Accra: Tradeline Consult, in collaboration with Finance Factory (FinFact), has announced an ambitious initiative to create 10 million jobs for young people through the Jobs for Youth, Profit for SMEs (JoY-PS) Programme. The initiative aims to equip one million young graduates with essential business development, entrepreneurship, and job market skills, thereby fostering business growth and profitability for 20 million small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) across Africa by 2040.
According to Ghana News Agency, the JoY-PS Programme seeks to address the pressing issues of youth unemployment and SME growth challenges by implementing an intensive training and deployment model. A statement issued in Accra by Mr. Sam Zeph Atiemo, CEO of Tradeline Consult, highlighted that in Ghana, the programme would run for five years. It is set to empower 35,000 graduates (7,000 annually) from universities, technical institutions, and potentially from the Ghana Enterprise Agency's Business Advisory Centres and Business Resource Centres across all 16 regions.
These graduates will be trained as Business Development Officers (BDOs) to provide essential business advisory support to 100,000 SMEs by 2030 as part of the project's first phase. The programme also aims to facilitate the establishment of 5,000 sustainable enterprises, contributing to the creation of over 500,000 jobs in Ghana within the next five years through its job placement, business advisory, and entrepreneurship tracks, known as Bapx.
Mr. Atiemo pointed out that of the estimated 2.1 million SMEs in Ghana, 85 percent operate informally, plagued by poor financial management and governance structures. This situation leads to high business failure rates and limited opportunities for expansion and growth. He noted that only 10 percent of SMEs currently utilize external business advisory services (BAS), which significantly hinders their business and economic growth and access to crucial financing.
"JoY-PS is a game-changer for Africa's youth and SMEs. By equipping young graduates with the right skills and directly linking them to businesses, we are creating employment and strengthening the foundation of SME growth across the continent. We are determined to bring hope and wealth to the youth; it is now or never," Mr. Atiemo emphasized.
In pursuit of its vision to create sustainable employment opportunities across all 54 African countries, the JoY-PS Programme is seeking partnerships with key stakeholders including the Mastercard Foundation, European Union, African Development Bank, GIZ, KFW, and other strategic investors and partners. In Ghana, the initiative will collaborate with entities such as CEO Africa, National Service Secretariat, the National Youth Authority, Tertiary Institutions, the Ghana Enterprise Agency, the Ministry of Trade and Industry, financial institutions like Stanbic Bank, GCB Bank, Fidelity Bank, Absa Bank Ghana, and SMEs to maximize its impact.
