Women seeking employment in Ghana find it difficult to enter technical professions due to deep rooted biases about which jobs they can or cannot do.
These biases are reaffirmed by vocational training institutes in the country that typically offer women education only in so-called “female” professions such as catering, tailoring, hair dressing and cosmetology.
These professions are saturated and much less profitable.
It is in line with this that, a day’s training was organized by German International Cooperation (GIZ) to equip young girls with the requisite skills.
The German International Development Cooperation (GIZ) is an organization working in the developing countries with the aim of helping women in Northern Ghana to increase their employment prospects in two niche markets where, despite the fact that many end-users are women, men have been dominating jobs and profits.
In 2016, GIZ private public partnership implemented a project called Female Motorcycle Mechanics and Solar Technicians (FeMMSTECH) and is expected to end this year 2019.
The project has since trained about One hundred and twenty (120) young girls in the respective areas across the Northern, Upper East and Upper West Regions.
The entrepreneurship training aspect has just begun and it is to beef up the girl’s knowledge on the skills they have acquired so far, how to start and keep a business and manage customer relations.
In an interview with Radio Ghana, the Director, Cleanligh Ghana, German International Development Cooperation (GIZ) Doku Kubatey indicated that, after acquiring knowledge in the technical and vocational skills in motorcycle mechanics and solar technician, the young ladies still need to learn some basic skills on how to run their businesses effectively.
He added that, the age bracket of 18 to 25 years is often susceptible to migration to the southern sectors in search of non-exiting jobs, hence the need for the training to enable them stay and establish their own source of incomes.
The overall objective of the project is to increase employability of females in Northern Ghana by equipping young women with technical skills that will allow them to succeed in the fast-growing markets of two-wheeled vehicles and photovoltaic.
GIZ is helping women in Northern Ghana to increase their employment prospects in two niche markets where despite the fact that many end-users are women, men have been dominating jobs and profits.
The first market is that of photovoltaic appliances, which are used to generate electric power from the sun.
The vast majority of Ghana’s rural population has no access to the national electricity grid, and the country’s government has been heavily investing in solar photovoltaic appliances and other renewable energy sources to serve as alternatives.
When solar lanterns are installed in rural communities, women can make use of electrical appliances and have more access to light; therefore, they can spend less time on house chores and devote more time to education.
Story filed by: Emmanuel Akayeti
