NYA-UNDP positions young entrepreneurs to maximise AfCFTA opportunities

The National Youth Authority (NYA) has built the capacity of some young entrepreneurs in the Upper West Region to enable them take advantage of the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) to enhance their businesses.The initiative, 'Youth Entrepreneurship Training Programme for AfCFTA Opportunities', is expected to enhance Ghana's economic growth through increased youth entrepreneurship and participation in AfCFTA.Some 40 young entrepreneurs in all sectors - weaving, dressmaking, hairdressing, tourism and agribusiness among others in the Wa Municipality and the Daffiama-Bussie-Issa District participated in the two-day training.The initiative was a collaboration between the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and the NYA to empower at least 400 young entrepreneurs in Ghana with essential business management skills and knowledge to thrive in the African market.Addressing the participants in Wa, Mr. Archibald Donkoh, the Director of Programmes at the NYA Head Office, noted that the NYA recog nised the role young people played in the Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) sector comprising about 44 per cent of the actors in that space.He said: 'We realised that even though 44 per cent of MSMEs are owned by young people only five per cent of them are taking advantage of the AfCFTA or trading beyond the shores of Ghana', which he indicated necessitated the training.'Amazingly, the AfCFTA secretariat is based in Ghana, but the question is how best are Ghanaian young entrepreneurs leveraging the opportunities it presents in the country,' Mr Donkoh stated.He encouraged the participants to utilise the skills they had gained through the training to stay competitive with their counterparts in other countries within the continental trade area.Mrs. Vida Addi, the Upper West Regional Director of the NYA, said the Authority was there to empower the youth and that the training was in that regard.'We expect the participants to go out there, the impact they got from this training, they should let it influence their business', she told the Ghana News Agency (GNA) in an interview during the training.Ms. Fathiyat Numbo Mohammed, a participant, thanked the NYA and its partners for the opportunity and said it had exposed her to the protocols and requirements of participating in the AfCFTA.The participants were taken through business branding, bookkeeping, customer service management, marketing, the AfCFTA protocols and the requirements needed to trade beyond the shores of Ghana.Source: Ghana News Agency