Dr. Ibrahim Mohammed Awal
The Ministry of Tourism, Arts and Culture has signed an agreement with Spain to facilitate training for the stakeholders in the tourism sector.
The partnership, estimated at $120 million, will from November 2021 see the training of about 150 Ghanaians in the Tourism Value Chain on ways and means of wooing tourists into Ghana.
The overall objective of the agreement is to enable Ghana to tap into the tourism expertise of Spain, which is the second most popular tourist destination in the world, with more than 80 million visitors to that country annually.
The Minister of Tourism, Arts and Culture, Dr. Ibrahim Mohammed Awal signed on behalf of the government, while Ms. Mar Casanova Llorens of INCYDE Foundation signed for her country.
According to Dr. Ibrahim Mohammed Awal, this investment will go to support the tourism ecosystem and enable the country achieve its target of $5 billion annually from the sector.
“One in every four jobs in Ghana is created from the tourism sector. We want to ensure that two out of four jobs will come from the sector. We want to create one million jobs and to have $5 billion next year. To do that, we need to build the capacity of value chain players, that is why our friends from Spain and INCYDE Foundation are here to support us. This agreement will help us build the capacity of 120,000 people,” he said.
He said the tourism sector employed about 25 per cent of the country’s workforce and provided more than $3.5 billion in revenue for the country annually.
“We want to promote the tourism sector, create one million jobs by 2024 and also grow revenue in the sector to $5 billion next year,” he added.
He described the agreement as significant, saying: “We are teaming up with Spain because it is the leader in tourism. Spain has a population of 40 million, but attracts 80 million tourists every year.”
The Spanish Ambassador to Ghana, Javier Gutiérrez, stated that signing the MOU represents a step to reinforcing Spain’s partnership with Ghana.
“Spanish government gives priority to Ghana as a strategic partner. We have collaborated with Ghana in the areas of security, economics and governance. We share common values on democracy and human rights. We are determined to deepen the collaboration and extend it to other areas,” he said.
“We have been creating an entrepreneurial ecosystem all over Spain and abroad, so once we met the Minister we realised we were both working towards the same direction trying to support entrepreneurs. We have already developed a trainer of trainer’s courses with the Minister which has proven successful. This agreement is multi-faceted with different working area,” the Spanish Ambassador added.