While the West African country prides itself on technical institutes reputed for their high-quality education and significant investments in science and technology, there is a need growing for professionally skilled workers like electricians, plumbers, roofers and artisans.
An Accra-based initiative is trying to bridge the gap.
"What we're trying to do is to use technology as a tool to disrupt technical and vocational education and trade. We will train young people and artisans in plumbing, electrical work, mechanical, professional painting, etc.," said Penelope Brooke Thompson, founder of the Africa Center for Technical Training, told VOA.
She said the initiative offers life-changing technical skills and hands-on training to prepare young people for real-world work.
Launched last year, the program aims to boost employment opportunities and create a more skilled workforce to support the country's economic growth.
"We're trying to create alternative passways where young people can now decide. Go into plumbing or welding and then make this industry very attractive because what's happening is it's estimated about 10 to 12 million people join the African workforce every year. And there's not enough typical, nine-to-five jobs for these people to be enrolled to," Thompson said.
"If your family doesn't have a business you are going to, or you don't have an education, your life ends there," she added.
The initiative involves partnering with private sector companies and technical institutes to offer a range of training programs in fields such as manufacturing, construction and information technology.
The goal is to equip citizens with the skills necessary to succeed in these high-demand industries, helping to creating more job opportunities for the country's growing population.
"We want to focus more on practical training as well. Very well-equipped workshops introduce new tools and technology they can use when you think about plumbing. Now we have what it takes to technology. We want to bridge that gap. Bring all those tools here and provide access to these technologies so that the training can be done well, and then they can make a decent living," Thompson said.
Penelope hopes that the center will get widespread support from the locals and the private sector and, if possible, the government to offer job training and apprenticeships to program participants.
"We need to be ethical. It needs to be part of our culture. And so that's the hard work we need to do to ensure that every single person who comes through the institution embodies the values that we have. And those three values for us are craftsmanship, innovation and empowerment," she said.
Analysts say technical institutions can positively impact the country's unemployment rate, which currently stands at over 4.8%, according to government data published at the end of 2022.
