The government has launched a five-year training program aimed at building the innovative and entrepreneurial capacities of about 10,000 young people in the country.

The program, Entrepreneurship Jobs for All (E-Jobs4All), is an initiative under the National Alternative Employment and Livelihood Programme (NAELP), and aims to tackle the challenges posed by illegal mining activities in the country.


E-Jobs4All is a collaborative effort involving partnerships with the Community and Entrepreneurial Development Initiative (CEDI Ghana), the Dunin-Deshpande Queen's Innovation Centre (DDQIC) at Queen's University, Canada, and Leadogo Incorporated, Canada.

Dr. Louise Carol Serwaa Donkor, the coordinator for the program, emphasised that E-Jobs4All is not merely about job creation but focuses on shaping minds and providing comprehensive training in key aspects of entrepreneurship.

The ultimate goal, she said, is to empower participants to generate innovative business ideas that can be supported for establishment.

“What is very important is for us to understand that the E-jobs for all is not about giving people jobs, it's about shaping minds, training them in the key aspects of entrepreneurship which has the ultimate goal of you coming up with an idea that we can support you to establish.

“There are people who are interested in using cocoa waste, coconut husks for charcoal. There are those who are interested in using all manners of wastes for fertilisers. There are those who are interested in using plastics for recycling. So, a number of these things that elsewhere we will call startups, we want to be able to grow a number of startups. Out of the 2000, 75 startups will be established and supported in mining regions,” she stated.

She continued: “For us, the businesses that we want people to absorb, the youth for tomorrow, we want to start those businesses today. If you don't start them today, we will get to tomorrow and the jobs won't be there for them. We know that mineral resources are not going to be there forever and we also know that there is the issue of galamsey and there is the issue of unemployment. So, we are training and supporting entrepreneurs, small scale businesses so that they can scale and expand to absorb those who are unemployed in the illegal mining areas.

“We are targeting National Service Personnel, because we believe that they are being paid by the government for now and they have the time to be able to go through a six months training. From there, they can come up with business ideas that we are going to support them to do. That I think is very key and unique, the fact that you are not just coming for training and just going away,” she added.

Samuel Abu Jinapor, the Minister of Lands and Natural Resources, also reaffirmed the government's commitment to implementing initiatives that will help mitigate the challenges posed by illegal mining and its detrimental impact on the nation

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