The Ghanaian-German Centre (GGC), which is implemented by the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH on behalf of the German Government, is partnering with the Ministry of Employment and Labour relations to provide job opportunities through the pilot “Graduate Work and Salary Top-Up Programme”. This programme serves 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. The 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 the Sustainable Development Goal No. 8 by promoting inclusive and sustainable economic growth, productive employment, and decent work for the youth. The GGC is partnering with TDI Global Limited to bring its internationally top-rated approach to building capacity of workforce and enterprises in a structured manner. Through the TDI’s My3D Programme (Discover, Develop and Deploy), beneficiaries are 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, counseling, mentorship, and training that develop and optimize their skills before and during their period of internship. TDI collaborates 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. 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. For further enquiries please reach out to Kwaku Yeboah, Technical Advisor at the GGC through michael.yeboah@giz.de or +233 55 675 8518 or reach out to TDI Global Limited through Theresa Akomah +233 24 250 7678 or training@tdi-global.com Notes to Editors 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 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. GGC is set up in collaboration with the Ministry for Employment and Labour Relations (MELR) of Ghana. It aims to provide counselling services to the local populace, returning and potential migrants. The focus lies on reintegration support for returning Ghanaian migrants, as well providing the youth employment and educational perspectives in Ghana. Further, the Centre provides information on legal migration to Germany. The project has since inception trained over 27,700 individuals in Entrepreneurship and Employability Skills, 3,700 have found jobs; with majority (92%) being self-employment, 4,299 have received business start-up support, with about 1300 receiving technical/vocational short-term skills training. About GIZ 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 over 50 years of experience in a wide variety of areas, including economic development and employment, energy and the environment, and peace and security. The diverse expertise of our 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 our services. We work with businesses, civil society actors and research institutions, fostering successful interaction between development policy and other policy fields and areas of activity. The German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ) is our main commissioning party. Currently, GIZ promotes sustainable development in Ghana via about 50 programmes and projects. GIZ is boosting Ghana’s potential by focusing its projects on three priority areas: Responsibility for our planet – climate and energy, Training and sustainable growth for decent jobs as well as Peaceful and inclusive societies. Additionally, our portfolio extends to other areas such as environment, peace and security. Another focus of GIZ’s work is linking business interests with development-policy goals. Most of the programmes and projects we support in Ghana have successfully brought together national and international private companies, the public sector, and civil society groups to collaborate on development initiatives. For more information, please visit www.giz.de/ghana
