Entrepreneurship for Restoration

The Entrepreneurship for Restoration Programme is a collaboration between the National Entrepreneurship and Innovation Programme (NEIP) and the Ghana Prisons Service to provide skills in various light manufacturing areas and entrepreneurship to prison officers and inmates and to provide starter packs and kits needed for production. The idea to collaborate with the Ghana Prisons Service is in furtherance of NEIP’s mandate to create entrepreneurs across the country to tackle the unemployment menace.

The NEIP recognised that all members of society no matter where they found themselves deserved to be equipped with life skills to help them contribute to the society meaningfully. As a result, as part of our 2023 programmes, NEIP decided to collaborate with Ghana Prisons Service (GPS) to train inmates in viable lucrative ventures.

The main objective is to equip the inmates with entrepreneurship skills and vocational training as an exit plan which will re-integrate them into society after their term from prison and to provide them with starter packs that will enable them to set up economic ventures.

The innovative Partnership was launched on 12th July 2023, is the first of its kind. The occasion was graced by the Minister for the Interior, Hon Ambrose Dery and the Deputy Minister in charge of Wealth Creation at the Finance Ministry, Hon. Dr. John Ampontuah Kumah. NEIP will also provide grants and loans such as Working Capital for officers who have been trained for them to be able to set up these businesses properly and working Capital to inmates for their set up, upon their discharge from the Prisons. The Programme trained 1,240 Officers and Inmates.

The specific training skills included:
- Soaps and Detergents
- Juice Processing
- Grains and Cereals
- Nuts, Tubers & Legumes (Groundnut paste, Chocolate spread)
- Yoghurt/Burkina
- Edible oils
- Cosmetics (Hair pomade, Body Cream, Shampoo)

The training project successfully trained 747 Inmates and 353 Officers in all the above skills. We trained Inmates and officers in Nine(9) Prison facilities namely:

- Ankaful Main Camp
- Awutu Camp
- Sekondi Central
- Sekondi Female
- Ekuasi Camp
- Manhyia Local
- Nsawam Medium Security
- Nsawam Female
- Nsawam Male Prisons

The second phase of the project for 2024 will onboard inmates and officers from all the remaining prison stations across the country.

Starter packs including deep freezers, industrial blenders, barrels, and other relevant equipment were provided to six (6) prison stations to help set them up for commercial production. The remaining three (3) stations are yet to receive their packages.

The training programme took off on Monday, 3rd July to Friday, 7th July 2023. It commenced with an opening ceremony at all the designated Nine (9) stations. While the Director-General of Prisons, Mr. Isaac Kofi Egyir, and the Chief Executive Officer of NEIP, Mr. Kofi Ofosu Nkansah, graced the event at Nsawam Female, the Director of Prisons in-Charge of Technical, Dr. Francis Omane-Addo and others were at the Awutu Camp Prison.

We provided the needed logistics for the successful roll out of the programme in the selected training centres, ensuring that security and logistical needs were met for a smooth implementation.