Opening the session, Mr. Rajiv Pradhan, Country Director of Swisscontact Ghana, underscored the urgency of rethinking Ghana’s approach to skills development.
“The DoSkills initiative is designed to ensure that training in Ghana is no longer supply-driven but demand-led,” he noted. “It seeks to connect what the labour market needs with what our institutions teach, and in doing so, prepare Ghanaians for the green, digital, and inclusive economy of the future.”
In his welcome address, Mr. Seth Twum-Akwaboah, CEO of the Association of Ghana Industries (AGI), reaffirmed AGI’s commitment to ensuring that the private sector plays an active role in shaping the skills agenda.
“Industry is evolving, and so must our training systems. Through DoSkills, we aim to create a mechanism where businesses can continuously share their workforce needs, helping training providers stay relevant and responsive.”
The highlight of the workshop was the presentation of the DoSkills Baseline Assessment Report by Mr. Shadrach Armah, the consultant who led the study. The assessment engaged 30 organisations across Ghana’s ICT, manufacturing, energy, finance, and hospitality sectors using both quantitative and qualitative methods.
The findings revealed a clear pattern: while Ghana’s workforce possesses foundational technical and soft skills, there remain significant gaps in digital, business, financial, and green economy skills, areas that are increasingly crucial for future employability.
Mr. Armah shared that 90% of organisations foresee the skills gap becoming severe within the next three to five years if interventions are not made. Many firms already have upskilling initiatives, but face persistent challenges such as high training costs, time constraints, irrelevant course content, and low employee motivation.
“What we see is not a lack of willingness to train,” Mr. Armah explained. “It’s the absence of a coordinated, demand-driven system that ensures training efforts are efficient, targeted, and aligned with market realities. That’s exactly what the DoSkills platform seeks to achieve.”
Following the presentation, participants broke into sector-specific discussion groups, comprising representatives from industry, academia and TVET institutions, development partners, and policy makers.
Each group discussed the findings and contributed practical recommendations to guide the implementation of the DoSkills platform. Common themes included:
The breakout sessions were lively and interactive, with participants openly sharing experiences from their respective sectors. Representatives from the TVET institutions highlighted the need for modernized equipment and continuous trainer development, while industry players emphasized the importance of real-time labour market data to guide training decisions. Development partners and policymakers also called for stronger coordination and monitoring frameworks to ensure measurable outcomes.
The workshop reinforced the essence of multi-stakeholder collaboration as central to the DoSkills model. The platform is envisioned as a living mechanism that continuously identifies skills in demand, supports curriculum co-design, and facilitates targeted training delivery, ensuring Ghana’s workforce keeps pace with the country’s industrial transformation.
A representative from the Ministry of Education commended the initiative, stating that the Ministry’s ongoing TVET reforms align strongly with the DoSkills approach.
“DoSkills provides a practical framework for collaboration between the private sector and training institutions. It complements our national vision of ensuring that every learner acquires relevant skills for employability and sustainable livelihoods.”
The workshop concluded with a plenary session where each breakout group presented their feedback. These insights will feed directly into the final design and implementation roadmap of the DoSkills platform.
Mr. Pradhan closed the session by reaffirming Swisscontact’s commitment to continue driving collaboration between public and private actors:
“The strength of DoSkills lies in partnership. What we have started here today is not a one-off event, but the foundation of a shared effort to build a skilled, adaptable, and competitive workforce for Ghana’s green and digital future.”
The DoSkills platform will continue to evolve through a participatory process, with input from government, industry, academia, and development partners. The next phase will involve co-developing training models and piloting demand-oriented programs, setting the stage for the platform’s official launch in 2026.
The Demand-Oriented Skills System (DoSkills) is a collaborative initiative spearheaded by Swisscontact Ghana and implemented in partnership with the Association of Ghana Industries (AGI), BOSAG, Don Bosco, and the Accra AI Hub. The platform aims to align training delivery with real industry demand, with a strong focus on green, digital, and business skills.
By bridging the gap between industry and education, DoSkills seeks to empower Ghana’s workforce with the competencies needed to thrive in an evolving economic landscape, driving inclusive growth and sustainable development.