Anne-Claire Dufay (left), UNICEF Representative in Ghana and Moonheon Kong, Country Director of KOICA signing the MoU. Picture: EBOW HANSON

KOICA, UNICEF-Ghana partner to power youth entrepreneurship

Doreen Andoh Aug - 10 - 2022 , 10:19 2 minutes read

The Korea International Cooperation Agency (KOICA) has signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with UNICEF-Ghana for the implementation of a project to accelerate entrepreneurship and innovation in Ghana.

KOICA is South Korea’s governmental organisation for implementing its Official Development Assistance (ODA) to enhance the effectiveness of its grant aid programmes for developing countries, while UNICEF is the United Nations agency responsible for saving children's lives, defending their rights and helping them fulfil their potential from early childhood through adolescence.

The project has been named: “Accelerating Entrepreneurship and Innovation in Ghana 2022 to 2026” and has funding support of $2.2 million from KOICA.

The partnership is expected to support the government’s effort at supporting young people to imbibe entrepreneurship by supporting young entrepreneurs.

The Country Director of KOICA, Mooheon Kong, signed for his organisation, while the UNICEF Country Representative, Anne-Claire Dufay, initialled for her institution at a brief ceremony in Accra last Monday.

Partnership

Other partners include the University of Ghana and the Meltwater Entrepreneurial School of Technology (MEST), an Africa-wide technology entrepreneur training programme, internal seed fund and network of hubs offering incubation for technology start-ups.

Mr Kong explained that under the partnership, the two signatory institutions would resource and empower start-ups that addressed social and economic deprivation and sought to improve efficiencies in areas affecting the youth.

He said there was a strong drive among the youth to start their own businesses, a testament to their strong entrepreneurial attitudes, as well as the need to secure livelihoods.

Ms Dufay emphasised UNICEF's commitment to support young people across the country who generated entrepreneurial and innovative ideas, especially to provide solutions for core development issues, such as health, education, climate and employability.