BizBox Project: We aim to assist 250,000 youth within four years - GEA CEO

The Chief Executive Officer of the Ghana Enterprises Agency, Kosi Yankey Ayeh has revealed that her outfit in collaboration with the Mastercard Foundation dreams of assisting approximately 250,000 young Ghanaian men and women including Persons Living With Disabilities, who want to undertake a course in the Business in a Box (BizBox) project.

She said the project will also focus on supporting 125,000 of them with start-up kits to create new businesses, and jobs and by extension better the livelihoods of these young people.

By this, she said, the innovation which has been designed to achieve even more, will operate by providing skills development, mentoring, and coaching access to markets and regulatory support to these individuals.

She revealed that for the past seven (7) years, the project has been able to create opportunities for many people as they still believe that more can be done.

According to her, for the first time in the project's implementation, the focus for this year is to get 70% young women and 10% persons with disability adding that no government has ever done that.

She was speaking at the launch of this year's BizBox program in Kumasi which is scheduled to kick-start with sensitisation and training sessions for beneficiaries.

Business in a Box (BizBox) is a youth entrepreneurship program which is designed by the Ghana Enterprises Agency (GEA), in partnership with the Mastercard Foundation for four years under the Youth Entrepreneurship and Employment Program (YEEP).

Detailing the project, Mrs. Yankey said the partnership, which is a scale-up of the Young Africa Works in Ghana was signed off in November 2023 and seeks to unlock opportunities for youth employment in Ghana.

"It will create access to dignified work for 250,000 people in Ghana, 70% of them will be young women and 10% or 25,000 Persons With Disabilities (PWDs)", she said.

Mrs. Yankey who expressed gratefulness to the government, the participants, and the other stakeholders said the government was determined to eradicate the youth unemployment, adding that no discrimination is made provided you qualify under the requirements.

"We'll continue to do more for the people of Ghana, the youth of Ghana, women, and persons living with disabilities so far as they are interested in creating the opportunity for themselves and other people.

"This is the beginning of the kickoff and will use the opportunity to sensitize the people for them to be able to apply and be part of the program", she said.

She further disclosed that apart from the training given out, equipment such as start-up tools and other supports are usually given where necessary.

"By targeting to transform the lives of young people between the ages of 15 to 35 years, persons with disabilities, majority women-owned businesses and enterprises, the BizBox aligns with the vision of the Mastercard Foundation to enable 3 million young people to access dignified and fulfilling work by 2030. Furthermore, it resonates with the vision of government's commitment to creating prosperity and equal opportunities for all, as outlined in the agenda for job creation", she added.

She said the project will be instrumental in addressing some of the key challenges faced by the youth, including the lack of entrepreneurship education, limited access to markets and job-relevant skills, and tools through five key pillars focusing on skills development.

On his part, the Ashanti Regional Minister, Simon Osei-Mensah lauded the initiative by the Ghana Enterprises Agency and Mastercard Foundation and said it will go a long way to eradicate poverty in the country.

He further encouraged participants by indicating that most of the successful persons across the world are usually people who are entrepreneurs.

He entreated the beneficiaries to make judicious use of the knowledge they were acquiring in order to motivate sponsors to do more for others.