The Graduate Business Support Scheme (GEBSS), a private public partnership with Government of Ghana has been set to establish 100 trans-generational graduate business moguls beginning this year.
The GEBSS concept seeks to solve the increasing graduate unemployment in the country.
The GEBSS initiative launch in 2011 has so far registered over 2500 unemployed graduates who are currently undergoing various tiers of training in the four GEBSS zones across the country.
Speaking at the sidelines of a Business Clinic in Tamale, the Tamale Zonal Coordinator, Mr. Mohammed Yussif Alhassan said, the Graduate Business Support Scheme initiative is aimed at providing unemployed graduates with business skills to generate their own business plans to be productive and self employed so that they will be able to employ other unemployed graduates being churned out from the various Polytechnics and Universities in Ghana.
He said, the GEBSS programme is training and equipping unemployed graduates under its scope the necessary skills in business plan preparation to seek funding to set up their own businesses.
“The idea of GEBSS is to identify unemployed graduates with business ideas and equip them with business set up skills and funds to establish trans-generational businesses capable of employing other unemployed graduates as a measure of curbing graduate unemployment. Thus, GEBSS is looking to establishing One hundred graduate business moguls annually.”
Mr. Yussif Alhassan noted that, the business clinics organized by GEBSS have so far created an idea – exchange business platform for unemployed graduates in the country to take advantage of the global business environment, adding that, the business clinics have been useful in creating and shaping the minds of unemployed graduates to the global business spectrum.
He hinted that, GEBSS will organize over 500 business clinics this year to bring on board most of the teeming unemployed graduates in the country.
He said, every year many graduates are churned out from the Polytechnics and Universities looking for non-existing jobs where they could have created some avenues themselves to create employment and opportunities, saying, the major cause of unemployment situation in the country has been that of the graduate unemployment.
Mr. Yussif Alhassan is however optimistic that, the GEBSS initiative partnering with government will support the country’s unemployed graduates to establish their own businesses rather than seeking for jobs that are not available.
The Tamale Zonal Coordinator of GEBSS revealed that, many unemployed graduates who are being trained and supported under the GEBSS programme to set up their own businesses will yield positive results.
“These people will create employment for so many youth in the country. So far the success story of the GEBSS initiative is impressive,” he said.
Mr. Yussif Alhassan said GEBSS have secured credit insurance guarantee from the Export Development and Agricultural Investment Fund (EDAIF) and therefore there are funds available to support business initiatives and plans of unemployed graduates.
“We are just encouraging people to write good business plans to access these funds”. He urged
He said, through their partner agencies like Zoom Alliance, Aveyime Rice Project now Volta-Prairie Limited and Pro Writing the first group under the GEBSS initiative will soon be set up.
Meanwhile, participants at the business clinic lauded the training workshop, saying the training have been an eye opener to them.