President John Dramani Mahama used the 2026 State of the Nation Address to signal a substantial expansion of Ghana’s flagship youth employment ecosystem, confirming a second cohort of 10,000 beneficiaries under the Adwumawura entrepreneurship initiative and announcing a tenfold scale-up of the National Apprenticeship Programme (NAP) from 10,000 to 100,000 young people.
Delivering the address to Parliament on Friday, February 27, the President framed the trio of programmes covering entrepreneurship, technical training and military-grade skills development as complementary instruments designed to work in parallel rather than in isolation, targeting different segments of Ghana’s estimated 3.4 million unemployed youth population.
Under the Adwumawura scheme, implemented by the National Entrepreneurship and Innovation Programme (NEIP), the government committed to enrolling an additional 10,000 young Ghanaians in 2026, building on the first cohort of 10,000 who received business development training, startup capital, mentorship and equipment support following the programme’s launch in Kumasi in March 2025. The programme attracted more than 120,000 applications during its first cycle, and an independent Grant Management Committee is currently evaluating business plans submitted by training graduates ahead of funding disbursements.
The National Apprenticeship Programme, implemented by the National Youth Authority (NYA), will be expanded from its current 10,000 target to 100,000 beneficiaries. The President confirmed that 14,000 young people have already been onboarded under the pilot phase, receiving starter kits and practical trade training designed to equip them for employment in artisanal, manufacturing and service sectors. The Ministry of Finance has allocated GH¢410 million across the two programmes for their combined rollout.
The third pillar of the expanded framework involves a Memorandum of Understanding the government has signed with the National Service Secretariat and the Ministry of Defence to provide structured military training for 10,000 National Service personnel. Officials say the programme will equip participants with discipline, technical skills and vocational competencies that improve their employability following the completion of national service.
Youth Development Minister George Opare Addo has framed the combined ambition of the programmes as building at least one viable company from every cohort by the end of the President’s four-year term, with each supported business expected to create a minimum of two additional jobs.
