Government launches student entrepreneurship initiative in Tamale

Vice President Dr Mahamudu Bawumia has launched the Student Entrepreneurship Initiative (SEI) to help in building an entrepreneurial mind set among students in the country.

The SEI is a government policy under the National Entrepreneurship and Innovation Plan (NEIP) entrepreneurship programme that aims at exposing students to business concepts and plans at their early ages to enable them to develop products and services whiles in school.

The launch of the SEI took place at the weekend at the Ghana Senior High School (GHANASCO) in Tamale.

It was also attended by the Ministry of Business Development, Ministry of Education, Ghana Education Service, and Metropolitan, Municipal and District Chief Executives (MMDCEs) and other stakeholders.

Dr Bawumia said under the SEI, the Ministry of Business Development would trade and stimulate at least 10,000 students annually to think entrepreneurship and engage two million students over the next five years.

He said unlike the developed countries, Ghana had less than two per cent of young people having the intentions of engaging in entrepreneurship and this initiative would help, if not, encourage students to venture into entrepreneurship.

He said through the initiative, schools would be assisted to form entrepreneurial clubs for students and with the active collaboration of the Ministry of Education and the Ghana Education Service (GES) to organize a competition among schools to generate sharing of ideas and research findings and finally execute a business project .

Dr Bawumia said the grand finale of the business plan competition would be held in Accra early next year where students of the various schools would present their ideas and winners of the competition would be moved around the world to experience the audacity of entrepreneurship and to understand the real world's business.

He said this would go a long way to help change Ghana's narrative from graduate unemployment to graduate job creators as an index in the employment sector within the next five years.

Dr Bawumia said the president's agenda of a Ghana beyond aid could be realised when students are encourage to take their education seriously.

He said the three northern regions still lagged behind in education and it was imperative that parents, guardians and opinion leaders sensitise people to take education seriously.

Dr Bawumia, therefore, urged young people to take advantage of the free Senior High School policy to acquire knowledge and skills to better and improve on their lives.

He encouraged all students to take advantage of the SEI and come out with business ideas and assured that the government would support them to realize their dreams.

Hajia Amina Maidale Musah, the Headmistress of GHANASCO expressed profound gratitude to the government for launching such an initiative and assured that the school would not only attach special interest to the SEI but also ensure that it's chapter of the entrepreneurial club would be one of very best in the country.

She urged students not to relent but grasp this entrepreneurial initiative to help reduce the unemployment rate and to help invigorate the private sector, create more wealth and enhance economic and general well-being.