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Inspirational young Ghanaians celebrated at event launching Prince’s Trust International in the country

Founded by His Royal Highness The Prince of Wales, Prince’s Trust International’s education, enterprise and employability programmes began in Ghana before the pandemic.
Press Release Inspirational young Ghanaians celebrated at event launching Princes Trust International in the country
JUN 9, 2022 LISTEN

The celebration took place at the British High Commissioner’s Residence in Accra and saw young people from across the country receive awards for their achievements in building key skills for work on Prince’s Trust International programmes.

Prince’s Trust International began piloting its programmes in Ghana in 2019 and has since supported over 1,500 young people. The charity was founded by His Royal Highness The Prince of Wales in 2015 and now works in 17 countries.

Through collaboration with local organisations, Prince’s Trust International enables young people to build key skills with its education, employability and enterprise programmes. In Ghana, the organisation has partnered with Junior Achievement, Youth Opportunity and Transformation Africa, Environment 360, and funders including Fidelity Bank and Bank of America.

As more than half of Ghana’s population are under 25, empowering these young people, especially girls, can help build a more equitable community and society. Prince’s Trust International programmes recognise that today’s young people want more sustainable careers and access to better futures. Last year, the organisation published research into the future of work. Of the young people surveyed in Ghana, 54% were interested in working in the green economy and 68% in the digital economy.

To celebrate the beginning of Prince’s Trust International’s work in Ghana, the charity invited young people from across its programmes to be acknowledged with awards celebrating their achievements and innovation. The young people were presented with their awards by the British High Commissioner to Ghana, Her Excellency Harriet Thompson, Prince’s Trust International Chief Executive Will Straw and Edward Effah, Chair of Fidelity Bank.

One of the awards presented during the ceremony was for the Regional Winners for Africa of The Prince’s Trust Group Sustainability Award. This award recognises young people working innovatively to make a difference to their communities.

The winning group of young people took part in the first Enterprise Challenge programme. As part of this, teams play a business simulation game with support from a local business mentor, which takes them through the stages of setting up and running a successful business. The top performing teams go through to a business planning and testing phase before pitching their sustainable ideas as part of a national finals in which they compete for a business development grant.

During the programme, the young people developed a business idea of transforming coconut husk into jewellery and gifts. Using the entrepreneurial skills they learned, the team identified that the coconut waste produced daily in Accra is enough to pollute the environment and saw an opportunity to turn this waste product into a marketable product.

Commenting at the event, one of the team members said that “we would rather recycle and reuse waste to produce other products that become more useful to humanity and society at large.” The judging panel selected the team from a wide-ranging pool of applications submitted across Africa.

British High Commissioner to Ghana, Her Excellency Harriet Thompson, said:

“The determination and energy of the young people here today is an inspiration to us all. The UK and Ghana are achieving a huge amount together, supporting young people into employment or enterprise, and I am eager to continue this work. I am delighted that organisations like Prince’s Trust International and their local partners are giving these opportunities to young people, especially in developing sectors such as the green economy”.

Will Straw, Prince’s Trust International Chief Executive, added:

“I am excited to scale up our work with partners in Ghana through the targeting of opportunities that will prepare young people for the labour markets of tomorrow - particularly through green and sustainable jobs and business practices.

“As we grow our work here and across the world, we are seeking partners who are willing to invest in future skills programmes, with a focus on digital and green economies, to prepare young people for the workplace. To succeed in an increasingly challenging world, young people need to be more entrepreneurial than ever. Our work gives them the tools to achieve their ambitions”.

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