The graduates with officials at the ceremony
A total of 600 first cohort of kayayei trainees who recently underwent the Skills Empowerment Programme, an initiative of the Vice President, Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia dedicated to empower a total of 5,000 female head porters and offer transitional job pathways and enhance their socio-economic status, have graduated after a month training and successfully passed out.
The first cohort of kayayei trainees were trained in skills such as soap & detergents, baking, pedicure & manicure, bedding, decor and makeup artistry.
The beneficiaries from the Madina and Ashaiman campuses respectively were also given financial management and business development skills, as well as starter packs and microgrants to start their businesses.
The Chief Executive Officer of the National Entrepreneurship and Innovation Programme (NEIP), Mr. Kofi Ofosu Nkansah, who oversees the project, speaking at the graduation said the training will continue throughout the year, as they prepare to take in the next cohort of beneficiaries.
He said, “We delivered on our promise to give beneficiaries the 1,000 cedis stipend by paying the outstanding 500 cedis in addition to the 500 cedis they got at the beginning of the training.”
He told the graduates, “As you receive your certificates and starter packs, remember that this is just the beginning of your entrepreneurship journey. With the skills you have acquired, you have the power to shape your destiny and inspire others with your stories of resilience.”
Mr. Nkansah noted, “This is not the end of our engagements with you, we will be visiting you to see how well you are doing in your chosen traders.”
The Skills Empowerment Programme initiated by the ruling New Patriotic Party (NPP), known as the ‘Kayayei (female head porters) Empowerment Programme, has an overarching goal to empower kayayeis across the country through the transformative power of Technical, Vocational Education and Training (TVET).
The project was launched in Accra on Tuesday, May 21, 2024, by the Vice President, Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia after he inaugurated two newly built hostels at Madina in the La Nkwantanang Municipality and another in the Ashaiman Municipality of the Greater Accra Region to house the trainees.
According to Dr. Bawumia, the programme had been meticulously conceived and crafted to provide holistic and sustainable economic empowerment to these “resilient” young women.
The multi-faceted programme was characterised by a rigorous and exhaustive recruitment process, culminating in the selection of initial training cohorts comprising 5,000 head porters.
The Vice President, speaking at the event, said the beneficiaries would in the span of three weeks be immersed in a transformative learning experience, encompassing essential modules such as baking and beading which was supplemented by soft skills training in personal healthcare, financial management and entrepreneurial acumen.
He announced that aside from the two hostels established in Madina and Ashaiman, others are under construction and would be established in the Ashanti and Bono East regions, adding that each of the hostels had been meticulously designed to accommodate and cater to the needs of 300 girls.
The entire programme was made possible through the collaborative efforts and strategic partnerships forged between government agencies, private enterprises, and esteemed civil society organisations such as; the Ghana Enterprises Agency (GEA), National Entrepreneurship and Innovation Programme (NEIP), Youth Employment Agency (YEA), Council for Technical and Vocational Education and Training (CTVET), Ghana Education Trust Fund (GETFund), District Assemblies Common Fund (DACF), the Father Campbell Foundation, Ghana National Gas Company and the Bulk Oil Storage and Transportation Company Limited (BOST).
BY Daniel Bampoe