By Frances Dorothy Ward
Kumasi, Jan. 11, GNA – The Business and Employment Assistance Programme (BEAP) of the Youth Employment Agency (YEA) is to offer lifeline financial support to Small and Medium Scale businesses (SMEs) while creating employment avenues for the youth.
Mr Kofi Baah Agyepong, the Chief Executive Officer of YEA, said the BEAP was a carefully thought through initiative to recruit workers to support the operations of SMEs, while providing opportunities for the youth to train while receiving monthly financial income.
He said under the BEAP, the YEA would offer a salary support of GHc 500.00 per recruited employee, while the employer would supplement it for the employee.
Briefing journalists in Kumasi on the BEAP programme, Mr Agyepong said the YEA was targeting businesses such as chop bars, pharmacies, schools, and retail shops to alleviate their financial burdens while enhancing employment opportunities.
The programme would support about 10,000 businesses and facilitate the employment of approximately 20,000 individuals, he said.
Mr Agyepong said the YEA had sustainable funding for the programme and that the Communications Service Tax, which was the backbone, would be solely used for the programme.
He commended the Government for endorsing the programme, which had been instrumental in partnering other state agencies to offer skills training and foster employment opportunities for many youths in the country.
Despite the global economic challenges, the YEA had been working hard to reduce the rate of unemployment and lessen the burdens on young people, while affording them the opportunity to make ends meet, he added.
It had recruited people into the Ghana Police Service, the Ghana Health Service, the Prisons Service, Cocobod, and National Insurance Commission, among others.
Statistics indicated that, through the YEA, over 16,000 jobs had been created in the Ashanti Region alone, Mr Agyepong said.
GNA