep mentoring arrangements for three years after training. So if before the training you have three workers and after training and funding you have 15 workers, it becomes evident you have scaled up,” he elaborated.
 This, he said, is also reflective in the current national job data as provided by the National Statistical Service Department which states that unemployment rate in Ghana has reduced from 15.3 per cent in 2016 to 6.8 in 2019.
The PSBP is a unique programme because of the sustainable jobs it is creating and not an interventional programme as opposition members perceive it, he described.

By John Elliot HAGAN, Accra