Vocational training for women
and young adults in Ghana

Handicraft products make up only a small part of Ghana's exports, but demand abroad is growing. In 2020, exports in this sector were worth 25 million euros. The production of ceramics, musical instruments, baskets, and other handicraft products is labour-intensive and provides employment in rural areas. Women and young adults have good job opportunities in this sector. The Ghana Export Promotion Authority (GEPA) has declared handicrafts a particularly promising growth sector and supports marketing activities within the framework of the National Export Development Strategy (NEDS). However, a lack of qualified workers is slowing down growth.

To better exploit the potential of handicrafts in Ghana, we are supporting Geolicrafts to build a training centre and new production facilities in Dodowa, 30 kilometres outside of Accra. The company was founded in 2016 and has solid experience in the field of handicrafts. Geolicrafts alone exported handicraft products worth 771,000 euros in 2021, which represents around three per cent of Ghana's exports in this sector.

In the new training centre, classrooms and workshops will be built on an area of 12,000 square metres, as well as studios for the fully trained workers. In addition, the company will buy machines to process raw materials such as wood and straw, and external experts will be employed to design the training content in the areas of wood and straw processing as well as fashion design on behalf of Geolicrafts.

The company's marketing strategy is based on the sale of high-quality baskets, musical instruments, and other handicraft items. The products manufactured by Geolicrafts are to be exported mainly to the European Union, with Germany and Italy identified as the most promising markets.

At the training centre in Dodowa, about 2,000 people are to be trained for activities related to the creation of handicraft products and fashion items. In addition, training for 100 farmers who supply raw materials for processing by Geolicrafts will also take place there. Geolicrafts will create 490 jobs within two years of the completion of construction by hiring some of the trained workers: 30 people in warehouse and materials management, 60 designers and 400 people to manufacture items made of wood and straw, such as musical instruments, masks, and baskets. More than two-thirds of the hired trainees are expected to be women. In addition, 500 trained people are expected to find jobs in other companies. The newly created jobs will mainly be filled by people from rural areas and thus also contribute to poverty reduction.

The total investment for the construction of the training centre and the start of operations amounts to 2.07 million euros. The Facility Investing for Employment grants a subsidy of 1.03 million euros (50%). The funds will be used exclusively to pay for construction measures.

The Facility Investing for Employment (IFE) of KfW Development Bank is part of the Special Initiative "Decent Work for a Just Transition" of the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ). With its support, the Facility wants to remove barriers that prevent the creation of new and better jobs in the private sector.