The FTC project is an initiative of Invest for Jobs of the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ), implemented by the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH and GTVETS, Greater Accra Region.

The project seeks to upgrade the skills of 250 graduates from the university and pre-tertiary TVET institutions, with a focus on women, and place at least 150 of them in new decent jobs.

The project will run a three-month intensive training – one month of theory and two months of practical skills to deepen the hands-on experience of young graduates in construction as well as in business development skills training, and other soft skills training.

They would at the end of the training be offered licensing under the Ghana Institution of Engineering and a German C-Certification to enable them gain access to a wider job market, both in Ghana and abroad.

Mr John Duti, Team Leader of Invest for Jobs, GIZ, said, per data available, women accounted for only three per cent of workers employed in the construction sector in Ghana.

He said there was, therefore, the need to empower and equip women, especially the up-and-coming graduates, in the construction sector to catch up in the often male-dominated area.

Mr Duti said the project was a significant step towards addressing the skills gap in the construction sector and creating an inclusive society where women had equal opportunities to improve their economic lives.?

He said, as a pilot, the project would be implemented in Accra and would be upscaled upon successful completion to other regions.

Madam Juliana Nkrumah, Greater Accra Regional Director of Ghana TVET Service, said skills development and its related employability had become integral parts of Ghana’s industrial transformation agenda, saying, TVET initiatives, such as the FTC, provided the catalyst for the realisation of that agenda.?

She said TVET had become a government priority and with the cooperation of industry stakeholders, many opportunities could be created for the youth of Ghana and private sector companies to drive growth and sustainable development.