SNV Ghana, a non-governmental organization has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Ministry of Employment and Labour Relations to create about 5,000 jobs for Ghanaians under the GrEEN Project.

The four-year project, also known as Boosting Green Employment and Enterprise Opportunities in Ghana, would be implemented in the Ashanti and Western Regions to stimulate micro businesses for a sustainable future.

It has funding from the European Union Emergency Trust Fund for Africa (EUTF) and seeks to support communities and local economies to become green and climate-resilient.

The project is also aimed at improving the ability of women, youth, and returning migrants to take advantage of job and entrepreneurship opportunities in green and climate-resilient economies.

Mr Anjo van Toorn, the SNV Country Director, speaking at the signing ceremony, said the initiative would strengthen a local enabling environment that supported youth self-employment and the growth of Micro, Small, and Medium-sized Enterprises (MSMEs).

He said the project, targeted at the youth, women and Metropolitan, Municipal and District Assemblies, would focus on agriculture, renewable energy as well as water and sanitation.

Mr Toorn asked for government support to be able to sustain the project throughout the period.

Mr Bright Wireko-Brobby, the Deputy Minister of Employment, commended SNV for the project, adding that this would enable the majority of Ghanaian youth to gain employment.

The Deputy Minister assured that the jobs to be created would be in line with the greening aspect of the economy.

He said to ensure effective compliance with the terms in the MoU, there would be quarterly engagements and to that extent, SNV would be reporting to the Ministry as well as following indicators to ensure proper monitoring.

Mr Wireko-Brobby indicated that interventions were in place to allow visitations to the project sites to ensure that SNV was fulfilling all aspects of the MoU.