Germany, Ghana partner for job fair

About 2,000 job seekers and employers are expected to converge on Accra for a job fair aimed at linking unemployed youth to businesses.

The job fair is aimed at complementing the government’s strategies targeted at creating jobs and reducing employment by bringing unemployed youth and employers together.

Dubbed the “Ghana Job Fair”, the event — scheduled for May 23, 2019 at the Fantasy Dome of the Trade Fair Centre in Accra — is being organised by the Ghanaian-German Centre (GGC) for Jobs, Migration and Reintegration, in collaboration with the Ministry of Employment and Labour Relations.

The GGC is part of the Global Programme Migration for Development and it is implemented and commissioned by the German Cooperation and the Government of Germany respectively with the objective to advise employment and education for Ghanaian job seekers, returnees and prospective migrants alike.

Opportunities abound in Ghana

At a media launch of the Ghana Job Fair in Accra yesterday, the Regional Advisor of the Global Programme Migration for Development, Mr Benjamin Woesten, said unemployment was high, particularly among the young people, with an alarming rate for university graduates in Ghana.

He said the development had resulted in many of the youth leaving the country on the basis of going to look for greener pasture elsewhere, with some using dangerous routes to get to Europe.

“Many take the decision to leave their country on the basis of false information, false hopes and promises, knowing nothing of either the risks and dangers of the flight or the lack of prospects in the target country,” he stated.

He further observed that many of the youth in the country were also unaware of the training and job opportunities available in Ghana to make a decent living in the country.

Bridging the information gap

It was against that background, Mr Woesten said, that the GGC sought to bridge the existing gaps by providing information on the prospects that existed in the country to inform the youth about opportunities and conditions of regular labour migration.

He said there were many opportunities in the country yet to be tapped, hence the need to enlighten the youth to take advantage of such existing opportunities.

The job fair, therefore, would seek to create the common platform for employers from diverse industries and job seekers with skill sets to match the job offer to engage each other.

As part of the fair, Mr Woesten indicated that a panel discussion on “matching skills and corporate needs” would be discussed with experts who would make contributions for consideration for future action to improve the status quo in Ghana.

In a run-up to the job fair, he said the centre would organise career guidance sessions to improve the employability skills of job seekers to qualify them for the labour market.