Labour Minister Emmanuel Agyekum has announced that Ghana has signed an agreement with Russia to facilitate the recruitment of Ghanaian workers for industrial and manufacturing jobs.
He disclosed that the agreement forms part of efforts to expand employment opportunities abroad.
The agreement was signed by Ghana’s Labour Minister Emmanuel Agyekum and the director of Russia’s Alabuga Special Economic Zone, an industrial hub with 48 companies requiring more than 75,000 workers.
Under the Ghana-Russia agreement, the Labour Ministry will coordinate recruitment, verify job offers and provide pre-departure orientation to safeguard the interests of Ghanaian workers.
Emmanuel Agyekum further disclosed that the cooperation would extend beyond labour migration to include business partnerships, education, research, religion and cultural exchange.
Speaking after the signing on Thursday, October 29, the Labour Minister stated, “We signed a fantastic agreement, not only on labour exchange. We are also looking at business-to-business cooperation. We’re looking at religion and culture as well, where we want to work further to make sure our cooperation goes beyond just labour migration”.
He further disclosed that Ghanaian businesses would participate in upcoming forums in Tatarstan to explore opportunities for collaboration, adding that the two countries were also exploring academic partnerships.
The Labour Minister encouraged young people in Ghana to take advantage of the opportunities the initiative is expected to create.
In related news, President John Dramani Mahama, ahead of a planned bilateral meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin, has disclosed that Ghana is interested in strengthening its cooperation with Russia in the energy sector.
According to John Mahama, energy is an area of interest, noting that Ghana already plays a significant role in electricity supply within the West African sub-region
He disclosed that Ghana exports electricity to Togo, Burkina Faso and Benin, while maintaining power exchanges with Côte d’Ivoire.
Mahama further revealed that Ghana was exploring alternative sources of energy, including solar and nuclear power, highlighting that Russia’s technological expertise in these areas could support Ghana’s energy ambition.
President Mahama is quoted as saying, “The solidarity between Ghana and Russia is one that is historic, and we believe that the time has come for us to bring it back to that level, and that’s why I personally agreed to come myself for the Russia-Africa Summit.
“We’re looking forward to the bilateral meeting with President Putin because I think that that meeting will open up new areas of cooperation. For instance, in the area of energy, Ghana is one of the leading producers of power. And so we’re looking at alternative energy sources like solar; we’re even looking at nuclear, adding nuclear to our energy mix,” he stated.
“I know that Russia has advanced technology in some of these things, and so we’re looking forward to that meeting and I’m sure that after the meeting it will draw our relationship even closer in terms of investments and in terms of economic relations,” he added.
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