Invest For Employment (IFE), an international financial institution, has supported Geolicraft Company Limited with a grant of over US$1million to establish a crafts vocational training center, to train rural women and youth on straw, wood products and fashion designing.
This was after Geolicraft applied and satisfied all the grant requirement procedures to win the grant.
At the ground breaking ceremony at Dodowa in the Shai Osudoku District of the Greater Accra Region, Managing Director of Geolicraft Company Limited who’lead facilitator of the project, George Akologo, said the country’s unemployment burden can easily be solved if the craft sector was given the need priority.
According to him, the sector has the potential to expand the country’s foreign exchange frontiers due to the high demand of craft products across the globe.
Mr Akologo said demand for baskets for instance is an all-year-round market and when properly harnessed could provide sustainable jobs for rural women, thus, accelerating flow of foreign exchange into the country.
Managing Director of IFE, Rauf Khalaf, said the institution exist to assist businesses that have potentials and are capable of scaling up to be real job creators.
He applauded Geolicraft for the initiative and urged other small to medium scale businesses to apply for financial support to expand their businesses since the private sector remains the engine of Ghana’s economic growth.
The District Chief Executive for Shai Osudoku, Fred Offei, said the training has come at a time the district is dealing with societal challenges such as teenage pregnancies and high HIV/AIDS among the youth.
This trend, Mr Offei believes is about to change following the opening of the state-of-the-art craft center in the district.
Head of Export Trade at Exim Bank, Judith Aikins, said the bank supported Geolicraft because of the company’s standing in the craft sector and how the training was intended to help alleviate poverty.
Mrs Aikins extended invitation to similar businesses to access loans facilities the bank has to offer to expand their trade.
Under the project hundreds of farmers will also receive skill development training on elephant grass from external experts and the Ministry of Food and Agriculture.
They will later be contracted to provide raw materials to Geolicraft and other companies in the region.
The training is opened to anyone interested in the arts and craft sector.
