ProZero Ghana Limited has held a closing and certification ceremony for seven graduates who completed a two-week boat-building training programme at its Sekondi Fishing Harbour yard in the Western Region.

The event was organised in partnership with the Ghana Employers Association (GEA) and the Confederation of Danish Industry (DI).

The first cohort comprised instructors from Tema and Takoradi Technical Institutes, who completed practical and theoretical training in modern composite boat-building and are now pioneers of the Training of Trainers (ToT) programme in Ghana.

Follow us on WhatsApp | LinkedIn for the latest headlines

At the ceremony held on Friday, the instructors showcased their skills at the production hall to the admiration of guests.

The Deputy Minister for Education, Dr Clement Abas Apaak, said the transfer of knowledge from one generation of craft workers to the next marked Ghana's first step towards establishing its own boat-building industry.

He told the graduands that their achievements represented both personal and national progress towards Ghana's industrial transformation and technical excellence.

Dr Apaak assured them that the government was committed to making technical and vocational education a driver of economic development, in line with policies aimed at ensuring that skills training met labour market needs.

"This programme has passed that test. What ProZero Ghana Limited, the Confederation of Danish Industry have built here with the support of the Government of Denmark is precisely the type of partnership needed at this moment in our country's history for technical institutions," he said.

The training, Dr Apaak said, would generate wider economic benefits as graduates trained future learners in technical institutions, positioning Ghana to become a hub for industrial skills in the West African sub-region.

Modern composite boat-building, he stressed, would stimulate industrial growth, technology transfer, stronger safety standards, greater local manufacturing capacity and employment opportunities for the youth.

Dr Apaak thanked the partners and instructors for their efforts to strengthen Ghana's drive to develop a modern maritime manufacturing sector.