Friday, 11th July, 2025
Hon Felicia Adjei
Kintampo South
Mr Speaker, thank you for the opportunity to make this Statement.
I am here today to talk about why many young people from Kintampo South go to places like Libya and what happens when they come back. A lot of Ghanaians leave the country looking for better life somewhere, and come back after many years. This affects families, the economy, and the progress of the country.
Mr Speaker, many people leave because they cannot find jobs; there are not enough opportunities and life can be hard here. As a result, we lose smart and talented people who could help build Ghana. Even though different Governments have tried to help people find jobs and start businesses, many young people are still struggling because of lack of money, different routes, and little support. But those who return home also bring hope. They come back with new skills and experience that can help Ghana grow.
Mr Speaker, we need to welcome them and help them succeed. Sadly, many young people with great ideas either give up or leave the country. Many young people are unaware of the dangers associated with irregular immigration. We need to teach them the truth using schools, churches, community leaders, and social media. Our system does not support them enough to start and grow successful businesses.
Mr Speaker, that is why I suggest we do more to help more businesses grow and create jobs. Programmes like National Entrepreneurship and Innovation Programme (NEIP) and Microfinance and Small Loans Centre (MASLOC) have helped a bit, but we need stronger people and a stronger plan that brings all these efforts together.
Mr Speaker, in 2020, the Minister for Business Development and the private sector formed a seven-member committee to lead the drafting and advocate for the passage of the Ghana Innovation and Startup Bill. My check indicates that the Bill is at the consideration of the technical working committee.
So, I am appealing to Government to fast-track the work of the committee, formulate the set-up acts, especially a law that will make it easy to start businesses, help young people get money and training, protect their ideas, and encourage teamwork, bring together all the help from governments and donor groups.
Mr Speaker, other countries like Nigeria and Kenya have already passed similar laws and it is helping their young people succeed. So, I ask Parliament to support the Ghana Innovative Startup Bill. Let us give our young entrepreneurs the tools they need to build successful businesses and help Ghana grow.
Mr Speaker, I thank you for the opportunity.
Hon Nelson Kofi Djabab
Krachi East
Thank you very much, Mr Speaker, for the opportunity granted me to contribute to the Statement made by Hon Felicia Adjei on the reasons young people exit Ghana for greener pastures elsewhere.
Mr Speaker, it is true that most young women and men of our country, Ghana, now travel outside the country purposely with the aim to search for white-collar jobs where they think it exists, but it is rather not true that they get these whitecollar jobs. Most often than not, social media has made us see that most of our young people who travel outside Ghana have found themselves in some conditions that are more deplorable and harder than even their living conditions while they were here in Ghana. That is why it is important that the government policies we have here, like the LEAP and MASLOC, should be protected.
But, Mr Speaker, the unfortunate situation is that, as much as I have known, there is no free manna falling anywhere in the world. Governments, over the years, have tried to sustain these programmes, but when people go for such loans or facilities to better their living conditions, they sometimes think that it is free money and repayment becomes a problem. Whereas this was supposed to be a revolving kind of fund where one takes it and returns it, so that someone who is next to them can also get it, and by so doing, we can gradually develop young people, get capital and work with this capital to better their lives.
It is for this reason, I would like to appeal to our young people in Ghana that such policies by governments, as we have, like MASLOC and LEAP, are there to better their conditions. They are not free moneys that will be given to them, they take and refuse to pay. If one takes such facilities and does not pay back, they are doing harm to their brother or sister who would have benefitted from such social intervention.
Mr Speaker, thank you very much for the opportunity to contribute to this Statement.
Hon Akwasi Gyamfi Onyina-Acheampong
Kwabre East
Thank you, Mr Speaker, for the opportunity. I must say that travelling for greener pastures has its pros and cons.
Mr Speaker, most of us here, in this Parliament, have travelled for one reason or the other and have stayed there to better our education, better the lot of our families, or even just for recreational purposes.
Mr Speaker, people travel to gather critical life experiences and life hacks that help them and train them in areas of discipline, hard work, punctuality at work and embracing diversity because they get to interact with people from all walks of life and engage them in work, education and other disciplines. Respect for human rights can also be learnt while abroad and also, furthering of one’s education.
Mr Speaker, however, some people travel under very perilous circumstances. For example, the people who travel through the desert, through Libya to go to either Spain or Italy, undergo very perilous circumstances in order to even get to their final destination to seek for greener pastures. These are the things that we should talk about. Mr Speaker, the other negative consequence of travelling outside is brain drain. We have also seen videos of mostly women going through very difficult and inhumane circumstances in Arab countries.
Mr Speaker, in conclusion, I would like to call for a concerted effort from our Government to ensure that we could seek opportunities for our people who are travelling and make it a regularised programme, so that our embassies would take charge of Ghanaians travelling to the various countries and keep track of them, the jobs they are doing and whatever they are doing there. So that when they go through difficult circumstances, we can be there to support our citizens who travel outside.
Thank you, Mr Speaker, for giving me this opportunity.
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