By Albert Futukpor
Tamale, Sept 29, GNA – The Ghana Job Fair 2022 – Green Edition, has been held in Tamale to provide opportunities for job seekers to acquire the necessary skills and mindset for innovative and sustainable job opportunities.
The day’s event, which was on the theme: “Connecting Talents and Opportunities”, attracted hundreds of young men and women.
It was organised by the Ghanaian-German Centre for Jobs, Migration and Reintegration (GGC), in collaboration with the Ministry of Employment and Labour Relations.
The GGC is commissioned by the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ), and it is implemented by the German Development Cooperation (GIZ).
A report by the Ghana Statistical Service in 2021 showed that one out of three young adults in the country was unemployed hence the job fair was created as a strategic response to the needs of the youth in the area of employment.
Mr Bright Wireko-Brobbey, Deputy Minister for Employment and Labour Relations, addressing the event, said the government prioritised finding solutions to youth unemployment and related challenges hence rolling out various initiatives to provide decent job avenues for the youth.
He said: “Addressing the problem of youth unemployment has become a major preoccupation of the Government and this has brought about fruitful collaboration and partnerships amongst government, the private sector and development partners for the creation of many job opportunities across various sectors of the economy.”
He added that “Through these efforts, the Government has been able to make tremendous gains in job creation.”
He said an analysis of data assembled by the sector Ministry from the inputs of various Ministries, Departments and Agencies as well as on flagship programmes indicates that an estimated 5,306,899 jobs were created by the Government between 2017 and 2021.
Mr Wireko-Brobbey noted that the roll-out of the National Entrepreneurship and Innovation Programme, Nation Builders’ Corps, Youth Employment Programme, One-District-One-Factory Initiative, and Planting for Food and Jobs programmes were some of the initiatives, which the Government had implemented to address youth unemployment in the country.
Mr Benjamin Woesten, Head of GGC–GIZ Ghana, said: “The German Government contributes to employment promotion in Ghana as a measure to help curb dangerous and irregular migration among the youth in Ghana in line with outlined programmes of the Government of Ghana.”
He, therefore, called on job seekers, companies and employers present at the event to take advantage of the opportunity provided by the Job Fair to work towards reducing youth unemployment.
Mr Bashiru Ibrahim, Deputy Chief Executive Officer of Youth Employment Agency, said the increasing unemployment rate among the youth was a concern for the Government assuring that “efforts are being made to reverse the trend.”
GNA