The Diaspora African Forum (DAF) has launched the Diaspora African Forum Youth Empowerment Training Centre (DAFYETC), in Accra, yesterday.
The centre is aimed at supporting the African Union (AU) and empowering women and youth in the La Dade Kotopon Municipality, in the Greater Accra Region, and the country at large.
DAF has also established a digital call centre that focuses on promoting skills training and development in the field of Information Communication and Technology (ICT), with the aim of training the youth in call centre operation and assist in job creation for the certified trainees.
The Minister of Communication and Digitilisation, Mrs Ursula Owusu-Ekuful, speaking at the launch, said the centre’s aim to provide the youth with jobs and skills was in tandem with government’s initiative.
She mentioned Ghana Investment Fund for Electronic Communications (GIFEC), Accra Digital Centre and the Kofi Annan ICT centre as some of government initiatives.
The minister noted that DAF trains youth in digital skills to enable them study remotely and link up with other institutions in the diaspora, to share knowledge and expertise.
“It serves multiple purpose, thus provides digital skills, creates jobs, reduces unemployment and it will keep the youth away from anti-social practices and help them give back to the society,” MrsOwusu-Ekuful added.
She said government was willing to partner the diaspora affairs centre, to continue delivering services to the people within the catchment area and beyond.
MrsOwusu-Ekufulassured DAF of government’s support, saying that “we are willing to put our community ICT centres at their disposal as well as the remote learning facilities, to enable them link up with other sectors beyond Accra to see how we can bring technology much closer to our people.”
The minister said she was pleased some of the trainees were women,adding that digital technology had been demystified while some of them had been exposed to multiple streams of income.
Founder and Head of Mission of DAF, Dr Ericka Bennett, said the forum was the first diplomatic mission dedicated to Africa’s diaspora, and was accredited by the Ghanaian government with full diplomatic privileges and immunities.
She mentioned that the forum was aimed at “supporting the AU in the representation of the African diaspora and their strategic involvement in the ongoing development of Africa.”
Dr Bennett said DAF hopes to be the bridge that unites the African Diaspora and Africa, and called on embassies and individuals to support the government in its ICT drive.
The Municipal Chief Executive of La Dade Kotopon, Mr Solomon KoteyNikoi, said the centre would empower the youth economically through skills development, and that they would utilise technology to prepare them for the job market.
He said “The Global call industry in Ghana has prospects and potentials to attract a lot of Foreign Direct Investment (FDI).
MrNikoiurged the youth to take advantage of the centreand maximise the opportunities of the global call industry.
He pledged the assembly’s cooperation and collaboration to ensure the DAF achieved its objective of economic development of the municipality.
BY JEMIMA ESINAM KUATSINU
