Some youth in the Sagnarigu and Mion Assemblies, who have acquired various self-employable skills, have interacted with various public institutions to learn about opportunities for youth enterprises.
This was to enable them to take advantage of such opportunities to create their own jobs and or improve and expand their businesses.
The public institutions the youth interacted with included the National Youth Authority (NYA), Ghana Enterprises Agency (GEA), Youth Employment Agency, Department of Agriculture amongst others.
The event, dubbed: “Regional Youth Forum,” was organised in Tamale by ActionAid Ghana as part of its “Providing Employment Opportunities for Young People in Ghana” project.
The project, which began in 2019, sought to support 250 young people in the two Assemblies in the Northern Region with employment skills and vocations of their choice.
In line with the project, some youth in the two assemblies have been equipped with various vocational skills including soap making, dressmaking, leather works, beekeeping, phone and satellite installation, tiling amongst others.
They have also been equipped with soft skills such as leadership, entrepreneurship, networking, group dynamics, business, and financial management to help them excel in their chosen vocations.
Mr Alhassan Baba Yunus, Northern Regional Manager of GEA, enumerated some portfolios being implemented by the GEA to build skills and ensure funds for the beneficiaries to improve their operations.
Mr Yunus mentioned that GEA in collaboration with the German Development Cooperation was working on a project to give loans to Ghanaian youth, who had relatives in some European countries including Germany, Austria, and Switzerland, to undertake their business activities.
He said the GEA was also collaborating with the World Bank on a project to give grants of GHc10,000 and above to companies existing before the outbreak of COVID-19 and or into manufacturing to help revamp their operations.
He said there was also a Tourism Development Fund to support only businesses operating in the tourism sector and its value chains given that they were heavily hit by the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Mr Abdul Basit Abdul Rahman, Acting Tamale Metropolitan Director of the NYA also spoke about the activities of the Authority urging the youth to register their operations with the Authority to be recognised for any emerging opportunities.
Madam Esther Boateng, Northern Regional Programme Manager of ActionAid Ghana appealed to public institutions and the district assemblies to support the youth in their business endeavours to create employment.
Some of the participants expressed delight at the interaction and said it had helped to enlighten them on how to approach public institutions for support.
