Group Advocates for All-Inclusiveness in Neip

By Inusa Musah

Foundation for Generational Thinkers (FOGET) has called on the government to ensure that the National Entrepreneurship and Innovative Plan (NEIP) does not benefit only cronies of the government.

NEIP is a programme the government of the New Patriotic Party (NPP) has introduced to promote the growth and development of entrepreneurship.

It is, furthermore, aimed at accelerating job creation for national development, and it is on this score that the President of FOGET, Prosper Afetsi, said the programme ought to benefit all Ghanaians, irrespective of their political affiliation.

NEIP was launched by President Akufo-Addo, and the President sank US$10 million seed money as a leverage to raise money from private sources and public organisations to the tune of US$100 million to fund its programmes.

NEIP, by its multi-pronged approach, therefore, would in turn generate employment for the teeming youth of Ghana, Prosper Afeti told The Chronicle in an interview.

Getting all Ghanaians benefiting from the NEIP, Mr. Afetsi was of the view, would fight against corrupt practices which have associated with the implementation of the various national youth employment programmes created under the previous governments.

The previous governments implemented similar employment programmes such as the LESDEP, YEA, NYEP and GYEEDA, and claiming they have empowered the youth, Mr. Afetsi said that could not be true due to how deeply the programmes benefitted only party supporters.

He posed: "How many youth got the opportunity of being employed under these national programmes, and where are the evidences?

'The tax payers' money was sunk into establishing these national programmes, yet we still have a backlog of youth unemployment in the country.

"It is disheartening when I read on media platforms that government has created a total number of 60,000 and 20,000 direct and indirect employment for the teeming unemployment youths.

"These so-called jobs, for me, a face serving exercise by the government to create the impression that it cares for ordinary Ghanaians, particularly the unemployed youth."

Mr. Afeti charged the youth to be bold to ask questions and demand accountability from the policy makers, after he advised them to take advantage of the newly created NEIP programme.

The NEIP, he explained, would enable new businesses to emerge and give them the space to grow, receive financing and business development services, secure markets during the critical formative years, and to tap into a wide supply chain and network during their growth years, helping to create jobs at a widely distributed at the national level.

Therefore for accountability on the beneficiaries of the NEIP, the FOGET President said the names of all the beneficiaries and their expenses have to be made public periodically, in order to enhance transparency and probity.

He pleaded with President Akufo-Addo to demand a periodic publication of the expenditures on the various beneficiaries of NEIP otherwise the fund meant for the programme would end up in individuals' pocket.

Concluding, Prosper Afetis charged the media to also show interest in the NEIP, urging them to expose any corrupt activities by any officer who would mar the programme.

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