Dr Ibrahim Mohammed Awal,Minister of Business Development
Forty young entrepreneurs and captains of industry were at the weekend awarded at the “Forty under 40” awards ceremony for their exploits and contributions towards building Ghana’s economy.
The event organised by Xodus Communications saw individuals below age 40 receive awards under different categories ranging from Agriculture and agri-processing through to travel and tourism.
Speaking at the event, the Minister for Business Development, Dr Ibrahim Awal Mohammd, commended the organisers for the initiative and pledged the support of his ministry to ensure that younger persons developed their own businesses.
He said it was unfortunate that about 10 per cent of locally established businesses failed to go past five years after their establishment.
To this end, he said, government had taken up the challenge to reverse the trend in order to ensure that more sustainable jobs were created for the teaming unemployed youth.
“It is sad that only 10,000 graduates out of the 100,000 students who graduate from our tertiary schools get to be employed. To reverse this trend, government is going to establish a GH¢200million eco-fund to support young businesses to create more employment for the youth,” he said.
Dr Awal noted that with the positive macro-economic indicators being witnessed in the country, all was set for businesses to take off and government would support the youth in the areas of capacity build and start-up capitals for young but enterprising young ones to go into job creation.
On his part, the Executive Director of Xodus Communications, Mr Richard Abbey Junior said the award ceremony was instituted to identify and celebrate a cross-section of influential and accomplished young business leaders in the country.
According to him, his outfit believes that in putting the spotlight on these young achievers, it would not only celebrate them but also help build a strong platform that would offer them the voice and opportunity for the next generation of industry pacesetters.
“Year after year, we have seen outstanding individuals of trailblazers strive hard with dedication and perseverance by overcoming challenges and economic instability. These are the people we want to award,” he emphasised.
Mr Abbey said the awards cover a wide range of all the various sectors including; banking and finance, energy, family business, agriculture, theatre, arts and journalism.
He explained that the objective of the awards which had become an annual event was to recognise and celebrate 40 emerging leaders under the age of 40 who demonstrate or impact personally and or professionally through their exceptional leadership.
By Cliff Ekuful
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