Sherif Ghali (4th from left), Chief Executive Office, Young Entrepreneur and Startups Funds; Barbara White Koala (left), Country Director, SNV Netherlands Development Organisation, and Bettina Schoop (arrowed) of the GIZ, and other dignitaries after the launch of the YESS Fund

Young Entrepreneurs Startup Support Fund launched

Yaa Kuffour Senyah Sep - 19 - 2023 , 13:37

A startup fund, aimed at fostering mutual funding for small enterprise businesses within the country, has been launched.

Known as the Young Entrepreneurs Startup Support (YESS) Fund, it is designed as a solution to address issues of inadequate funding for startup businesses owned by members of the Ghana Chamber of Young Entrepreneurs (GYCE).

The fund is structured to mobilise resources from members of GYCE as well as grants from partners to provide concessionary loans to its members.

It has been established by the GYCE, in partnership with the European Union and with funding from the SNV Netherlands Development Organisation under the GrEEn Project.

Fund

The Chief Executive Officer of GYCE, Sherif Ghali, announcing the operationalisation of the fund, explained that the country was endowed with vibrant youth who wanted to find solutions to the pressing challenges in the society.

However, accessibility to affordable funding remained the main challenge to young entrepreneurs who wanted to make a living for themselves and find solutions to problems faced in the society.

Thus Mr Ghali said the fund was created to help young innovators have access to financial resources and training, among other packages.

He indicated that the fund was currently worth a total of GH¢ 3million, with a contribution of €250,000 euros from the SNV Green project.

Mr Ghali, however, expressed the hope that the fund would be worth GH¢10 million by the end of this year in order to expand the fund’s impact, nurture sustainable entrepreneurship to empower the youth to shape their economic future.

Support

The Country Director of SNV Netherlands Development Organisation, Barbara White Koala, said one of the organisation’s main aim was to strengthen capacities and catalyse partnerships that resulted in sustainable impact in three sectors of focus namely, agri-food, energy, and water systems.

Thus by funding the GrEEn Project, they were continuously showing their dedication to promoting the growth of green jobs and green businesses at the local and national level to support job creation and access to affordable financing for MSMEs within the country.

“I would also like to commend the Ghana Chamber of Young Entrepreneurs for their partnership in setting up this fund to support access to funding for entrepreneurs at the local and regional level”, she said.

Mrs Koala mentioned that the fund was open to all MSMEs in the country and for its GrEEn Project entrepreneurs as SNV in Ghana had invested €250,000 into the fund.

She added that her organisation was committed to building capacities for a long lasting impact beyond project finalisation as the fund was a sustainability measure to contribute to the expansion of MSMEs.

The Component Manager at the GIZ AgriBizproject, Bettina Schoop, commended the GYCE for the initiative, intimating that it would promote entrepreneurship, while creating sustainable jobs to contribute to the economic growth of the country.

She gave an assurance of her organisation’s commitment to support such initiatives to create green jobs to positively impact the society.