The Ghanaian-German Centre (GGC), under the auspices of the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH on behalf of the German Government, is set to partner with the Ministry of Employment and Labour relations and TDI Global Limited to provide job opportunities for Ghana youth through the pilot “Graduate Work and Salary Top-Up Programme”.
Through the TDI’s My3D Programme (Discover, Develop and Deploy), beneficiaries are to be taken through a well-structured self-discovery and self-mastery programme that enable them to understand their skills strengths and gaps.
They are then provided career guidance, counselling, mentorship, and training that develop and optimize their skills before and during their period of internship.
TDI is in collaboration with the employers to determine their specific skills need and then equips the youth (My3D Scholars) with the right work skills, digital skills, leadership, and entrepreneurship skills that enable them to bring fresh thinking and innovation to the organizations, improve productivity and growth and enable the organizations to become internationally competitive.
These are contained in a press statement issued in in Accra on 11 January 2022 signed by Kwaku Yeboah, Technical Advisor at the GGC.
This programme he said, “will serve a dual objective.
Firstly, it aims to cushion reputable Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) post-COVID recovery by supporting their wage bill as they seek to recruit fresh hands to spur growth from the effects of the COVID pandemic. On a threshold of 1,500cedis, the GGC pays 60% of employee’s salary for 6months and 40% for the subsequent 4months”.
The programme, therefore, supports SMEs by leveraging their wage bill for growth, whilst promoting employment, improving skills, and entrepreneurship among the youth, through their 10months corporate experience that serves as a springboard from retention or alternate employment opportunities.
The newly hired staff, who must be given a contract that includes their training plan, acquire valuable on-the-job learning to augment their work experience, sharpen their skills, develop their career goals, and establish corporate networks that may prove valuable throughout their careers. Motivated individuals with rounded skills bring fresh thinking and innovation to their workplaces, as the organisations benefit from the savings off their wage bill and create more jobs.
The initiative, therefore, contributes towards achieving Sustainable Development Goal No. 8 by promoting inclusive and sustainable economic growth, productive employment, and decent work for the youth.
According to the World Bank report of September 2020, Ghana is faced with 12% unemployment and more than 50% underemployment among the youth, both higher than overall unemployment and underemployment rates in Sub-Saharan Africa.
About the Ghanaian-German Centre (GGC)
The Global Programme “Migration for Development” is commissioned by the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ) and is implemented by the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit GmbH (GIZ). The objective of the programme is to create and provide advice on prospects for returning migrants in Ghana as well as for potential migrants and to address irregular migration by providing information on legal ways of labour migration. In Ghana, the Programme has established a structure for migration and reintegration advice, through the Ghanaian-German Centre (GGC) which became operational in December 2017.
As a provider of international cooperation services for sustainable development and international education work, GIZ is dedicated to building a future worth living around the world. GIZ has more than 50 years of experience in a wide variety of areas, including economic development and employment, energy and the environment, and peace and security. According to GIZ, the diverse expertise of its federal enterprise is in demand around the globe, with the German Government, European Union institutions, the United Nations, the private sector, and governments of other countries all benefiting from its services.
