Sunyani, Oct. 15, GNA – The National Entrepreneurship and Innovation Plan (NEIP) has inaugurated a School Entrepreneurship Initiative (SEI) club at the Sunyani Senor High School (SHS) to instil the mind-set of entrepreneurship into the students.
The NEIP is a flagship policy initiative of the government under the Ministry of Business Development with the primary objective of providing an integrated national support for start-ups and small businesses.
In the interim, the Sunyani SHS chapter of the SEI club is made up of 40 boys and girls mostly comprising business students, but those in other fields of study can join.
Ms Abigail Laryea, the Deputy Chief Executive Officer of the NEIP, explained that her outfit would train and stimulate the club, to be extended to other SHSs to develop business ideas, plans and proposals.
Some of them would also access funds or start-up capitals from the NEIP to establish their own businesses after school, she said.
Mr Joseph Kumah Mackay, the Director, Monitoring and Evaluation of the NEIP, advised unemployed young people to come together so that the NEIP could help them to develop business ideas and plan and support them with funding to do business.
He said a national inter-club competition would be organised for the clubs to pitch business ideas adding that the best club would be provided the opportunity to visit the Silicon Valley in the United States and the Tech City of the United Kingdom.
Mr Mackay said the clubs would be extended to tertiary institutions, and advised the students to promote team work.
He explained that the NEIP had set up business incubation hubs at Kenyasi in the Asutifi North District and Techiman municipality, and advised small scale businesses, and unemployed graduates to take advantage and visit the hubs for assistance.
The incubation hubs would help the business oriented people to develop feasible business ideas and plan that would earn them start-up capital.
Mr Mackay said start-up capital was not a problem saying the NEIP was ready to support young people with creative and innovative ideas to go into successful business.
Mr Michael Nsiah Agyapong, the Headmaster of the Sunyani SHS, said the school had a population of about 3,025 adding management would encourage more of the students to join the club.