Over three hundred youth in the northern region have been sensitized by Barclays Bank Ghana on how to unlock business potentials in their various localities.
The youth drawn from the various tertiary institutions graduates, petty traders, young entrepreneurs raging from the service sector, ICT among others were taken through how to identify new business ideas to enable them become entrepreneurs in the region.
The annual Barclays youth program dubbed; ’’Youth Volunteering program’’ aimed at encouraging Ghanaian youth to become employers rather than employees.
Barclays bank says, being entrepreneur oriented and making good use of business opportunities in the various communities is the only way to alleviating poverty and reducing unemployment rate in Ghana.
The area manager of Barclays Bank in-charge of the northern cluster, Mr Joseph Tettey said the bank will focus on the youth to unlock their potentials in driving the entrepreneurial skills so that they can be ready for future.
On capital challenges facing stators, Mr Joseph Tettey urged young business minded citizens to link up with existing organizations to create a network for business in the future.
According to Mr Joseph, beginners with good business ideas can organize and come together to get assistance from the government or other organisations such as Export Development and Agriculture Investment Fund (EDAIF) who are willing to help and start with their own business.
He lamented how difficult it is for individuals to pay back loans and financial institutions to release money to people they do not know the skills they posses, and that people should come together and form groups, co-operatives and committees so that able organizations can access them and help them by giving them loans to start their businesses.
Mr Joseph stated that, by joining existing organisations and showing interest to grow in business, the owners of the business can appreciate and use them in their businesses, because not anybody with money can be business oriented.
He emphasized that one do not necessarily need enough money to start a business but the development of one’s skills and potentials in the world of business and that any business volunteer can visit them to be advised on how to run or face challenges in their businesses so that in the next four years they can also occupy the position of strong entrepreneurs.
He again mentioned that, for one to be a good business person there is the need to always search your community and identify what the people actually need before you can take further actions.
Barclays Bank according Mr Joseph Tettey is also in partnership with the British Council where people go and developed themselves. He stressed that one do not really need too much capital to start a business, developing personal skills is key in business.
On the sustainability of the program, the area manager said Barclays is linking up with African Union Decade which is up to 2018.
Mr Joseph Tettey therefore advised other financial institutions in the northern region to learn from Barclays and assist the youth in various innovative ways.
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