The youth of Ghana have lost confidence in the current system due to lack of sustainable jobs, Executive Director of the Institute of Democratic Governance (IDEG), Dr Emmanuel Akwatey has said.
In his view, the system is not responding to their needs especially when it comes to job-creation.
Speaking in interview with TV3, Dr Akwetey said “The youth have lost confidence. This is not the youth of many years in the 50s and the 60s. The point I am making is that the system is not responding to their needs.
“Chapter 6 of the 1992 Constitution, the Directive Principle of State Policy clearly lays out the economics, social, cultural, education, jobs local government. If you compare to how we have delivered the civil and political liberties you will see clearly that we haven’t done well in delivering the development objectives of democracy or dividends and the youth are feeling it, no jobs, no hope…you don’t see what is being done to alleviate that.
“Certain programmes were announced by the government when it came in the first term. Where are they now in the second term? Give us the report and give them hope that something is changing .
“I do not think we are serving their needs , they have the potential to contribute a lot to he economy
Successive governments have initiated policies to assist the youth of this country.
Since the the Akufo-Addo administration came into being, a number of policies including the Nations Builders Corps (NABCO) and the YouStart initiatives have been created to assist the youth.
The YouStart initiative which was announced by the Finance Minister Ken Ofori Atta in the 2022 budget on Wednesday November 17., for instance, is targeted at creating one million jobs for the youth of this country.
He said “The understanding of the youth employment challenge, as well as extensive consultations with stakeholders including youth associations and educational institutions across the country, have led to the development of the YouStart initiative
which proposes to use GH¢1 billion each year to catalyze an ecosystem to create 1 million jobs and in partnership with the Finance Institutions and Development Partners, raise another 2 Billion Cedis.
“In addition, our local Banks have agreed to a package that will result in increasing their SME portfolio up to GHC 5 billion over the next 3 years.
“This, Mr. Speaker results in an unprecedented historic 10 Bn Cedis commitment to the private sector and YouStart over the next 3 years.
“Mr. Speaker, YouStart is a vehicle for supporting young entrepreneurs to gain access to capital, training, technical skills and mentoring to enable them launch and operate their own businesses.
“Mr. Speaker, the Ghana Enterprises Agency (GEA), the National Entrepreneurship and Innovation Programme (NEIP), and partner financial institutions, will serve as the implementing arms of YouStart.
“Entrepreneurs will be able to apply for support through a dedicated YouStart online portal.
“NEIP will also engage our Faith-Based Organisations as partners for the delivery of essential artisanal skills, business competitions, and feasibility studies and introduction to financing institutions with a commitment of up to 10% of GOG contribution to the YouStart Programme.”
Source: 3news.com|Ghana