Deputy Finance Minister, Dr John Kumah, has disclosed plans by government to partner with tertiary institutions to promote entrepreneurship among young people.

He said as part of these arrangements, student innovators could be granted a period of leave to allow them to develop products they have conceived.

These students will be groomed and later have the opportunity to apply for funding to support their business.

Dr John Kumah said this on Wednesday during an interview on Joy FM’s Super Morning Show.

“We are even going to have an arrangement with the universities where students can take a one-year sabbatical leave to go and pursue their product and come back to graduate.

“During his national service, he’s going to do it on a project he started, and then he’d have the opportunity to apply for the various government interventions. It will prepare you to now access commercial loans,” he said.

Since the Finance Minister, Ken Ofori-Atta, charged young people to venture into entrepreneurship, there have been renewed discussions on the level of support entrepreneurs receive from government.

For some, government has failed to create an enabling environment to allow young businesses to succeed.

But Dr John Kumah insists that plans are being put in place to support entrepreneurs.

“In the past three or four years, almost all the entrepreneurship training we have done, we have involved the university campuses. We are setting up entrepreneurship clubs in senior high schools and university campuses.

“We are engaging National Service to post students who start their businesses to be posted to their own businesses. Whilst receiving their allowances, they would be building their own businesses. A lot of incentives are coming up,” he said.

Dr Kumah says that the 2022 budgetary statement is going to give “a bold statement on how we are going to empower young people not just to start-up businesses, but to succeed.”

“We want to involve the university campuses. Now, we want to set up endowment funds. When you are on campus, even in your first year, and you have been able to innovate a product, all you need to go through is a process for selection, and you can apply for financing on campus,” he mentioned.

The Deputy Finance Minister adds that the planned Development Bank of Ghana, when established, will be offering support to young businesses.

 “We are also going to have the Development Bank of Ghana, which will also be helping to scale up all the businesses that are able to do well and distinguish themselves from being start-ups to becoming medium-term and being prepared for a possible scale up to higher levels,” he highlighted.