The youth have been advised to tap into opportunities in the agriculture, waste management and tourism sectors to create their wealth to help address unemployment in the country.

They have also been advised not to jump into what others were doing that they considered profitable, but think around such activities or investment opportunities and create their own value.

This formed part of suggestions of panellists on the topic: "Untapped areas of social value creation for the youth in the Northern Region", at a forum on social enterprise held in Tamale.

It was organised by Norsaac, a civil society organisation, in partnership with Africa Skills Hub and NiV on the theme: "Unlocking the potential for wealth creation in women through Social Enterprising".

The forum formed part of the Women's Entrepreneurship and Livelihoods Initiative (WELI) project being implemented in the Northern and Volta Regions, and also in Senegal.

The WELI intervention deploys a gender-responsive economic empowerment approach in addressing the increasing vulnerabilities that rural young women in the two countries continue to face as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Some young women participated in the forum, which was also used to share learnings from Norsaac, Northern Development Authority, Social Enterprise Ghana, Africa Skills Hub, seasoned social entrepreneurs and other key social entrepreneurship ecosystem players' unique approach in relation to the theme.

Mr Mohammed Mumuni, Northern Regional Programme Manager of SEND-GHANA, who was part of the panellists at the forum, told young people to consider going into animal rearing, saying it was not capital intensive but highly profitable.

Mr Mumuni said young people needed specific interventions to address their challenges and called for deliberate targeting to motivate and better support them to venture into specific sectors to create wealth.

Mr Abdul-Mutalib Zakaria, Business Advisor, Ghana Enterprises Agency (GEA), Kumbungu District, who represented the Northern Regional Director of GEA, said the Agency had packages to support businesses and advocated sustained commitment on the parts of individuals to take up the initiative to create opportunities for themselves.

Madam Sepenica Darko, Founder and Team Leader of FarmerTribe, an agribusiness, spoke about how she established her agribusiness and advised the youth "to start small but dream big" such that they could gain the experience and the resources along the way to expand their businesses.

Madam Darko spoke about the essence of marketing and advised the youth "To make conscious efforts to market your business; at any available forum or opportunity, talk about your business."

She further expressed the need for them to establish core values such as ensuring quality products, and honesty in dealing with customers and upholding the core values to win the trust of their customers.

Alhaji Shani Alhassan Saibu, Northern Regional Minister, lauded the forum and said it was in line with government's efforts to empower the youth to create wealth and address unemployment in the country.

Mr Mohammed Awal Alhassan, Executive Director of Norsaac, expressed the hope that the forum would help widen the space around entrepreneurship amongst the youth, especially females in the northern part of the country.