MASO is a five year programme, focused on creating employment opportunities for the youth (aged 18-25) in Ghana’s cocoa communities.
Youth in rural communities are not usually exposed to entrepreneurial training; however, the story for youth in selected cocoa growing communities in Ghana is different. Through the MASO Business Academy, youth age between 17 to 25 in cocoa growing communities are receiving entrepreneurial training to enable them to establish businesses and run them successfully.
This entrepreneurship programme is among the two main training components for the MASO Programme. The MASO Business Academy (business incubator) trains and support youth interested in starting businesses along the cocoa production chain or businesses that enhance the life and general well-being of cocoa growing communities.
The objective of the academy is to help participants identify and engage with local employment opportunities and by so doing, earn an income and subsequently, gain purchasing power to help boost economic growth in their localities.
The Volta Region is the third cohort of youth to be trained under the academy. 70 young men and women were supported developed and launched various ideas within their localities. A pitching session which also severed as their graduation ceremony was held recently in Hohoe.
Speaking at the ceremony, the Programme Manager of MASO, Fred Frimpong encouraged the youth to not give up in pursuing their business ideas.
He said, “entrepreneurship is not a smooth journey; it is a long painful process, which requires patience, readiness to learn, and a lot of resolution and fortitude “.
During the training, the Business academy facilitated the development of business plans by each of the participants. The plans were evaluated, after which they received a minimum grant of between GHs 200 – 1,500 cedis to test business ideas.
According to Mustapha Bin Usman who is a MASO Business Academy Facilitator in the Volta Region, the youth received a lot of hand-holding to sharpen their ideas. He said, “during the testing period, participants started a business on a very small scale and were supported to glean feedback from customers and insights from the market for their ideas”.
At the pitching session, participants presented refined business concepts or models to a panel of for feedback and assessment. The end of the training session ushers in the incubation phase of the Academy.
MASO Business Academy Volta Region pitching session
“The enthusiasm among the participants to start businesses was admirable. Majority of them were regular at sessions even though they had other responsibilities. A significant majority of those who regularly attended sessions also successfully developed and tested interesting business models. Overall, I’m impressed with the resilience of participants to surmount the challenges their environments pose and do what others don’t want to do.It’s really humbling and very fulfilling to be part of shaping the next generation of entrepreneurs. “, concludes Mustapha
