Kumasi, Sept. 24, GNA – ‘GrEEn Job Fair’, a programme designed by the Netherlands Development Organization, SNV, to connect prospective employees to potential employers, had been held at Dentin in the Offinso Municipality of the Ashanti Region.
The programme, in line with the ‘Boosting Green Employment and Enterprise Opportunities in Ghana (GrEEn) Project’, is also to create the requisite platform for Micro, Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (MSMEs) to display their products.
The entrepreneurship session with green idea validation dealt with business certification, registration and standardization.
As part of the programme, the participants, mostly youth, including university and Senior High School graduates, were taken through some skills development in the area of CV writing and mock interviews, job description analysis and cover-letter writing.
Mr Anjo van Toorn, Country Director, SNV Ghana, in an interview with the Ghana News Agency (GNA), on the sidelines of the programme, said the objective was to create and strengthen a local enabling environment that supported youth self-employment and the growth of MSMEs.
Empowering the youth and MSMEs, especially in the area of green technology, according to the Country Director, was necessary to building a resilient local economy.
Therefore, the SNV, which had been present in Ghana for over two decades, would continue to work together with local and international partners within the framework of the ‘GrEEn’ Project, to create job opportunities and reduce poverty.
Mr Toorn indicated that SNV had been focusing on three main sectors in line with its activities – Agriculture, Energy, and Water, Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH).
The ‘GrEEn’ Project is a four-year action funded by the European Union (EU) through its Emergency Trust Fund (EUTF) for Africa.
Implemented by SNV Ghana and the UN Capital Development Fund (UNCDF) in partnership with the Ministry of Local Government and Rural Development, it aims at creating jobs for over 5,000 people.
This would be realized through the promotion of green jobs and the growth of Ghana’s local economy.
Mrs Gifty Afi Cudjoe, Skills Development Advisor, SNV, pointed out that the Netherlands Development Organization intended achieving its results under the Project through skills development.
Additionally, the authorities would work to increase access to finance for youth, women and returning migrants and MSMEs, particularly in the Ashanti and Western Regions of Ghana, which are key beneficiaries of the Project.
Mr Solomon Kesse, the Municipal Chief Executive (MCE) of Offinso, said the programme would help in identifying potential employment and entrepreneurship opportunities for youth, women and returning migrants through green technology.
Nana Wiafe Akenten, the Paramount Chief of Offinso, in a message delivered on his behalf, underscored the need for the youth to avail themselves of the various programmes under the ‘GrEEn’ Project to build their capacity for profitable and more sustainable economic ventures.
GNA