Thirty(30) young business executives from Rwanda on Sunday October 17, 2021 arrived in Ghana for a week-long business tour that will give them an opportunity to expand their frontiers and promote export-oriented approach among youth-led businesses.
The average age of the entrepreneurs on the tour is 27 and they are expected to be exposed to the business practices and opportunities in Ghana as part of efforts to support outstanding young entrepreneurs with export ready products to be linked with external market and create partnership for export prospects in line with plans to deepen intra-Africa trade.
The YouthConnekt Caravan tour, which has been given a mission name: “Intra-Africa trade linkage journey” will build on the momentum of the first edition a couple of years ago and it has been planned to leverage on the upcoming YouthConnekt Africa Summit to be held in Accra, Ghana from 20th – 22nd October 2021, under the theme: “Africa Beyond Aid: Positioning the Youth for the Post COVID Economy and AfCFTA Opportunities.
The Ministry of Youth and Culture of Rwanda, UNDP Rwanda and Korea International Cooperation Agency (KOICA), the aid agency of the Korean Government are sponsoring the business trip with the High Commission of Rwanda in Ghana facilitating the visit with support from the Ghana Investment Promotion Center (GIPC).
Commenting on the business trip of the young Rwanda entrepreneurs, the High Commissioner of the Rwanda High Commission in Ghana, Dr. Aisa Kirabo Kacyira said: “The outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic has been a setback for businesses. But we have kicked on the recovery process and we are happy to be part of an initiative to get these businesses on the road and to put the spotlight on fantastic small businesses and the progress they have made, as well as opening up skills and networking opportunities to these young businesses which are primed to benefit from the implementation of the Africa Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) agreement.”
The tour participants, drawn from Agro-Processing, ICT, tourism and Cultural Creative arts sectors will benefit from a number of in-person activities including business-to-business networking, mentoring on a range of small business topics, as well as on the ground visits to some specially chosen Ghanaian businesses.
