Dr. Mohammed Amin Adam
The Ranking Member on Parliament’s Finance Committee, Dr. Mohammed Amin Adam, has urged the government to prioritise entrepreneurial training for Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) under the proposed 24-hour economy policy, describing skills development as critical to job creation and economic expansion.
Contributing to a statement delivered on the floor of Parliament by the Member of Parliament for Nhyiaeso, Dr. Stephen Amoah, Dr. Amin Adam stressed that while SMEs dominate the country’s business landscape, their growth is constrained largely by inadequate entrepreneurial capacity.
Dr. Amoah’s statement focused on the need to integrate entrepreneurship into the country’s education system, proposing its inclusion as a core subject at the Junior High School (JHS) level and as an elective at the Senior High School (SHS) level.
He argued that entrepreneurship has become a central pillar of global economic transformation, driving job creation, innovation and poverty reduction.
Citing data from the Institute of Statistical, Social and Economic Research (ISSER), Dr. Amoah noted that only about 10 percent of Ghanaian graduates secure employment within a year of graduation, while job-hunting can last up to five years.
With nearly 110,000 students graduating from universities annually, he said roughly 100,000 are left unemployed each year.
He indicated that graduate unemployment had contributed to rising insecurity and social challenges, including robbery, drug abuse and teenage pregnancy.
According to him, entrepreneurship offers a sustainable pathway to reduce the pressure on the public sector and position the private sector as the engine of growth.
Supporting the statement, Dr. Amin Adam emphasised that SMEs account for about 92 percent of businesses registered in the country and contribute approximately 80 percent of jobs in the country.
However, he said many fail not only because of limited access to capital but also due to weak managerial and entrepreneurial skills.
“The SMEs cannot succeed if they do not have the entrepreneurial spirit and the skills required to innovate and provide leadership,” he said, adding that beginning entrepreneurship education at the basic level would equip young people with the mindset and capabilities to build successful enterprises.
Beyond curriculum reforms, Dr. Amin Adam proposed the establishment of “SME clinics” across districts and regions to provide practical training, mentorship and guidance for existing businesses.
He said such centres would help entrepreneurs access information on financing, improve management practices and scale up operations.
He further called on the yet-to-be-established 24-Hour Economy Authority to place strong emphasis on entrepreneurial capacity-building as a cornerstone of the policy’s implementation.
According to him, expanding SME profitability and growth would not only create employment opportunities for graduates from universities and technical institutions but also address unemployment, which he described as a national security threat.
Both MPs maintained that embedding entrepreneurship within the nation’s development framework would strengthen the country’s economic sovereignty and unlock the full potential of its youthful population.
By Ernest Kofi Adu, Parliament House