The Universal Merchant Bank (UMB) CEO, Nana Dwemoh Benneh, has discouraged up and coming entrepreneurs from securing bank loans to finance their new business ideas.

According to him, taking bank loans to run start-up businesses is a risky venture that can threaten the survival of the business and pose challenges for the owner of the business.

His comments come when the current Finance Minister, Ken Ofori-Atta, has urged university graduates to venture into entrepreneurship due to the lack of space on the government payroll.

But for Mr Benneh, many fresh entrepreneurs have not mastered the discipline and knowledge to manage loan facilities, the reason for which they shouldn’t rely on bank loans as their first port of call.

Speaking at the 10^th edition of the Ghana Economic Forum, Mr Benneh called on owners of start-businesses and fledgling entrepreneurs to look for patient capital at the inception of their business ideas. This, in his opinion, is a better alternative as compared to bank loans.

"When you want to build a business, you first have to look to patient capital. The initial patient capital obviously would come from family and friends, but beyond that, you now need some entity that gives the sort of capital that helps you to build up.

"With that, you can then come to a bank which can offer additional financing support for your short to medium-term requirements…So, what we are trying to encourage is for most entrepreneurs to look at the various types of financing and choose the one that is appropriate for their needs,” Mr Benneh explained.

The Director of Vodafone Business, Tawa Bolarin, who was also at the 10^th edition of the Ghana Economic Forum, highlighted that there are a lot of available job opportunities in the technological space waiting to be exploited.

She, however, said the lucrative avenues in the space of technology have not yet been fully maximized due to the lack of requisite skills on the path of fresh graduates.

Therefore, she admonished young people to solidify their expertise in technology to become tech-savvy and well oriented in the dynamics thereof.

This, she believes, will help address the menace of unemployment that continues to bedevil the fortunes of young people across the country.

“The job market has become increasingly technical; as such, there is the need for young people to acquire the skillsets necessary for these jobs rapidly,” she remarked.

Tawa Bolarin further added that young people must also focus on developing relevant skills apart from their formal education and the certificates they acquired from school.

In her view, the world is changing, and as such, there is the need for young people to be innovative to stay afloat with new trends and evolutions.