The National Entrepreneurship and Innovation Programme (NEIP) says it is betting on Ghana’s youth and women to lead the next phase of economic growth, with a new strategy focused on taking informal businesses mainstream, equipping them with digital tools, and linking them to bigger markets.

‎NEIP Chief Executive Officer Eric Agyei made the pledge at a stakeholder forum, stating that entrepreneurship remains the core of the agency’s mandate to transform Ghana’s economy.

‎“Our hand has always been the transformation of Ghana’s economic landscape through entrepreneurship,” Agyei said. “We believe that a nation cannot fully prosper if its most energetic demographic, our youth, and its most resilient economic priority, women, are left behind.

‎He thanked the Ministry of Finance and the African Development Bank for backing the ESCO project, and reaffirmed NEIP’s commitment to delivering DLI 3 and 4 under the program.

‎Agyei explained that NEIP’s approach will start by moving youth and women-led MSMEs out of the informal sector through structured business development training, then equipping them with digital skills and modern tools while connecting them to seasoned industry experts for long-term survival. The final piece, he said, is creating business-to-business innovation pathways so these enterprises can link up with larger firms and scale beyond their current limits.

‎The CEO added that the plan builds on NEIP’s existing interventions like the HIBRA projects and the Student Entrepreneurship and Enterprise Development Program, “ACED Young African Entrepreneurs” rolled out with UNDP.

‎“We are willing to work with you for you to get feedback with, and it’s a promise,” Agyei told stakeholders, including the Honorable Minister present.

‎He stressed that supporting youth and women entrepreneurs is not just a social goal but an economic necessity if Ghana wants resilient, inclusive growth that lasts.

Sompaonline.com/Bismarck Oppong