Vice President Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia has reiterated that creating job opportunities for the Ghanaian youth and women is a top priority for the Nana Akufo-Addo government.
In line with this, government is collaborating with its development partners to create the enabling environment for the establishment and growth of business and civil society groups with a view to opening up job opportunities.
Dr. Bawumia made these remarks when Mr. Darren Walker, the President of the Global Ford Foundation, USA, paid a courtesy call on him at the Flagstaff House.
“The priority of President Nana Akufo-Addo’s government is to build the most business-friendly and people-friendly economy in Africa, which will create jobs and prosperity for all Ghanaians especially the youth and women,” Dr. Bawumia said.
“The government is creating avenues for private entities in the agricultural and manufacturing sectors to have the capacity to create wealth for our youth and women, and wealth in our society. The Planting for Food and Jobs, the National Entrepreneurship and Innovation Plan, One District One Factory and other programmes are all designed to create jobs for our women and youth,” the Vice President added.
Commending the Ford Foundation for the work it is doing in entrenching democracy across the world, especially in Africa, Vice President Bawumia urged the foundation to also help to build the capacity of civil society organisations in Ghana.
Mr. Walker, who is visiting the country for the first time, described Ghana’s democratic journey as worthy of emulation, and urged the Nana Akufo-Addo government to sustain Ghana’s democratic credentials.
“It is a pleasure being in Ghana to strengthen the bond of friendship that has existed between Ghana and the US dating back to the 1950s,” he indicated.
He noted that one of the main aims of the Ford Foundation is empowering the youth and women to participate in electoral processes, and challenged Ghana and other African countries to do more to decrease gender inequality.
The Ford Foundation is a New York-headquartered, globally oriented private foundation with the mission of advancing human welfare. It has been offering scholarships to brilliant Ghanaian students to acquire further knowledge abroad. One of their most famous beneficiaries is Dr Kofi Annan, former UN Secretary General.
