Ashanti Region: 27,291 Jobs created since 2017 - Employment Minister
Twenty-Seven thousand, two hundred and ninety-one jobs have been created in the Ashanti Region since 2017, the Minister of Employment and Labour Relations, Ignatius Baffour Awuah, has said.
He said the data received from ministries, departments and agencies (MDAs) across the 16 regions showed that the government had created over five million direct and indirect jobs since 2017.
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"In the Ashanti Region, we are working at constructing 54 factories under the One district, One factory (1D1F), with 27 of these factories completed as of October 2022," he stated.
GrEEn Job fair
The Minister stated these in a speech read on his behalf by the Director of Policy Planning, Monitoring and Evaluation, at the ministry, Gloria Bortele Noi, during the 2022 GrEEn Job Fair in Kumasi, last Tuesday, adding that job creation, particularly for the youth, was a major priority for the government.
Hundreds of desperate unemployed youth stormed the premises of the Prempeh Assembly Hall, the venue for the fair, to explore job opportunities.
The annual job fair has been designed to adequately prepare job seekers to meet the demand of potential employers and also support those who have the prospects to become successful entrepreneurs to do it in an environmentally friendly manner.
The job fair, an initiative of SNV Netherlands Development Organisation, as part of its European Union-funded, Boosting Green Employment and Enterprise Opportunities in Ghana (GrEEn) Project, was on the theme: “Green and Circular Economy: A sure way to creating decent and sustainable employment and jobs”.
Also present were the Asemhene, Nana Ampofoh Kyei-Baffour II, the Project Manager, GrEEn Project, Laouali Sadda and the Ashanti Regional Chairman of the Association of Ghana Industries, Kwasi Nyamekye.
GrEEn opportunities
Mr Baffour Awuah reiterated that the job fair approach had also proved to be very useful and practical in terms of linking job seekers, particularly the youth, to available job vacancies.
"Our records show that over 10,000 youth have been employed directly through the job fairs," he said, adding that it was in line with the government's resolve to create employment opportunities for the people.
Climate change
The minister also emphasised that climate change was real and that the ministry was promoting the green jobs agenda, where it sought to facilitate the creation of jobs that did not pose any harm to the environment and so contribute to the reduction of emissions.
"The strategy, therefore, focuses on enhancing coordination of interventions that impact on green jobs across the sectors, promoting green skills development, supporting green enterprises to grow and expand, and facilitating the mobilisation, as well as the accessibility to green financial resources," he said.
For her part, the Programme Manager of Green Project at European Union in Ghana, Marta Brignone, said the Organisation for Youth Employment (OYE) programme, which provides employable skills and start-up capital, as well as coaching and monitoring support to entrepreneurs, had trained over 30,000 youth in various trade areas.
She added that 5,000 of the beneficiaries had been placed on internship and job vacancies under the GrEEn Project.
The second edition of this year's fair is sheduled for Takoradi in the Western Region on Wednesday, November 22, 2022.