Springboard Road Show 2025: Chiefs, MCEs, youth in 3 regions champion agriculture, enterprise
The Springboard Road Show, the flagship programme of a foundation dedicated to empowering the next generation of African leaders and entrepreneurs, is targeting over 500,000 young people during its current tour of the 16 regions of Ghana.
The young people include young women and persons who are challenged. The tour has already been to the Upper West, Ahafo and Bono East regions, igniting a wave of energy, hope and empowerment among Ghana’s youth.
The nationwide tour, running under the Ghana Grows programme, has drawn thousands of participants to its regional stops in Wa, Techiman and Bechem, uniting traditional leaders, municipal executives, educators and young entrepreneurs behind one shared vision, to transform agriculture, skills and enterprise into engines of national growth.
ATVET
In the Upper West Region, the road show stopped at the Wa Technical Institute, where the Municipal Chief Executive for Wa, Alhaji Issah Nurah Danwanaa, highlighted Agriculture, Technical and Vocational Education and Training (ATVET) as critical levers for sustainable development.
“Together, let us drive agriculture and ATVET as the engines of youth and women empowerment for regional development,” Alhaji Danwanaa urged.
The event underscored the growing synergy among traditional leadership, local governance and national programmes to ensure that young people, especially in northern Ghana, are equipped with the skills and confidence to lead.
In the Bono East Region, the Springboard youth conference found expression in Techiman, where the Municipal Chief Executive, Kwaku Adjei Mensah, rallied young people to see agriculture not as a fallback, but as a frontier of innovation and enterprise.
“Agriculture remains one of the most promising sectors for our youth. It offers vast potential for innovation, employment and enterprise,” he said.
Mental health
The Bono East event spotlighted the intersection of mental health, mentorship and entrepreneurship, with participants engaging in sessions on resilience and business start-ups.
Members of the Ghana Grows Girls Club shared their success stories, including Ellen Anyaki, who turned e-mentoring and food processing lessons into a thriving garlic and ginger paste business and Haggar Sackey, founder of Evert & Co., a youth-led soap production venture now training senior high school students.
At Bechem in the Ahafo Region, the Chief of Bechem, Nana Opaw Nwomaso Boampong Bekoe, called on the government to expand support for agriculture, agribusiness and ATVET programmes, describing them as “the true pathways to national wealth creation.
“When you go to Kumasi, most of the big houses belong to farmers.
These are the kinds of programmes the government should sponsor because they prepare young people to create real value,” he said.
The Bechem gathering featured hundreds of youth eager to learn from the success of Ghana Grows beneficiaries such as Esther, who launched her own business after attending the Empower360 Resin Arts Training in Accra and now mentors others.
Ahafo
The Ahafo Regional Minister, Charity Gardiner, commended the foundation for its focus on young women in agriculture, noting that nearly 80 per cent of participants in Ghana Grows are female, breaking traditional barriers in agribusiness and entrepreneurship.
Under the leadership of the Executive Director of the Springboard Road Show Foundation, Comfort Ocran and Technical Director, Albert Ocran, the movement blends storytelling, mentorship and enterprise development into a transformative model for youth inclusion and empowerment.
“True capital begins with what’s in your hands. Diligence, integrity and tenacity build businesses that last,” Comfort Ocran reminded participants.
