NGOs Tasked To Fight Unemployment

A YOUTH development expert and Country Director of Amicus Onlus Ghana, Akumba Ben Asamoaning has revealed there is a new phenomenon in youth development today that stakeholders are not taking advantage of.

He lamented that with the rising unemployment across the world, coupled with its attendant escalation of juvenile crime, very little is being done to meet the needs of the times especially gainful employment for the youth.

Mr. Akumba therefore advised youth based non-governmental organizations (NGOs) to move away from the status quo of just playing advocacy to combining it with what he called “youth capacity building.”

Speaking at a programme organized by Baobab Academy on the outcome of its 2009 applications for the Baobab Microcredit Facility, he noted that until something drastic is done about the pitiable plight of the youth, governmental endeavours at national development could become a mirage.

“In my line of work, I come across incredible talents and skills among the youth that are often wasted for lack of the needed incubators to nurture and grow them,” he added.

He has tasked such NGOs to begin to play key roles in identifying job creation opportunities for the youth to meet modern challenges.  

Mr. Asamoaning also expressed his frustrations with the many TV Reality Programmes in the country that are supposedly set up to motive and develop the interests of youth to seek self employment.

In his opinion, these programmes lack the content to provide the necessary holistic awareness and approach, since they are mostly skewed to suite the interests of either the TV stations or the sponsors of such programmes, instead of the youth.

He finally urged the youth to believe in themselves and their abilities, saying it is one sure way to reach greater heights.  

Contributing, the Director of the Baobab Academy, Belinda Dzokoto said the 2009 applications for the Baobab Micro Credit were very significant because it represented more than a 100% increase over that of 2008.

She revealed that out of the 20 business plans submitted, 11 applicants qualified for various sums of start-up capital totaling GH¢16,000.

“We are happy to announce that we are building our capacity to widen accessibility to the fund. In the immediate future, 90% of all viable business plans submitted will be supported with venture capital.

“For the past 7 years, we at the Baobab Academy have been advocating for a holistic capacity-building approach that is informed by the realities on the ground.

This is because any serious approach to capacity building especially one addressing youth unemployment must look at the broader picture and the inter-related synergies at the micro-level.

On this premise, any training programme without the requisite tools/capacity for start-up will not yield the desired objective,” she noted.

 Amicus Onlus established the Baobab Academy in 2003 with the major objective of training entrepreneurs to initiate income-generating ventures.

It was however discovered that equipping students with skills is important, it does not automatically turn them into entrepreneurs and that key issues of start-up capital and market access had to be addressed.

Against this background, Amicus Onlus initiated the Baobab Micro Credit facility in 2005, with the core objective of offering venture capital to students who have been trained to embark on businesses of their specialization and interest.

Since its inception, 48 graduates have benefited from the scheme with all of them currently engaged in a variety of businesses.

 By Bennett Akuaku