Mr Joseph Oppong Brenya, Director of Communications at the National Entrepreneurship Initiatives Program (NEIP) addressing media men at launch of Students Entrepreneurship Initiatives (SEI) at KNUST
The Ministry of Business Development under the National Entrepreneurship Initiative Program (NEIP) is providing start-up capital ranging between GHC 10, 000 to GHC100, 000.00 for Ten Thousand (10,000) students offering entrepreneurship programs across tertiary institutions in the country.
Speaking to the Ghanaian Observer Newspaper after inaugurating the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST) Chapter of the Students Entrepreneurship Initiative (SEI), Communications Director at NEIP, Joseph Oppong Brenya said the project is to empower students to nurture and incubate entrepreneurial ideas.
These ideas from students, Mr Brenya indicated will be scrutinized by a committee to ensure it can provide jobs for the initiators as well as provide same for others.
He noted that the program is being replicated by NEIP across the country with the inauguration of similar SEI chapters at selected tertiary schools offering entrepreneurial courses.
‘’The government is committed to providing jobs to the youth and students alike and has carefully designed this initiative to provide opportunities for 10, 000 students every year for the next five years so that their ideas can be supported with funds ranging from 10, 000 to 100, 000.00 to start-up and expand their business plans and projects’’, Mr Oppong Brenya intimated.
KNUST BUSINESS DEV’T HEAD:
Addressing participants and students at the inauguration, Mr Samuel Yaw Akomeah, Head of Center of Business Development-KNUST said his outfit has already started the business incubator initiative.
The initiative, Mr Akomeah revealed has since provided direct and in-direct jobs for about 400 people on campus and outside same.
He also noted that 18 other tertiary institutions have had some training from the KNUST Business Development outfit to be able to deploy same in their individual outfits.
Mr Akomeah expressed delight about government’s decision to support such initiatives with funds, adding this will provide incentive to students to come up with business ideas knowing they would have capital as start-up.
‘’It is refreshing that government has considered the idea of providing funds to students who have business ideas and we at KNUST believe this will serve as an impetus to students to explore and come up with workable initiatives to benefit from funding being provided through the Ministry of Business Development and NEIP’’, Mr Akomean posited.
Speaking to this reporter after being inaugurated as Interim Executives of the Students Entrepreneurship Initiative, Nana Kwame Poku, Acting President said the group was delighted they have been offered opportunity to serve.
He noted that the platform offers them the privilege of leading efforts in sensitizing business and entrepreneurial students into formulating ideas to attract sponsorship from NEIP.
Mater Kwame Poku thanked government for the SEI initiative and promised to make use same so that while in school and after school they can own businesses and be managers of their own ideas.
Other members of the inaugurated body were Vivian Owoo, acting Vice-President, Mahmoud Kabore, acting General Secretary and Richard Mensah, acting treasurer.
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