Kingsley Kwaku Pinkrah, a multiple award-winning social
entrepreneur and the President and CEO of Community and Entrepreneurial
Development Initiative (CEDI Ghana) has signed a Memorandum of Understanding
(MOU) with Queen’s University, Leadogo Incorporated in Canada, and JACCD Design
Institute Africa to create thousands of jobs for the youth in Ghana. The MOU
was signed on Friday, June 24, 2022.
This project dubbed Entrepreneurship Jobs for All (E-Jobs4All) will set the
youth up to build and grow their businesses. It will provide free
entrepreneurship online and in-person tuition, an exchange program, and
advisory services from Queen’s University faculty members, alumni, and Canadian
business experts in the Leadogo Incorporated network. Concurrently, JACCD
Design Institute Africa in Accra will host the in-person training. It is hoped
that the future entrepreneurs and their businesses will form the nucleus of a
modern private sector that acts as an engine for job creation in Ghana.
Speaking at the ceremony, Professor Mohamad Abou Hamia, a former UN Senior
Economic Advisor pledged his support for this project.
“Today's signing of the MoU comes at a perfect time; the world has not fully
recovered from the negative consequences of the terrible pandemic that hit us
in early 2020. This has led to the ongoing rise in global inflation rates which
will soon be followed by a severe recession, and millions of people could lose
their jobs, especially in developing countries”, he shared.
Honourable Bright Wireko Brobbey, the Deputy Minister for Employment and Labour
Relations also speaking at the ceremony, thanked the partners for this project
which he said: “will equip the youth with the requisite technical and
entrepreneurial skills to complement the government’s job creation efforts”. He
further stated that the importance of this intervention and the relevance of
the project cannot be overemphasized. “This is because the Ghana Statistical
Service per its Seventh Round of the Ghana Living Standards Survey (GLSS 7)
estimates that the formal sector will not be able to generate jobs in the
required numbers to absorb the growing labour force. This means that a large
proportion of the population would have to be guided into the informal sector
which already employs about 85% of the labour force”. Thus, he concluded that
beneficiaries of the E-Jobs4All Project would have to be supported to create
more employment opportunities to absorb the growing labour force both in the
formal and informal sectors of the economy”.
The partners, Professor Greg Bavington, Executive Director of Queen’s
University Dunin-Deshpande Queen’s Innovation Centre in Canada, Mr. Matt
Hawskley, Chief Executive Officer of Leadogo Incorporated in Canada and Madam
Joyce Ababio, President of JACCD Design Institute Africa were delighted for
this great partnership which will offer opportunities for young people
interested in owning their own business. It is expected that the project will
soon be launched after which the application portal will be opened for
interested youth to apply.
Among other dignitaries that graced this occasion include Professor Samuel Adu
– Prah, Faculty Senate Chair-Elect of Sam Houston State University in the
United State of America; Professor Bernard Forjwuor, Undergraduate Director of
Notre Dame University in the United State of America; Professor Gabriel Eshun,
Technical Advisor of Tourism Ministry; Professor K. O. Appiah, Head of
Department, Accounting and Finance, KNUST; Apostle Dr. Abraham Ofori – Kuragu,
Former Member of National Media Commission; Mr. Norman Musengiman, CEO of
BizSkills Academy in Canada; Mrs. Janet Edna Nyame, Executive Director of
National Commission on Culture; and many others.
Source: Peacefmonline.com/Ghana