Lifting Ghana’s youth entrepreneurs through the Ye! Boost Programme
19 April 2021, Kumasi and Geneva
To connect to international markets, Ghana’s young entrepreneurs can now benefit from a new acceleration programme: The Ye! (youth entrepreneurs) Boost programme is tailored to the needs of youth-led (under the age of 35), export-ready enterprises and includes training on export readiness, export strategies, business planning and financial standing.
The International Trade Centre's Youth and Trade Programme in collaboration with Kumasi Hive, a Ghana-based entrepreneurship hub, have selected the first cohort of 20 youth entrepreneurs among the 100 businesses that applied. The Ye! Boost programme will then be rolled out in other countries in collaboration with the Ye! Chapters and their local anchors.
More about the programme
Created in dialogue with young and local stakeholders desiring to gain export knowledge and access continental and foreign markets, the Ye! Boost Programme prepares youth-led enterprises to compete in international markets and access financial support. It builds on Kumasi Hive’s expertise, leveraging the International Trade Centre’s knowledge on trade, internationalization, and the African Continental Free Trade Area.
The 14-week long programme will culminate in a demo day and pitch competition, when select ventures from the first cohort will have the opportunity to pitch for a financial prize. The winner will receive a grant of $3,000, while finalists on second and third places will win $1,000 and $500 respectively.
The programme is sector agnostic and supports entrepreneurs from regions across the country. Due to the current public health situation, the programme will be hybrid, supporting activities online and in-person.
On 21 April, the first twenty participants will join a meet and greet event. Throughout the duration of the programme, they will be taken through a variety of workshops led by local and international experts. To access further information on the programme and the full brochure, go here.
See for more information on the selected start-ups:
Ye! Boost Programme: Ghana | Ye! Community (yecommunity.com)
About the International Trade Centre (ITC)
In line with the joint mandate from the World Trade Organization (WTO) and the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD), ITC focuses on trade-related technical assistance, assisting micro, small and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs) in developing economies to become more competitive in global markets, thereby contributing to sustainable economic development.
ITC's Youth and Trade Programme supports young people and youth-owned MSMEs. The programme takes a strategic, market-led approach to building youth entrepreneurship and employability. The pillars of the Youth and Trade programme help youth voices to be heard, connect and train young people, and deliver results with country-based projects and an enhanced mainstreaming approach. The strategic objective for 2021 is to equip 100,000 young people with market-relevant skills. The ITC Youth and Trade Programme empowers young people and youth entrepreneurs to become more competitive and
connected to international markets for trade and investment, thus raising incomes and creating more job opportunities.
To learn more about ITC's Youth & Trade Programme, visit the ITC website. To visit the Youth & Trade Programme's platform for youth entrepreneurs, click here.
About Kumasi Hive
Kumasi Hive is a multi-space Innovation Hub which provides a platform for rapid Prototyping of ideas, supporting local Innovations & impact start-up and promoting entrepreneurship.
Based in Ghana, Kumasi Hive promotes Sustainable Industrialisation by lowering the barriers to creating local small-scale manufacturing businesses for products needed in the immediate community.
For more information on Kumasi Hive, go to the Kumasi Hive website.
ITC Youth & Trade Programme contact
Claire Sterngold
Ye! Community Manager
International Trade Centre
Csterngold [at] intracen.org (Csterngold[at]intracen[dot]org)