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Chief Executive Officer of National Entrepreneurship and Innovative Programme (NEIP) Lawyer John Kumah has revealed the President of the Republic of Ghana, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo on August 1, 2018 awarded 1,350 entrepreneurs under the NEIP  to grow their businesses in the country.

According to Mr. Kumah, the disbursement of the funds was to provide financial support for individuals and also help businesses to expand.

Speaking on Okay FM’s "Ade Akye Abia" morning programme, he said President Akufo-Addo brought this initiative to help the youth build themselves up considering the difficulties in securing jobs in the private and public sectors.

He explained that beneficiaries under the NEIP undergo training and in the process their business activities are monitored until the period they can pay off the money.

The loan which has low interest rate of 10 percent is repayable within three years to assist the beneficiaries and also grow young businesses.

NEIP’s Business Support Programme is an initiative of the government under the Ministry of Business Development to support unemployed Ghanaian youth through training and funding for them to be able to set up their own businesses or expand existing ones.

"It’s a deliberate, systematic and integrated national policy that has been instituted to support early stage start-ups and small businesses. It would be recalled that President Akufo-Addo launched NEIP in 2017 to support and develop young businesses across the country", he stressed.

NEIP, after the launch, called for an online application where about 7000 entrepreneurs applied to receive funding for their businesses. 1,350 out of the 7,000 were selected to receive funding across the 10 regions of Ghana.

NEIP is a flagship policy initiative of the government to provide an integrated national support for start-ups and small businesses.