527 youth in UE receive start-up capital

Five-hundred and twenty-seven youth in the Upper East Region trained under the Local Government and Rural Development Ministry's LESDEP programme received start-up equipment on Thursday at a graduation ceremony in Bolgatanga.

They were drawn from the nine districts in the Region and trained in mobile phone repairs, beauty care services, barbering, local garment and dressmaking and rural transport services and each took home sets of start-up equipment comprising tricycles, minivan motors, mobile phone repair and barbering kits, hair dressing equipment and sewing machines.

The beneficiaries are expected to pay back the cost of the equipment in two years time so that others can be assisted.

Mr Mark Woyongo, the Upper East Regional Minister, said unemployment had become a global phenomenon and Ghana was not an exception.

He said the concept of LESDEP, which is a public private sector initiative being implemented by the government, represented by the Local Government and Rural Development Ministry and spearheaded by LESDEP, had come at a time when many youth were seeking avenues for employment.

He said due to the importance the government attached to the programme, it had allocated GHc84 million in the 2012 budget to LESDEP to assist in the job creation drive.

Mr woyongo said the programme, which was launched in 2011 and was targeting to train and equip 20,000 clients nationwide by the end of 2012, had performed well.

The programme has so far trained about 12,000 unemployed Ghanaians in mobile phone repairs, catering services, ICT, barbering, dressmaking, beauty care, beads making, agro processing, event management, welding and fabrication.

Mr Edward Ayireba Ayagle, Bolgatanga Municipal Chief Executive, said the package formed part of the government's Better Ghana Agenda and appealed to other youth who were not enrolled in the programme to take advantage of it.