Member of Parliament for the Okaikwei Central Constituency, Patrick Yaw Boamah, has urged the adoption of deliberate policies to support youth-led startups and local businesses, warning that Ghana will struggle to build sustainable wealth and create jobs without stronger domestic enterprise and affordable financing.
In a conversation on his YouTube platform, the legislator argued that wealth creation is driven as much by networks and ecosystems as by capital, and questioned why Ghana has yet to develop a dedicated technology cluster comparable to Silicon Valley in the United States or Bangalore in India.
“You can’t build wealth without connections,” Boamah said, calling for a coordinated regime to support startups, particularly in fintech and information technology. He said Ghana’s failure to intentionally build innovation hubs has limited the scale and global visibility of its growing tech sector.
Boamah said successive generations of indigenous Ghanaian entrepreneurs demonstrated the capacity to build enduring businesses if properly supported, citing legacy firms such as Poku Transport as an example of locally owned enterprises that invested at home and created long-term value.
“The Ghanaian businessman must be supported. That is the only way we can create and retain wealth in this country and create the jobs that we always talk about,” he said, warning that foreign-owned companies typically repatriate profits, exerting pressure on the cedi and weakening domestic capital accumulation.
He linked the need for local enterprise growth to employment outcomes, arguing that while formal-sector jobs often require tertiary education, many young people could achieve greater financial independence through entrepreneurship and skills-based ventures. Boamah said self-employed Ghanaians who start small businesses often outperform peers who pursue conventional salaried employment, even when those businesses employ only a handful of people.
“Those who are doing things on their own tend to do much better in life,” he said, adding that Ghana should focus on building local solutions because “the market is here.”
A key constraint, he said, is access to affordable finance. With interest rates hovering around 19 to 20 %, Boamah argued that most young entrepreneurs are effectively locked out of credit markets.
“The Ghanaian youth cannot afford such interest rates,” he said, reiterating the need for targeted funding mechanisms to help young people develop ideas, create their own jobs and employ others.
Boamah disclosed that discussions had begun around establishing a dedicated technology hub within the Greater Accra area. He said the proposal would involve securing between 50 and 100 acres of land, engaging traditional authorities and positioning the area as a national centre for fintech and IT companies.
“If you go to India and you mention Bangalore, everybody knows. If you go to the US and you mention Silicon Valley, people know what happens there,” he said. “That hub would be the platform for creating hundreds of thousands of jobs and transforming the whole area.”
He said initial talks with colleagues and stakeholders had started and would continue in the coming days, describing the idea as a practical step toward building a structured innovation ecosystem capable of driving inclusive growth.
Boamah said without intentional policy support for local entrepreneurs and startups, Ghana risks missing a critical opportunity to harness youth innovation as a foundation for long-term economic resilience.
