The 3rd Annual National Precision Quality Conference will be held on Friday 9th September 2022 at the Labadi Beach Hotel under the auspices of the Ministry of Employment and Labour Relations, the National Development Planning Commission (NDPC) and the Commission for Technical and Vocational Education and Training (CTVET).
The Annual PQ Conference, an initiative of DTI in partnership with the Mastercard Foundation, aims to highlight the critical role Precision Quality plays in providing the skills and mindset needed for the production and delivery of high-quality goods and services.
This year’s conference will be under the theme: ‘Using the National Precision Quality Policy Framework to Transform the Informal Sector and Create Jobs through Holistic Systems Change’.
The 2022 Precision Quality Conference will have the Minister for Employment and Labour Relations, Hon. Ignatius Baffour Awuah, as the keynote speaker. It will also be attended by a broad range of stakeholders, policy-makers and business leaders, including Rosy Fynn – Country Head Ghana, Mastercard Foundation; Prof. Alex Dodoo – President of the African Organisation for Standardisation (ARSO) and Professor-In-Residence at DTI; Dr. Kodjo Mensah-Abrampa – Director-General of NDPC; Dr. Fred Kyei Asamoah – Director-General of CTVET; Prof. Ben Honyenuga – Vice Chancellor Ho Technical University; Linda Ampah – Founder and CEO of Cadling Fashions and KAD manufacturing Ltd.; and Mercy Needjan – President of Greater Accra Market Association. The panellists and 400 participants, covering the youth, females, master crafts persons and workers in the informal sector, will deliberate on how Ghanaians can leverage PrecisionQuality™ to address the issue of poor-quality goods and services and how to address these in order to create jobs for the youth and scale up businesses for growth.
The conference forms part of a three-year ‘Transforming Youth TVET Livelihoods for Sustainable Jobs’ partnership between DTI and the Mastercard Foundation, as part of the foundation’s Young Africa Works strategy in Ghana. The programme aims to create 40,000 direct and indirect work opportunities for young people in the country.
The conference is strictly by invitation. However, it will be streamed live on Citi FM/TV Facebook pages.
Ms. Constance Elizabeth Swaniker, Founder and Chief Executive Officer of DTI, is excited about the upcoming conference which will bring together stakeholders from the public and private sectors. She is confident that through the conference, participants will see the need for a mindset change, and adopt new ways of developing and delivering products and services to meet consumer needs while creating jobs for the youth.
She said the theme for the conference is very critical, explaining that “there are concerns about poor product quality and service standards in the informal sector, hence, the need for holistic systems change. We are, therefore, seeking to use this conference to facilitate the sharing of knowledge, information and experience among stakeholders in the public and private sectors to brace ourselves with the systems change ahead of the full implementation of the National Quality Policy, the Ghana Standards Authority Act 2022 and the National Precision Quality Policy Framework Document in this era of high-quality standards globally”.
“The Ghana Standards Authority Act, Act 1078 of 2022 and the National Quality Policy will both provide the policy and statutory framework to ensure that goods and services produced in Ghana are designed, produced and supplied in a manner that meets the needs, expectations and requirements of the consumer, as well as regulatory authorities in export markets. It is, therefore, imperative for businesses to be conversant with the policy which, among other things, aims at improving customer service, increasing productivity, stimulating local production capacity through quality inputs and enhancing employment opportunities,” she added.
During the conference, the youth will be given the opportunity to deliberate on and share their views on youth unemployment and job creation in the form of a manifesto titled: the ‘Accra Manifesto on Skills and Jobs for Africa’s Youth’, which will provide a blueprint for creating sustainable jobs through skills acquisition, hands-on training, Precision Quality training and business support services.
