ActionAid Ghana, a non-governmental organisation, has organised a forum to sensitise young people on the need to adopt savings culture to maximise prospects of their businesses.
Young people from 10 communities including Kataraga, Kunyevila, Dimali,Wayamba, Dabogshe, DC Kura, Tijo, Kpabiya, Nandundo and Nagbali in the Sagnarigu and Mion Districts of the Northern Region took part in the forum.
Representatives of some financial institutions including Baobab Microfinance Company Limited, Advans Ghana Savings and Loans, Bonzali Rural Bank, Izwe Savings and Loans and Opportunity International Savings and Loans were at the forum to educate the participants on their products, and how they could take advantage of them to improve their businesses.
The forum, held in Tamale, formed part of the ActionAid Ghana’s project dubbed: “Providing Employment for Young People in Ghana”, which is intended to train young people to access credit services at the various financial institutions within the Northern Region for their businesses.
Mrs Beatrice Biije, Programmes Officer at ActionAid Ghana, speaking during the forum, said, “ActionAid Ghana, in 2019, secured a three-year funding support from Medicor Foundation to empower young people with entrepreneurial skills.”
Mrs Biije said the project was being implemented in the Northern, Upper East and the Bono Regions to equip the youth with employable skills in the areas of tiling, bee keeping, catering, weaving, dressmaking, phone repairing, soap making and satellite disc installation.
She said the project ended in June, 2022, but was extended to offer other supplementary activities such as linking beneficiaries to market, train them on how to advertise their products and services hence the forum.
She told the beneficiaries that, “Beyond the project, there is the need to cultivate savings habit with credible financial institutions to help expand and sustain your businesses.”
Alhaji Abukari Sadiq, Marketing Manager of Baobab Microfinance Company Limited urged participants to take advantage of the company’s products and services saying, “We are credible institutions operating across the region capable of supporting your businesses to grow.”
Mrs Esther Nsobila, a beneficiary of the project in the Sagnarigu Municipality, commended ActionAid Ghana and partners for the initiative saying, “The project is a catalyst for addressing unemployment, crime and domestic violence in our communities.”
