President Akufo-Addo with the beneficiaries
President Akufo-Addo yesterday provided money to support the businesses of a total of 1,350 beneficiaries of the National Entrepreneurship and Innovation Plan (NEIP).
The president provided monies ranging from GH¢10,000 to GH¢100,000 to the beneficiaries to commence or expand their businesses under the NEIP Business Support Programme.
NEIP’s Business Support Programme is an initiative of the government under the Ministry of Business Development to support unemployed Ghanaian youth through training and funding for them to be able to set up their own businesses or expand existing ones.
The disbursement by President Akufo-Addo, which is expected to be in three phases namely Southern, Middle and Northern, is believed to be the first of its kind.
It’s a deliberate, systematic and integrated national policy that has been instituted to support early stage start-ups and small businesses
The southern disbursement would be done by President Akufo-Addo, while the middle one would be done by the Asantehene Otumfuo Osei Tutu, with Vice President Dr Mahamudu Bawumia doing the Northern disbursement.
The loans have low interest of 10 percent, repayable within three years to enable beneficiaries to expand and create more businesses.
It would be recalled that President Akufo-Addo launched NEIP in 2017 to support and develop young businesses across the country.
NEIP, after the launch, called for an online application where about 7,000 entrepreneurs applied to receive funding for their businesses. 1,350 out of the 7,000 were selected to receive funding across the 10 regions of Ghana.
NEIP is a flagship policy initiative of government to provide an integrated national support for start-ups and small businesses.
By Melvin Tarlue