Member of Parliament for Krachi Nchumuru, Solomon Kuyon, has made a passionate appeal for the establishment of a National Youth Development Fund.
The fund aims to provide a comprehensive framework for addressing the challenges facing Ghana’s youth, with a focus on entrepreneurship, job creation, and skills development.
Delivering a statement in Parliament, Hon. Kuyon emphasized the importance of the fund, highlighting its potential to bridge the gap between youthful ambition and economic reality.
The proposed fund is built around three core pillars, starting with seed capital for youth startups.
This pillar will provide micro-grants and concessionary loans to young entrepreneurs aged 18-35, enabling them to launch their own businesses.
According to Kuyon, this is a crucial step towards democratizing opportunities for young Ghanaians, particularly those in rural areas who may lack access to traditional financing channels.
He cited examples of young entrepreneurs who could benefit from this pillar, including “a young woman in Kyendere who needs a new oven for her bakery and a young man in Kete-Krachi who requires fishing nets to expand his business.”
The second pillar focuses on scale-up financing for growth, providing venture capital and growth loans to promising SMEs that have demonstrated viability and potential for scalability.
The Krachi Nchumuru MP emphasized that this pillar is not just about creating self-employment, but also about creating jobs and stimulating economic growth. By investing in young entrepreneurs who can grow their businesses, the fund can create a powerful multiplier effect on job creation across the country.
The third pillar centers on skills and innovation grants, recognizing that capital alone is not enough to drive success. This pillar will provide dedicated grants to support modern apprenticeships, market-relevant vocational training, and the establishment of innovation hubs in every region of Ghana.
Kuyon stressed that this will ensure that the skills being taught to young Ghanaians are directly linked to the demands of the 21st-century economy, making them more employable and competitive in the job market.
Hon. Kuyon concluded by emphasizing the need for the fund to be professionally managed and politically independent, with a governance structure that commands confidence from the private sector, development partners, and young people.
He expressed optimism that with the right implementation, the National Youth Development Fund can be a game-changer for Ghana’s youth, empowering them to drive economic growth and prosperity.
By Prosper Kwaku Selassy Agbitor
About The Author
