By Napoleon Ato Kittoe
ACCRA – The Council for Scientific and Industrial Research, CSIR, has cut sod for a 3 million Euro Integrated Industry Training, Entrepreneurship and Database Hub, ITAED-Hub, at its Institute of Industrial Research, CSIR-IIR, to equip Ghanaian youth with skills in electric vehicle servicing and computer-aided design.
The project, funded by the African Union Development Agency, AUDA-NEPAD, with support from Germany’s KfW Development Bank, is scheduled for completion by December, 2027. The idea for the hub was conceived in 2019 in response to growing demand for technical skills in emerging automotive technologies.
Minister of Trade, Agribusiness and Industry, Elizabeth Ofosu Agyare, who performed the sod-cutting, described CSIR as the “Midas Touch” in Ghana’s national transformation process.
“The quest for human-centred development by Ghana requires CSIR to continually provide authentic leadership. Such leadership will trigger processes that allow Ghana to match up with the global shift and race in technology,” she said.
Director of CSIR-IIR, Dr. Francis Boateng Agyenim, said the facility responds to the global shift away from internal combustion engines toward electric vehicles.
“The world is unstoppably shifting towards electric vehicles, and less of vehicles with internal combustion engines. Technical-inclined students and practitioners will receive world class training in emerging automotive and mechatronics engineering and technologies,” Dr. Agyenim stated.
The ITAED-Hub will serve as a centre of excellence for skills development, particularly in computer-aided design and EV servicing, to prepare Ghana’s workforce for the changing automotive industry.
Present at the ceremony were CSIR Director-General Prof. Paul Bosu, UPSA Vice-Chancellor Prof. John Kwaku Mensah Mawutor, Chief Executive of the Association of Ghana Industries, AGI, Seth Twum Akwaboah, CTVET Director-General Zakaria Sulemana, and CSIR-IIR Board Chairman Dr. James Asare Adjei.
