(From left) FatiN’Zi-Hassane, Gifty Twum Ampofo, Christoph Retzlaff with participants after the opening ceremony
The African Union Commission (AUC), with support from the German government, has announced the call for proposals for large skills development investments in Ghana under the Skills Initiative for Africa (SIFA) project.
The initiative will be implemented through three funding windows – the first of which was launched in Accra yesterday – will provide funding up to €3 million on a competitive basis for the implementation of projects, which directly engage the private sector and address market needs in Ghana.
It will also consider projects that align with national strategy with the view to improving quality-based employment-oriented skills development.
Representative of AU’s New Partnership for Africa’s Development (NEPAD), Fati N’Zi-Hassane, said the SIFA project being undertaken by NEPAD’s Planning and Coordinating Agency (NPCA) is designed to coherently address the common challenges in skills development by up-scaling and/or disseminating local best practices and supportive initiatives.
She said the AU believes the approach will foster the employment and entrepreneurship of the youth, women and vulnerable groups including refugees, migrants, internally displaced persons and the disabled in society.
German Ambassador to Ghana, Christoph Retzlaff, said the German government had supported the SIFA initiative, which started some years ago with more than €60 million out of which €3 million is being provided for programmes in Ghana.
Mr. Retzlaff indicated that data shows African needs more than 12 million new jobs every year to provide for the young people of the continent, adding that the situation was a huge challenge to development.
Already, data shows that about 60 per cent of the unemployed people in Africa are younger than 25 years.
“So the young generation is a huge potential, but it is also a challenge that is why we make employment through Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) an important pillar of our corporation,” he added.
Deputy Minister for Education Gifty Twum-Ampofo, said that the partnership would chalk up important success in ensuring that young Africans are tooled with the requisite skills in TVET.
She said the initiative should challenge African countries to discover and find the mission link in value change in TVET, as it is needed to transform the economy and reduce unemployment.
She said government appreciates the fact that industrialization cannot happen without mainstreaming skills and development, adding that the sector ministry would work to ensure TVET reaches the level of a viable vehicle for development.
The SIFA project is also being implemented in Nigeria, South Africa, Tunisia, Ethiopia, Kenya, Cameroon and Togo.
By Jamila Akweley Okertchiri