Suchergebnisse

While empowerment of the youth in Ghana could enable them to make a more meaningful contribution to the economy, a myriad of challenges faces the youth during their transition from school into the employment sector and limits the realisation of their full potential. As a result, the recent and significant increase in the size of the youth population in Ghana cannot justifiably be romanticised as an obvious stepping stone towards the realisation of a demographic dividend. In this study, qualitative and quantitative research methods were deployed to carry out a cross-sectional survey that enabled a detailed exploration of the main challenges and opportunities facing the youth in Ghana. Some of the options for enabling greater youth empowerment in the country were also identified. The study established that unemployment, skills limitations, lack of access to finance, and poorly coordinated institutional structures for implementing youth empowerment policies and programmes are major barriers to youth empowerment in Ghana. We conclude that there is a need for more targeted interventions that address these challenges and leverage any evident opportunities available for increased youth empowerment before Ghana can confidently expect to reap a demographic dividend.

Two-thirds of the world's poorest and vulnerable, mostly women, live in rural areas, engaging in subsistence agriculture. Hence, in Ghana, rural banking was introduced to provide microcredit services to the marginalised neglected by commercial banks. One of such banks is the Sonzele Rural Bank in Jirapa was set up to offer credit services to improve the living condition, yet poverty in Jirapa is still high. This study, therefore, sought to investigate the role of rural banks in poverty reduction drawing evidence from the Sonzele Rural Bank inJirapa. Using a cross-sectional design, the study employed structured interviews to collect data. The cluster sampling technique was used to select thirteen women's groups in Jirapa, and purposive sampling enabled the selection of four project staff. Paired-samples t-test and Kendall's coefficient of concordance were employed in the analysis. The study revealed that credit with education was given to women in groups which enabled them to set up various enterprises and experienced an increase in income and expenditure on education and health thus, reducing poverty in the area. Beneficiaries noted that the issues of high-interest charges, short repayment schedules and absence of insurance policy need attention to make credit a poverty reduction tool.