Despite the country’s economic troubles, the beneficiaries of the Nation Builders Corps (NABCO) have a glimmer of hope.
According to the Minister of Information, the government aims to enroll NABCO trainees in the yet-to-be-launched YouStart initiative.
Kojo Oppong Nkrumah, appearing on JoyNews’ The Probe, said that the action is a viable solution to Ghana’s rising unemployment rate.
“The government has been clear that for NABCO persons, they are going to be rolled on the YouStart programme which is aimed at ensuring that they have capital and technical support to start up their own businesses,” he said.
Under the Ghana CARES program, the YouStart project has been implemented to reduce barriers for current and potential young entrepreneurs.
Finance Minister Ken Ofori-Atta had previously emphasized that empowering the young, who were the driving force for change, was a crucial component of the government’s strategy.
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He emphasized that the effort will better match skills training with the demands of industries as future drivers of productivity development and socioeconomic change.
Even before the government selected a date for the program’s commencement, a group of NABCO trainees requested that it be postponed until they are paid their stipends.
The trainees have been complaining for months about their unpaid allowances, which have been in arrears for seven months.
While acknowledging that NABCO beneficiaries are struggling to make ends meet, the Ofoase-Ayirebi representative said that the Akufo-Addo government continues to prioritize youth employment.
He requested that the trainees work with the government to guarantee the success of the project.
“I feel the pain of the NABCO beneficiaries which has been occasioned by the limited resources. There are many times I go to my constituency and I have to pay for some of my NABCO people who are helping out in the hospitals just that we are not making noise about it.
“But we feel their pain and our expectation is that the YouStart Programme will be rolled out shortly so that they all can be moved unto it,” he said on Sunday.
SOURCE: myjoyonline
