NABCO beneficiaries receive entrepreneurship training

Over three thousand Nation Builders Corps (NABCO) beneficiaries drawn from the Bono, Bono East and Ahafo Regions have participated in a day’s entrepreneurship training and capacity building programme in Sunyani.

The programme forms part of the NABCO’s “Skills and Talent Academy” which is meant to empower the beneficiaries to successfully exit from the scheme.

Managers of NABCO expect beneficiaries under the programme to successfully exit through any of the three main pathways designed for them, namely; retention, entrepreneurship and further learning.

Already, over 11,000 of the beneficiaries have secured permanent jobs and have exited the scheme while some are still on the programme.

The Chief Executive Officer of NABCO, Dr Ibrahim Anyars, speaking at the programme said, “I feel very excited that beyond the anniversary in Accra, we've embarked on a roadshow to visit all 16 regions to take the benefit of that conference and the launch of the NABCO skills and talent academy to all the regions so that our NABCO beneficiaries can ask the essential questions and get a feel of what they stand to gain by enrolling on the NABCO skills and talent academy.”

Dr Anyars said the tax-payer is investing $5,000 dollars or GHS27,000 on each NABCO beneficiary over the three-year duration of the programme and advised them to give off their best to justify the huge investment being made on them.

“Remember that the scheme itself, NABCO, is structured as a work and learn programme. The work is to address the work experience component that they would gain within the three years and in addition to that, the learning bit is acquired through deliberate creation of programmes and modules to make sure that they can pursue certain programmes that address the deficit that they have in terms of their employable skills.”

Besides, the beneficiaries are also being taken through a series of entrepreneurship training programmes to help those who want to venture into their own businesses to do so with ease while the remaining ones who are interested in pursuing further studies after the three years will also be in the position to do so.

The Bono Regional Co-ordinator of NABCO, Kofi Boateng in his address commended government for rolling out the programme which has benefitted about 100,000 graduates, most of whom had been idle for several years.

As part of the event, beneficiaries were taken through panel discussions and presentations on “Business Start-ups and Entrepreneurship, Agribusiness and Industrialization, Job Search and Career Pursuit and Digital Labour Market.”