By Paul Eduarko Richardson
Accra, June 20, GNA – Ms Hamdiya Ismaila, Chief Executive Officer, Savannah Impact Advisory, has encouraged young people to develop insight into the entire value chain in financing so that they will know where to access capital based on the stage of their business.
She said knowledge about the financial value chain was critical because most young entrepreneurs usually fell on banks as their first point of call regarding finance, whilst the banks mostly turned them down due to lack of collateral and favourable track record.
Instead of making banks their first resort, Ms Ismaila said, young entrepreneurs should rather consider the wider spectrum of avenues available for business financing.
Such avenues, she said, included personal funds as well as funds from family and friends, Angel Investors, Seed Stage Investors, Venture capital funds, Private Equity, Banks, and Initial Public Offering (IPO).
Ms Ismaila said this in Accra at a panel discussion during the launch of the Africa Youth Employment Clock, a digital tool that monitors real-time job growth and forecasts employment trends in Africa up to 2030.
Developed by the World Data Lab in partnership with the Mastercard Foundation, the Clock draws from surveys and datasets made available by national statistics offices, the International Labour Organization (ILO), and the International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis (IIASA).
Ms Ismaila stressed that businesses in the informal sector should formalise to help them attract investment and grow.
She said young people without a long period of working experience could go in for entry-level jobs where several years of work experience would not be needed but would offer them opportunity to grow in the job.
She said Ghana’s Agricultural sector must be made lucrative to entice more youth.
Ms Philomena Norman, Acting Director, Women Entrepreneurship Development, Ghana Enterprises Authority, noted that most young people went into business without proper insight into the entire business processes, including registration, standardisation and certification.
Such lack of insight, she indicated, contributed to the folding up of youth startups.
She encouraged young people to seek the necessary business knowledge and avail themselves to be mentored to build successful enterprises.
Ms Florence Mulenga-Sinyangwe, Gender and Trade Expert, African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) Secretariat, said young people should be the driving force of economic growth on the continent.
She called for gender balance in youth employment to accelerate continental development, adding that, young entrepreneurs should invest in innovations in Africa.
Mr Daniel Osei Wereko, student, University of Ghana, called for equal opportunities for both urban and rural youth for all to develop their potentials and contribute to the nation’s progress.
GNA