Over 2,000 youth in the country are expected to be trained in entrepreneurial skills within a period of 10 years to help curb and address the alarming unemployment situation among Ghanaian youth in the country.

The 10 year Nkabom Project by the Koforidua Technical University (KTU) with support from the MasterCard Foundation will also provide start-up kits for successful graduates to help enable them set up their own businesses after completion.

In an interview with Citi News at the initiation ceremony, the Vice Chancellor of the Koforidua Technical University Professor John Owusu described the project as a game changer.

“This Nkabom Project is absolutely a game changer because you just look at the number of graduate unemployed in the system and you realise that even poses threats to us as a country but with this Nkabom Project we are not only going to train them with life skills sets but we are going to help them start their own business and also employ others immediately.

“As a technical university we are focused on ensuring that all our graduates receive the necessary skills that industries require, skills that will enable them stand on their feets alone and make a living solving basic problems within their localities,” he said.

The Coordinator of the Project, William Odoom who also revealed that more than 592,000 youth are jobless reaffirmed that the entrepreneurship training will help create more employment opportunities for the youth.

“This collaborative initiative between MasterCard Foundation and Koforidua Technical University will train more youth in the area of entrepreneurship.

“Those who will benefit from the training will be given some start up funds to get their business rolled up. Oover 2,000 youth will be trained under this programme for the next 10 years and the impact will be great as far as job creation is concerned,” Odoom  said.

On his part, the Eastern Regional Director of the Youth Enterprise Agency, Foli Dakpo Atigah pledged his outfit’s commitment towards empowering the Ghanaian youth through collaboration with the Koforidua Technical University.

“There is the need to empower and package the local artisans to be able to take advantage of emerging opportunities. President John Dramani Mahama has rolled out another of initiatives geared at tackling the youth unemployment situation in the country.

“We are shifting to provide sustainable jobs for the youth under the YEA programme. Hence in the coming days I will be engaging management of the Koforidua Technical University to set up booth camps and help also in the training of these local talented artisans who may need just some polishing, marketing and packaging strategies to maximize profits,” Atigah said.

He also explained that, the Koforidua Technical University, MasterCard Foundation is basically to inculcate into the youth some entrepreneurial skills to shift the focus from over reliance on white coloured jobs.