Mr Lee Ocran, Minister of Education, on Friday reaffirmed government's commitment to Technical Vocational Education and Training to equip the youth with the requisite skills to make them relevant to the world of work.

He said the youth would be empowered to make good use of the opportunities offered to realise their potentials and become responsible citizens in future.

Mr Ocran was addressing the opening session of the National Youth Entrepreneurship Conference, organised by Students for Advancement of Global Entrepreneurship (SAGE) on the theme: ‘Nurturing the Next Generation of Ghanaian Entrepreneurs”.

He said the theme was timely considering the overwhelming consensus that placed entrepreneurship at the centre of socio-economic development of the country.

Mr Ocran noted that, recent advances in the economies of Sub-Saharan Africa influenced by global trends called for the need for innovation which had resulted in competitions in youth employment and skills acquisition due to increasing numbers of youth for a limited job market.

He explained that the entrepreneur was a visionary activist who excelled in the creation of opportunities and active handling of risks and uncertainties and increases business risks by searching for new opportunities.

Mr Ocran said through the good works of SAGE, Senior High School SAGE teams had performed well in previous competition and urged all to support its activity in advancing youth entrepreneurship and community service around the world.

Dr Samuel Buame, Lecturer, University of Ghana Business School, said an effective entrepreneur always identified opportunities, organised existing resources and converted those opportunities into marketable goods and services.

He said entrepreneurs must make a difference in their fields and be good networkers but focus on spotting and exploiting opportunities.

Dr Buame stressed that, no nation could develop without having an army of entrepreneurs since entrepreneurs played a key role in a country's socio-economic development.

He said to succeed as an entrepreneur, one needed to have positive attitude, skills and knowledge; adding that, there was no short-cut to wealth other than hard work.

Dr Buame said, entrepreneurs must first look out for ideas on solving problems, had the passion and determination for a project, before thinking of the benefit since developing ideas resulted into meaningful returns.

Mr Seth Ignatius Donor, Country Director for SAGE, said entrepreneurship was key to personal happiness and country vitality since business and social enterprises propelled individuals and countries to brighter future.

He noted that, SAGE believed that undertaking new and innovative enterprises could best start at a youthful age, adding that entrepreneurs seek innovative ways to overcome barriers in achieving objectives.

Mr Donkor said SAGE experience, begun with small-scale efforts by teenagers and introduced them with an early taste of success which provided a platform to describe their successful business and social ventures to others.**