The Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the National Entrepreneurship & Innovation Programme (NEIP), Kofi Owusu Nkansah has revealed a total amount of about five billion Ghana cedis from the Electronic Transaction Levy, will be used to fund 50% of the YouStart Initiative.

Mr. Kofi Owusu Nkansah explained that the amount will be raised within three years to fulfill the government's promise to use part of the E-Levy to create jobs for the youth.

The CEO told Roselyn Felli on the Prime Morning Show, Tuesday, that the government with its development partners will fund 70% while the private sector, made up of banks, take the rest 30% of the total GH$10b intended for the initiative.

“For the commercial module, for instance, the banks will be bringing 30% and the government will provide 70% of the total fund, however, there will be a component which may also come from the development partners like the World Bank, so the government may provide five billion cedis and have the rest coming from the private sector,” he stated.

YouStart is a government flagship project that will serve as a vehicle for young entrepreneurs to access capital, training, technical skills, and mentoring to launch and operate their businesses.

The initiative will specifically support youth-led enterprises with the soft loans of up to GH¢50,000 starter packs for individuals and GH¢100,000 for associations and groups and a standardised loan package of between GH¢100,000 to GH¢400,000 at concessional rates for SMEs from financial institutions.

The CEO added that projections from the E-Levy show that government will be able to raise such an amount in three years, but there are other structures in place to sustain the initiative in case of a shortfall from the E-Levy.

According to him, both the development partners and the private sector have shown their commitment to support the initiative and their wiliness to pay for any deficit that will come from the government.

“It can also happen that government may not be able to get that much from the E-Levy, but the private sector or the development partners will provide the deficit”, he noted.

Government completed the piloting of its flagship YouStart programme in March and said it would be rolled out in April this year.

According to Finance Minister, Ken Ofori-Atta, the youth entrepreneurship programme will be a vehicle for supporting young entrepreneurs to gain access to capital, training, technical skills, and mentoring to enable them to launch and operate their own businesses.

Addressing attendees at a business pitch event as part of the pilot phase of the programme on Wednesday, March 2, 2022, he said the programme is expected to remove the primary impediment to the growth of enterprise in Ghana, improve access to credit and incorporate the broader vision of the Ghana Beyond Aid agenda under the Ghana CARES “Obaatan Pa” programme.

“I believe that addressing youth unemployment through a coordinated approach and at the same time devoting resources to build on Ghana’s human capital would ultimately support and sustain our vision of transforming Ghana Beyond Aid.”

He noted that “As a country, we will take our destiny into our own hands and determine our economic fortunes without leaving anyone behind when this vision manifest.”