By Enock Akonnor; enockakonnor2013@gmail.com
Government of Ghana has created over 5 million direct and indirect jobs since 2017; Hon Ignatius Baffour Awuah, Minister for Employment and Labor Relations has announced.
He has mentioned that government is working at constructing 54 factories in Ashanti region under the One District One Factory Initiative (1D1F) and with 27 of these factories completed as of October 2022, “we have created 27,291 jobs in Ashanti region.
The sector Minister made this remark at launch of 2022 Green Regional Job Fair in the Ashanti region as a way of highlighting efforts of government vis-à-vis the SNV Ghana’s Opportunities for Youth Employment (OYE) program.
At the launch, Hon Ignatius Baffour Awuah mentioned that under the OYE training program, over 30,000 youth have been trained in various skills and 5,000 have been placed in internship and job vacancies under the Green Project.
“Under this EU-sponsored project, we have organized a series of job fairs focused on green job creation at the district level in both the Ashanti and Western region.
Aside this, we have joined together to provide business registration support to businesses enrolled in the Green Incubation and Acceleration Programs in two regions where the project is being implemented”
He stated in his address that, the Ministry is implementing the National Green Jobs strategy which aims at promoting the creation of decent green jobs through inter-sectoral linkages and cooperation.
The strategy according to him focuses on enhancing coordination of interventions that impact on green jobs across the sectors, promoting green skills development, support green enterprises to grow and expand, and facilitating the mobilization as well as accessibility to green financial resources.
Laouali Sadda, Project Manager of Green Project at SNV Ghana underscored in his speech that projects rolled out by SNV Netherlands Development Organization benefited 6.4 million people across 24 countries in west Africa, Asia and Latin America by promoting systems change, working with and strengthening institutions as well as kick starting markets.
“Since 2019, when the SNV Ghana started co-implementing the Green Project in partnership with the UN Capital Development Fund and the Ministry of Local Government, Decentralization and Rural Development, funding from the European Union and our mother organization, the Embassy of the Kingdom of the Netherlands in Ghana, has made it possible for us to promote sustainable and climate-resilient growth of the local economy in the Ashanti and Western Regions, where we are implementing the Green Project.
One of the key tools SNV has adopted is facilitating this skills development. Under our flagship, Opportunities for Youth Employment (OYE) Programme, SNV Ghana is working together with institutional and skill straining partners to provide practical and employable skills to young people looking for jobs.
Following this skills development, we go a step further by matching skills to opportunities in the green and circular economy by liking youth job seekers to employers, coaches and mentors so they can receive on-the-job technical skills, business development support or internship opportunities through the OYE internship programme.
EVENT
To support job creation and the growth of local businesses, SNV Netherlands
Development Organisation under its European Union in Ghana-funded, GrEEn
Project, organised the event (second of its Green Regional Job Fair in the Ashanti Region) in partnership with the Ministry of Employment and Labour Relations,
Ministry of Local Government, Decentralisation and Rural Development, Association of Ghana Industries (AGI), Labour Department and the Ghana Chamber of Young Entrepreneurs.
Held on Tuesday, 15 November 2022 at the Prempeh Assembly Hall in Kumasi, the Green Regional Job Fair is was held under the theme, “Green and Circular Economy: A sure way to creating decent & sustainable employment and jobs”.
It brought together over 500 job seekers, employers, and exhibitors from the green and circular economy.
Over 46 businesses were present with more than 120 vacancies and openings being offered to qualified job seekers.
Prior to the 2022 Green Regional Job Fair, SNV Ghana organised a CV Review Clinic in collaboration with the Ashanti Regional Labour Department, AGI and the Ghana Chamber of Young Entrepreneurs to edit the CVs of job seekers and prepare them for the job openings at the fair as well as educate and sensitise job seekers on Ghana’s labour laws.
The Green Job Fairs aim at supporting the creation of green jobs and matching job seekers to available, sustainable jobs in the GrEEn Project’s two regions of implementation: the Ashanti and Western Regions. Other partners of the Green Regional Job Fair include Kumasi Hive, Women’s Africa, and the Ministry of Communication and Digitalisation.
Since 2020, SNV has organised 10 job fairs at the district (8) and regional (2) level in partnership with local assemblies with the aim of providing CV support, career guidance and counselling as well as connecting job seekers to green employers.
At the district level, SNV partnered with Municipal and District Assemblies in the
Ashanti Region (Adansi South, Ejura-Sekyedumase, Offinso and Sekyere Kumawu) and Western Region (Ahanta West, Wassa Amenfi, Nzema East and the Jomoro Municipality), reaching hundreds of job seekers at the district level.
In November 2021, SNV partnered the Youth Employment Agency (YEA) to host a maiden regional-level Green Job Fair with over 500 participants benefitting from the fair.
On 22nd November 2022, the Green Regional Job Fair will be organised in the Western Region at the Takoradi Mall Forecourt.
SNV Ghana and the European Union through the GrEEn Project, aside supporting job creation and skills development also promote growth of local businesses and SMEs that are green in their operations by making use of waste materials or not engaging in activities that adversely affect the environment.
Under the GrEEn Incubation and Acceleration Programmes, over 100 SMEs have received 6months free business advisory services to help them finetune their business models and access financial investment so they can grow.
Businesses with innovative ideas also receive matching grants so they can scale up and create jobs at the local level. In 2021, under the GrEEn Innovation Challenge, 12 businesses received a totalling matching grant of GHS 1.17 million.
In September 2022, 51 green businesses received matching grants totalling GHS 1.5 million under the second GrEEn Innovation Challenge.
About SNV
SNV Netherlands Development Organisation is a not-for-profit international development organisation that makes a lasting difference in the lives of people living in poverty by helping them raise incomes and access basic services.
SNV specialises in three sectors: agriculture, renewable energy and Water and we are present in over 25 countries. SNV has been working in Ghana since 1992.
About GrEEn Project
The Boosting Green Employment and Enterprise Opportunities in Ghana (GrEEn) project is a four-year action from the European Union, the Embassy of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, SNV Netherlands Development Organisation and the United Nations Capital Development Fund (UNCDF).
The project aims at creating greater economic and employment opportunities for youth, women and returning migrants by promoting and supporting sustainable, green businesses and providing employable skills training to youth job seekers in two selected regions in Ghana: Ashanti and Western in partnership with the Ministry of Local Government, Decentralisation and Rural Development.
GrEEn is implemented under the European Union Emergency Trust Fund (EUTF) for Africa with a total contribution of EUR 20,600,000.
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