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A participant making a contribution during the training programme
A participant making a contribution during the training programme

DTI trains 372 SME operators at Timber, Makola markets

Some 372 people operating in the small and medium enterprises (SMEs) sector at the Timber and the Makola markets in Accra have ended a two-day training to sharpen their skills to deliver quality products and services.

The training was organised by the Design and Technology Institute (DTI), a technical and vocational education training (TVET) institution for young people, under its Precision Quality initiative.

Using drama and oral presentations, the resource persons took the participants through mindset change, creating a mission and vision, registering a business, and creating accounts, among others.

It was a unique way of training informal sector operators who had immense skills and potential but require refinement to produce quality products and services.

Through the drama series, DTI is expected to improve the work skills and practices of 5,000 mastercraft persons and 1,000 SMEs.

The training formed part of DTI’s strategy to work with key stakeholders to enable three million young people, particularly women, to access dignified and fulfilling work opportunities by 2030 using a multiplier approach.

The training was under the “Transforming Youth TVET Livelihood for Sustainable Jobs” project, which the DTI is implementing in partnership with the Mastercard Foundation’s Young Africa Work (YAW) Strategy.

The project seeks to create 40,000 direct and indirect work opportunities for the youth, especially young women, through TVET in Ghana.

AfCFTA benefits

The Founder and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of DTI, Constance Swaniker, urged the SMEs to adopt the principles of precision quality to develop standardised products and services to remain competitive in the market, especially with the coming into effect of the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA).

“Africa has become one big market, making it easier for African countries to trade among themselves. Ghanaian businesses can only thrive and grow when goods and services produced meet internationally accepted quality standards, and precision quality is the guarantee to achieve that,” she added.

She tasked the President of the Greater Accra Market Association to ensure that beneficiaries of the training put what they learned into practice in order to produce goods and services that met international standards to secure high-paying jobs.

DTI commended

The President of the Greater Accra Market Association, Mercy Naa Afrowa Needjan, commended the DTI for the training programme and for choosing the Timber and Makola markets, two of the busiest markets in the country.

She said the market was a place for selling quality products, and customers who patronised them needed to be respected by offering them high-quality products and services that met their needs.

That, she explained, would increase the income levels of the traders and improve their livelihoods.

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