Since its launch earlier this year, Absa Bank Ghana’s Vocational Skills Training Programme has been steadily gathering pace, empowering young women with essential skills to achieve economic independence.
The initiative, launched in partnership with CAMFED Ghana (Campaign for Female Education), is designed to support underprivileged young women who face significant financial barriers to furthering their studies.
Through this programme, Absa Bank is reaffirming its commitment to being a “Force for Good” by addressing this critical societal need, one woman at a time.
What makes this initiative truly impactful is its targeted approach. The training programme focuses on equipping young women with vocational skills that are both marketable and aligned with growing sectors of Ghana’s economy.
By mastering these vocational skills, participants can become self-employed, and also employ others within their communities.
Now, a few months after the programme’s launch, the results are starting to show. In Tamale and Savulugu, 42 young women are currently undergoing training in dressmaking, hairdressing, cosmetology, baking & catering, kente weaving, soap making, and bead making.
These young women have already begun to display remarkable aptitude in their chosen vocations. During a recent visit to the region, the Marketing and Corporate Affairs Director, Nana Essilfuah Tamakloe, shared that “it was encouraging to see the sheer enthusiasm of these young ladies as they learned new skills and shared their ambitions for the future.
By equipping these young women with marketable vocational skills, we are helping to raise a generation of young women who are financially independent and equipped to lead in their respective vocations.”
In total, 100 young women are currently being trained across three regions: the Northern, Central, and Greater Accra regions. This marks the beginning of Absa’s long-term goal of extending vocational skills training to 500 young women over the next three years.
Absa Bank Ghana’s vocational skills training programme for young women complements its broader support for youth and women-led MSMEs, FinTechs, and Agritech businesses through its collateral-free SME Loan @10% initiative, in partnership with Mastercard Foundation.
With continued support from Absa Bank and CAMFED, the vocational training programme can help change the economic narrative for many young women, giving them the tools they need to break free from the cycle of poverty.
