The Minister for youth affairs of Sierra Leone, Hon Mohammed Orman Bangura today June 14, 2021 led a delegation on an official visit to the Ministry of Youth and Sports in Ghana to discuss issues of mutual benefit to the two countries.

The youth affairs Minister stated that it was important to build a good relationship between themselves considering the brotherly ties that has existed between Ghana and Sierra Leone over the years.

The main purpose of the visit was to deliberate on matters related to youth development for both countries and share best practices going forward.

He noted that he had taken keen interest in some policies rolled out by the government of Ghana to mitigate the impact of youth unemployment in the country. Notable among them include the establishment of the National Entrepreneurship and Innovation programme (NEIP) to help equip the youth with entrepreneurial skills.

On his part, the Minister for youth and Sports, Hon Mustapha Ussif expressed delight for the delegation’s visit to share ideas that would aid in the advancement of the agenda of the youth.

He said, youth unemployment is a major challenge for the African continent as a whole and was therefore important to brainstorm on what could be done to properly position them to take their rightful place in society.

He mentioned that, Ghana will host the Africa youth connekt initiative in October, 2021 and would be expecting about 2,000 youth across Africa to participate in the summit on both face to face and virtual means which will help to stimulate their interest in the acquisition of skills as well as provide the platform for networking.

The Chief Director of the Ministry of youth and sports, Alhaji Hafiz Adam underscored the need to empower the youth in Africa to take full advantage of the African Continental Free Trade Agreement (Afcfta) adding that it would greatly enhance the entrepreneurial and business acumen of the youth.