The Institute of ICT Professionals Ghana (IIPGH) has organized a free tech job fair that seeks to reduce the unemployment situation in the country.

The professional body organized the fair in conjunction with AFOS-Foundation, a German organisation that promotes entrepreneurial skills development around the world and enables digital capacity building in Ghana via its digiCAP.gh project. Furthermore, the German Chamber of Commerce and Industry in Ghana (AHK) supported the event.

There were over 500 job seekers who were matched with over 200 tech jobs.

Over the years, Ghana has struggled with high unemployment, especially among young graduates. The situation has been compounded by a mismatch between technology-related graduates and available job opportunities in Ghana.

The IIPGH is seeking to connect job seekers with employers looking to fill vacancies in their technology departments. Roles include web design, digital marketing, python programming and a host of other programming-related jobs.

The fair also provided job seekers with the requisite knowledge on the tech job market such as the skills in demand and preparations towards opportunities in 2022 and beyond.

The Executive Director of IIPGH, David Gowu, said “The Tech Job Fair is an annual event that brings together industry players, educators, students, government, and job seekers to understand the Information and Communications Technology (ICT) job roles. The job fair is used to exhibit current ICT-related job openings in various industries and to help other stakeholders to understand the ICT skills needs of employers.

“This is part of the broader agenda to ensure an enabling environment is created for young people to access decent jobs, so they benefit from the digital transformation agenda of Ghana.”

The Project Manager of AFOS Foundation, Hanna Schlingmann called on stakeholders within the technology sector to embrace the opportunities associated with the fair.

“With the Tech Job Fair, we offer exposure and networking opportunities for young professionals who are passionate about a career in the tech industry. We want to encourage both, the private sector and the job seekers to promote themselves, and to make an impact in a world that needs responsible and skilled entrepreneurs,” she stated.

IIPGH is an association of professionals, students and businesses in the ICT industry in Ghana. The institute promotes ICT related capacity building programs with a strong focus on digital skills development that prepares the youth to access technology jobs and deploy ICT for innovation and entrepreneurship.