By Francis Ntow
Accra, Dec. 01, GNA – A two-day training has been organised for some 1,861 young people, including university students, persons living with disabilities, and entrepreneurs, to prepare them for the world of work.
It was under the Absa Bank Ghana Limited and the Mastercard Foundation “Ready to work” initiative, which provided the beneficiaries with the requisite soft skills needed for the world of work.
The summit equipped the youth with skills to find ways of working together and understanding people’s emotions, help manage their finances efficiently, and achieve their entrepreneurial and business goals.
It also served as a platform for the youth to voice out their challenges, and offer solutions to policy decision makers should consider in national development plans and youth-centred policies.
In an interview with the Ghana News Agency, Nana Essilfuah Tamakloe, Director, Marketing and Corporate Affairs, Absa Bank Ghana LTD, said the training was to hear and empower the youth to actively participate in economic activities.
A 2022 Ghana Statistical Service report indicated that while young people and children constituted about 73 per cent of the country’s population, one out of every five young people between the ages of 15 to 35 was not in education, employment, or actively involved in training.
That, Nana Essilfuah Tamakloe said made it important for engagements that would ultimately lead to quality improvement in the lives of young people and enable them to contribute meaningfully to national development.
She said that beyond the two-day training, the Absa ReadytoWork App would provide continuous career guidance to provide insight into the world of work, the jobs of the future, and the skills needed to fulfil them.
There would also be a job search tool that would enable them to search for their dream jobs, as well as tools, articles and videos, and other resources to make them tap into opportunities in the digital world.
Mr Mustapha Ussif, Minister, Youth and Sports, lauded the two institutions for the summit, which he said would help support government initiatives in shaping the youth of the country for the future.
He said the National Entrepreneurship and Innovation Programme (NEIP), Free Senior High School (Free SHS), YouStart, and the Youth in Agriculture programme were tangible manifestations of government’s commitment to empowering Ghanaian youth.
He said: “Our government firmly believes in the potential of our youth as catalysts for innovation and progress. Your talents and skills are not only valuable assets but indispensable forces driving our nation’s development.”
He encouraged the youth to be fearless in seeking for a better world, saying “your active participation in economic decisions affecting your livelihoods is paramount”.
Speaking at the summit, Rica Rwigamba, Ghana Country Director, Mastercard Foundation, bemoaned Ghana’s high rate of unemployment, and called for concerted effort to address it.
She said it was important to ignite conversations among various stakeholders to better understand, contextualised, listen and help tackle youth unemployment for economic prosperity.
GNA