African Development Bank (AfDB) and government have entered into two financing agreements that will enhance the capacity of private sector institutions and promote technical skills development in the country.

Of the $135 million earmarked for the project, about $120 million is expected to be used for technical based skills training while $14.5 million will go into institutional support projects.

Dr. Kwabena Duffuor, Minister of Finance & Economic Planning, signed for Ghana while Marie-Laure Akin-Olugbade, Resident Representative of the AfDB in Ghana initialed on behalf of her organisation.

According to Dr Duffuor, government sees the development of technical skills as an avenue to improve Ghana’s productivity and competitiveness.

This would contribute to human capital development through increasing the capacity of the country to produce high-calibre technical and vocational skills to facilitate technological change and meet the demands of industry.

Particularly, the project focuses on expanding equitable access to public institutions, targeting females and the rural poor, improving the relevance and quality of technical and vocational education training (TVET) delivery and improving management of TVET at the coordination and school based institutional levels.

Dr Duffuor noted that the project would help strengthen the non-tax revenue mobilization framework, enhance the capacity of the Private Enterprise Foundation, National Board of Small Scale Industries and the Ghana Stock Exchange to support small and medium enterprise and enhance capacity in financial sector policy formulation.

It is also expected that the project will help in the development of an online aid management information system to provide an automated platform to monitor and report on donor assisted activities by helping planners and policy makers to easily collect data on partners.