The Green Economy Ghana project is offering technical and entrepreneurial training to 400 young people and support them into gainful employment either as entrepreneurs or qualified personnel in the plastic waste management, organic waste management or sustainable forestry sectors.

Since the launch of the Green Economy Ghana project in November 2020, there have been a series of activities the project has undertaken.

There was a series of stakeholders engagement in the various sectors and regions the project is targeted i.e Organic Waste Management which happened in the Eastern Region of Ghana -Koforidua precisely, Plastic Waste Management which happened at Greater Accra Region and Sustainable Forestry Management which happened at Ashanti Region- Kumasi.

The stakeholders' workshop brought together industry players to solicit their input for drawing up the Curricula that will be used to train our target beneficiaries.

The Technical Vocational Trainings (TVETs) that will start in October 2021, are designed to combine theoretical on-the-class lessons with on-the-job training.

The curricula for Organic Waste Management training, Plastic Waste Management Training and Sustainable Forestry Management are developed by our experts in these fields and have gone through a validation process.

The training of our target beneficiaries will be implemented at three accredited technical training centres in Accra, Kumasi and Koforidua; YMCA Ghana, Kumasi Institute of Tropical Agriculture (KITA) and Koforidua Technical University respectively.

An intense candidate attraction campaign was carried out in the selected regions to ensure a wide reach out. The candidate attraction campaign used a diverse range of activities to overcome the challenges imposed by Covid-19; the team used not only social media channels but also participated in a radio show and held meetings with key members of the communities.

Gifty Volimkarime, Project Director of the Green Economy Ghana Project shared her experience.

"Having directly engaged with almost 100 people through phone calls and field mobilization, it has become apparent and more evident that the unemployment level in the country is on the ascendancy.

"Most of the participants have minimum tertiary education and the skills training comes at a time when most of these graduates want to become entrepreneurs but lack the requisite skills and direction."

The project has received over 800 plus applications from target beneficiaries and the selection committee from the Green Economy Ghana Secretariat has started the first phase of the selection process of the first cohort of trainees. Preference will be given to young women and returnees.

The secretariat of the Green Economy Ghana Project urges all industry players, governments and TVET institutions to come on board to develop a thriving and inclusive Green Economy in Ghana and enjoy shared prosperity.

The Green Economy Ghana Project

The primary objectives of the project are to empower women and returnees in accessing professional skills, jobs and entrepreneurial opportunities within a growing a sustainable, and inclusive Green Economy in Ghana, and to support Vocational Education Centres and Business Support Organizations in developing training and services matching Ghana Green Economy market needs.

The project is part of ARCHIPELAGO, a 4-year programme, funded by the European Union Emergency TrustFund [EUTF].

Their main objective is to strengthen the employability of young people and support job creation in the Sahel and Lake Chad region (Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Chad, Cote d'Ivoire, Ghana, Guinea, Mali, Mauritania, Niger, Nigeria, Senegal).

The Green Economy Ghana project is implemented in a partnership initiative by Inclusive Business Sweden (IBS)- lead partner, Ghana-Sweden Chamber of Commerce (GSCC), YMCA Ghana, Social Enterprise Ghana (SEG), and Sweden-West Africa Business Association (SWABA) as an Associate