The government has allocated ¢10m to support Zongo youth entrepreneurs in the five regions of the north, to help scale up their businesses.
The Minister for Business Development, Dr Ibrahim Mohammed Awal disclosed this at the launch of the Zongo Business Initiative in Tamale.
The National Entrepreneurship and Innovation Programme (NEIP) will hold a training workshop for the participants.
The two-day training programme is aimed to build the capacity of the young entrepreneurs to equip them with the requisite skills to succeed in their businesses.
Dr Awal challenged the youth and elders of Zongo communities to take advantage of the initiative and become successful entrepreneurs.
“Take business very seriously. Go through the training that NEIP will give you; submit your business plans by October/November; we will select the very good ones [and] support those businesses with ¢10m. This is what the president is doing to build Zongo businesses,” he urged.
He underscored the crucial role Zongo communities have played and continue to play in the development of the country.
The Minister implored the people to vote for President Nana Addo Dankwa Akuffo-Addo in the upcoming elections to sustain the initiative.
“We are trying to build 100 strong businesses in Ghana from next year, and at least 30 of those businesses must belong to Zongos,” he added.
An initiative of the Ministry of Business Development, the programme is being implemented in collaboration with the Ministry of Inner-City and Zongo Development and the Konrad-Adenauer-Foundation (KAS), a German political foundation.
Speaking at the launch, the Minister for Inner-City and Zongo Development, Dr Mustapha Abdul-Hamid said the New Patriotic Party (NPP) has always taken the lead in initiating development interventions in the Zongo communities in Ghana.
“No matter much differences of opinion we have, when we all sit down and we reflect on the development of our country, we will all come to the conclusion that there is one political party that any time it comes to power puts in place programmes like this that allow every citizen, no matter where you live, no matter where you were born, no matter your religion, no matter your ethnicity, to benefit from the resources of the country,” he touted.
A representative from the KAS Foundation, Isaac Poku entreated the beneficiaries to make the most out of the initiative.
credit: thefinderonline.com