Enterpreneurship Development and Opportunities for Skills Training For Job Creation in the Informal Sector of the Volta Region in Ghana

Abstract

Competition for markets the world over among entrepreneurs has become increasingly sharp. The capacity and ability to meet or exceed the expectation of customers is defined by several factors. Two of these factors are the technical and managerial skills of the entrepreneur. Improvement in these skills can be done through the upgrading of their skills. Unfortunately, collaboration between educational institutions and the informal skills development sector has been minimal.  Yet local artisans and entrepreneurs play a vital role in the national economy and in the promotion of technical and vocational skills through traditional apprenticeship training schemes. A cross-fertilisation of ideas and expertise between the informal skills training sector and technological institutions like the polytechnics can yield results which in turn will enrich their curricula and help develop local technology.  This article on the informal vocational skills sector, investigated the problems and challenges facing the sector, among 250 local artisans and entrepreneurs in five districts of the Volta Region. The article assessed their skills training needs and constraints to determine which of these skills training needs or constraints could be satisfied by polytechnics in Ghana. The study found out that the level of education and technology among entrepreneurs is low and their capacity to generate employment for other people has been exaggerated.  Skills training/acquisition is basically done through the apprenticeship or hereditary system.  There is an overwhelming desire among entrepreneurs to upgrade their skills, but the opportunities for doing so are virtually absent. Access to credit is also low because of they do not have collateral security acceptable to financial institutions. The article recommends that:   The expertise of the polytechnics in technical, vocational and managerial skills upgrading, as well as technology transfer should be put at the disposal of the informal sector.  The government should provide support to the informal sector in their desire to upgrade their skills in collaboration with the polytechnics. An enabling environment to facilitate licensing and registration procedures and easier access to credit should be created by government if the informal sector is to play a meaningful role as the engine of growth.

Keywords: Entrepreneurship development, technical and vocational skills training, traditional apprenticeship schemes.