Chief Executive Officer of Stanbic Bank Ghana, Kwamina Asomaning, has urged government to place greater emphasis and channel more resources into vocational training of Ghana’s youth.
Mr Asomaning speaking at the Ishmael Yawmson & Associates Business Roundtable themed; Youth-Centered & Youth Development: Africa’s Future, averred the minds of the youth should be disabused that attending the University is the only assured path to achieving career success.
According to him, vocational training and ‘learning by doing’ is of immense importance in the development of the country.
Mr Asomaning, acknowledging the National Apprenticeship Programme yet to be introduced by government, called for the implementation of a National Apprenticeship Week, where corporate Ghana could interact with the youth in vocational training and support them.
“To highlight how important apprenticeship as a means of embedding vocational learning, we can look to the US and UK who have a national apprenticeship week. And this is a week where business leaders, career seekers, labour educational institutions and other critical partners come together to provide apprenticeship, sponsorships with opportunities among others to the youth in vocational training. And in Ghana if we should have something like that here, corporate Ghana could interact with the youth and provide some support for the youth,” he stated.
Speaking further, Mr Asomaning advocated for the establishment of more incubators and accelerators for young entrepreneurs in the country.
“Our talented youth need support to experiment, brain storm and co-create through business incubators and accelerators. I know there has been a lot of discussion about the lack of financing as a hindrance, but I believe that the ability to learn by doing is an important factor that needs to be discussed.”
“Stanbic Bank as a way of helping the youth and entrepreneurs realise their dreams have launched the Stanbic bank incubator, which involves is a community that provides business advise, coaching, mentorship and market facilitation access to entrepreneurs and startups.”
“It also provides opportunity for bank staff to mentor up and coming young entrepreneurs. And once again this is one of the many examples of how corporate Ghana can support the youth and apprenticeship in the country,” he opined.
