Celebrating The Launch of Prince’s Trust International in Ghana
Inspirational young Ghanaians celebrated the launch of our programmes in the country at an event in recognition of their achievements!
Prince’s Trust International began piloting our programmes in Ghana in 2019 and have since supported over 1,500 young people in the country in collaboration with our partners, Junior Achievement, Youth Opportunity and Transformation Africa, Environment 360, and with the support of our funders including Fidelity Bank and Bank of America.
Prince's Trust International in Ghana
As more than half of Ghana’s population are under 25, empowering these young people, especially girls, can help build a more equitable community and society. Our programmes recognise that today’s young people want more sustainable careers and access to better futures.
Last year, we published research into the future of work, which included research in Ghana to gather the opinions of young people in the country. Of the young people surveyed in Ghana, 54% were interested in working in the green economy and 68% in the digital economy.
Prince’s Trust International programmes in Ghana now include – Skills for School, Get Into, Vibe Check and Enterprise Challenge. To find out more about our programmes in Ghana click here.
Celebrating Young People in Ghana
To celebrate the beginning of Prince’s Trust International’s work in Ghana, we invited young people from across our programmes to be acknowledged with awards celebrating their achievements and innovation. The young people were presented with their awards by Her Excellency Harriet Thompson, British High Commissioner to Ghana, Prince’s Trust International Chief Executive Will Straw and Edward Effah, Chair of Fidelity Bank.
One of the awards presented during the ceremony was for the Regional Winners for Africa of The Prince’s Trust Group Sustainability Award. This award recognises young people working innovatively to make a difference to their communities.
“The determination and energy of the young people here today is an inspiration to us all. The UK and Ghana are achieving a huge amount together, supporting young people into employment or enterprise, and I am eager to continue this work. I am delighted that organisations like Prince’s Trust International and their local partners are giving these opportunities to young people, especially in developing sectors such as the green economy”
- Her Excellency Harriet Thompson, British High Commissioner to Ghana
The winning group of young people took part in the first Enterprise Challenge programme in Ghana. As part of this, teams play a business simulation game with support from a local business mentor, which takes them through the stages of setting up and running a successful business. The top performing teams go through to a business planning and testing phase before pitching their sustainable ideas as part of a national finals in which they compete for a business development grant.
During the programme, the young people developed a business idea of transforming coconut husk into jewellery and gifts. Using the entrepreneurial skills they learned, the team identified that the coconut waste produced daily in Accra is enough to pollute the environment and saw an opportunity to turn this waste product into a marketable product. The judging panel selected the team from a wide-ranging pool of applications submitted across Africa.
“I am excited to scale up our work with partners in Ghana through the targeting of opportunities that will prepare young people for the labour markets of tomorrow – particularly through green and sustainable jobs and business practices.
“As we grow our work here and across the world, we are seeking partners who are willing to invest in future skills programmes, with a focus on digital and green economies, to prepare young people for the workplace. To succeed in an increasingly challenging world, young people need to be more entrepreneurial than ever. Our work gives them the tools to achieve their ambitions.”
- Will Straw, Chief Executive of Prince’s Trust International