Govt’s business pitch may be game changer

Over the years, Ghana has grappled with a high rate of unemployment, with the rising number of university graduates seeking employment forming a huge chunk of job seekers.

According to a Labour Force Survey Report commissioned by the Ghana Statistical Service in 2015, the number of unemployed people in Ghana was estimated at over 1.2 million as of March 2017.

The figure, the report points out, represents the total unemployment rate of 11.9 per cent, which has 714,916 females, representing 57.2 per cent, and 535,997 males, representing 42.8 per cent.

It is to ameliorate the unemployment situation that the government has made interventions, such as the Nation Builders Corps (NaBCo) programme to deal specifically with graduate unemployment.

The launch last Tuesday of a GH¢3-million Campus Business Pitch initiative by the Ministry of Business Development to unearth the entrepreneurial potential of university students across the country, therefore, comes as a fillip to the government’s continuous effort to deal with the unemployment situation.

The Daily Graphic considers the two initiatives by the government as laudable, as they are expected to deal with unemployment among the youth.

We are particularly encouraged by the Campus Business Pitch initiative, which is intended to afford students the opportunity to pitch their business ideas, with the eventual winners having their businesses funded and their capacities built in line with best practices.

In today’s world, universities and other tertiary institutions are meant to produce creators of employment and not potential employees.

Unfortunately, for a number of years we have only produced graduates who seek employment after their education because they are not in a position to become job owners.

It is in the light of this that the Daily Graphic believes the initiative which was launched on the apt theme: “Nurturing tomorrow’s business giants today”, could be the game changer that will improve the country’s job fortunes.

With the right psyche and adequate support, we believe that the laudable business ideas of the students could be developed to have a positive impact on society and enable Ghana to produce its own Bill Gates, Jack Mas and Mack Zuckerbergs.

We, however, urge the students who will get the opportunity to take part in the initiative to go with the best ideas and not abuse the chance to establish themselves and also take on some of unemployed graduates in their businesses.

It is a tough terrain in the business field out there and we encourage both male and female students to apply all the knowledge they have acquired in business management to not only come out tops but also compete favourably with global brands once they get rolling.

Again, we encourage winners of the business pitch to justify the investment made by the government in the initiative by excelling in any business ventures they choose, so that others will be afforded similar chances in the future.