Over GH¢410 million has been issued by the Ministry of Finance this year to support two significant youth-focused programs run by the Ministry of Youth Development and Empowerment.
These programs are meant to address unemployment and increase the capacity of young Ghanaians.
This was revealed by Mr. George Opare Addo, the Minister of Youth Development and Empowerment, at the Government Accountability Series in Accra.
It is anticipated that hundreds of thousands of young people nationwide will benefit from the GH¢300 million set aside for the National Apprenticeship Program and the GH¢110 million allocated for the Adwumawura Entrepreneurship Program, he said.
Launched in April 2025, the Adwumawura Program would help young entrepreneurs by offering market access, mentorship, startup funding, and training. “In the first week of its launch, over 8,000 applications were received,” the statement read. Over 120,000 young people have applied so far.
He stated that 115,000 applications had been received for the National Apprenticeship Program, which was also introduced in April. The program provided free technical and vocational training, certification, startup materials, and, for the first time, a monthly stipend for apprentices.
“The programme officially begins on August 12 and aims to train 500,000 young people across various trades, including auto works, carpentry, welding, plumbing, and ICT. Trainees who complete the programme will be supported to start their own businesses under the Adwumawura programme,” he stated.
About 130,000 graduates are anticipated to be deployed for the 2025–2026 service year, according to Mr. Opare Addo.
“However, registration is currently paused due to a shutdown of the central posting system, which is undergoing a forensic audit after reports of ghost names and fraud. A new system is being developed to ensure transparency and credibility,” he said.
The Minister announced a six-week basic military orientation program for 100,000 national service members beginning this year as part of new policy directives.
The program’s goal is to teach young people “discipline, patriotism, and leadership” without militarizing them.
This year, the ministry’s Youth Employment Agency (YEA) intends to work with 259,850 recipients.
“As of July, 49,313 young people have been trained or placed under different models.”
“These include 6,500 placed through the YEA Job Centre, 8,913 trained in trades and vocations, and thousands more deployed to support education, health, community protection, and emergency services,” he said.
Speaking about the growing danger of drug usage among youngsters, Mr. Opare Addo stated that the ministry has started the “Red Means Stop” campaign to inform and discourage substance abuse, especially among schoolchildren and youth organizations.
“Throughout August, the ministry is holding a National Youth Festival, with activities such as clean-up campaigns, youth conferences, climate change forums, stakeholder dialogues, and a youth durbar,” he stated, referring to the campaign’s implementation in all 16 regions.
Plans to establish the Ghana Scholarship Secretariat as a full-fledged Scholarship Authority were also disclosed by the Minister.
“The government is proposing to upgrade the Ghana Scholarship Secretariat into a full Authority, which would give it greater administrative autonomy and possibly expanded mandates,” he reiterated.
He stated that although additional consultations were in progress, a draft bill was before Parliament.
Source: newsthemegh.com