An entrepreneurship summit aimed at equipping tertiary students with sustainable business ideas was launched in Accra on Monday, on the theme: Growing sustainable business ideas, building resilient entrepreneurs.
Organised by the Political Science Students Association (POSA) of the University of Ghana in collaboration with 1up Media, the event was attended by more than 200 students from tertiary institutions, including the University of Ghana.
Speaking at the ceremony, Dr Seidu Alidu, Head of Department, Political Science, of the University of Ghana, encouraged students to take advantage of the initiative and start business before leaving campus as after completion.
“Recent studies show that only 10 percent of graduating students find a job after the first year when they leave school. So after all your hassle on campus from academics to research and all your efforts, when you don’t get a job, things become harder than when you were on campus,” he said.
On his part, the Assistant Head for Artisan Directory at the Youth Employment Agency (YEA) Mr Wisdom Kwame Foli, explained that there was a lot of opportunities available for young people under the agency emphasising on the need for young people to be more creative and innovative to have access to the job market in current economic challenges.
The Start-up and Funding Summit seeks to identify, nurture and equip students and the youth in general, who are passionate about building their lives through entrepreneurship and creativity.
The main event is slated October 29, 2022, at the University of Ghana, and in November, at the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST), to give opportunity to youths in the Ashanti region.
The Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of 1up media, Mr Ernest Dawuni, said as part of the youth capacity development initiatives, 1up media, a digital marketing and advertising agency was poised to create opportunities where youths in entrepreneurship can access mentorship, funding and expert advice from professionals, industry players, government agency, departments and stakeholders across industries.
“About 75 percent of Start-up businesses fail within the first three years. This means that many things need to go right for a business to succeed. Therefore, our vision is not just to encourage students to start a business, but to start well”, he explained.
BY NORMAN COOPER