SIF CEO Abass Adams Unveils GW YESCO Program to Empower 28 Million Youth, Women

Story by Fada Amakye

The Social Investment Fund (SIF) has launched the GW YESCO program as a “national commitment” to tackle youth unemployment and women’s economic exclusion through jobs, entrepreneurship, skills training, and direct access to finance.

SIF Chief Executive Officer Mr. Abass Adams Nurudeen, Esq., said the initiative goes beyond a typical development intervention.

This program is more than a development intervention. It is a national commitment to our young people and our women,” Adams said at the launch. “It is designed to enhance their resilience and living conditions by promoting economic inclusion and social cohesion through job creation, entrepreneurship, access to finance, and skills development.

Adams noted that youth unemployment and underemployment remain among the greatest threats to economic progress and social stability across Ghana and Africa. He said the number of young people not in education, employment, or training is rising due to a lack of market-relevant skills, while many women entrepreneurs still struggle to access finance, technology, and markets.

“In fragile and underserved communities, economic exclusion often fuels frustration, migration pressures, vulnerability, and social tension,” he said. “The GW ESCO program responds directly to these realities.

SIF, the implementing and coordinating agency, was established to support Ghana’s efforts to reduce poverty and promote inclusive development. Adams said GW YESCO represents a major step forward in that mission by directly supporting thousands of women and young people with skills, resources, and opportunities to become economically independent.

The CEO outlined the program’s strategy: 1) Promoting market-driven training for women and youth with industry-relevant skills; 2) Expanding access to financial and non-financial services for women and youth-owned MSMEs; 3) Strengthening institutional capacity and incentivizing systems for sustainable delivery and accountability.

Under GW YESCO, beneficiaries will acquire digital, technical, vocational, agribusiness, and creative industry skills. TVET centers will be renovated, built, and equipped. MSMEs will receive entrepreneurship support, business development services, and access to financing facilities.

By 2029, the program targets transformational outcomes: equipping 22,000 women and youth for wage and self-employment, constructing or renovating TVET centers, empowering over 28 million women and youth in STEM, digital, and creative industry skills, training 10,000 women and youth-owned MSMEs in entrepreneurship, and giving 8,000 women and youth-owned businesses access to finance.

What makes GW YESCO particularly different is its results-based financing mechanism,” Adams explained. “Under this approach, financing is linked directly to measurable results and verifiable outcomes. This means that investments are not tied merely to activities conducted, but to real impact achieved.

He concluded that when women and young people are empowered with skills, financing, and hope, “nations thrive.