This was restricting the effort at providing young unemployed people with skills employers had been looking for. “We talk of people not getting jobs to do, because we are not training them adequately to fit into the job market. At Gratis we offer that training.’’

Gratis has been manufacturing agro-processing equipment requires substantial investment to bring its products to the level, where these could effectively compete with the foreign imports.

Mr. Mensah was speaking to journalists during a tour of some industries by the Eastern and Volta branch of the Association of Ghana Industries (AGI) and the Eastern Regional Coordinating Council (RCC). This was to assess how industries in the region were performing and what could be done by the government to support them to grow.

Mr. Mensah complained of worn out basic training equipment and said these needed to be replaced.  Between 30 and 40 students from the universities are annually attached to the Koforidua Gratis for practical training.

Mr. Eric Kwakye Darfour, the Regional Minister, reminded the local industries to put premium on quality standards, packaging and branding to become competitive.  He said that was the way forward to expand and create jobs for the people. 

The RCC would liaise with the Trade and Industry Ministry to address challenges facing businesses in the area.Mr. Dela Gadzanku, the AGI Branch Chairman, commended government for the recent reduction in power tariffs alongside other steps taken to enable industries to have access to affordable credit.

If the cost of production is low, industries could expand, increase production and hiring.

The team visited Intravenous Infusion PLC, B. Foster Bakery and the Gratis Foundation, all in the New Juaben South Municipality.