German Company Knauf Opens Training Centre in Accra

By David Adadevoh

Knauf, a market leader in design of living spaces, will open a new training centre in Ghana today to offer theoretical and practical knowledge/skills training for architects, and civil engineers and craftsmen on building sites.

The centre will be opened by the Federal Minister for Economic Cooperation and Development, Dr Gerd Müller, together with Isabel Knauf, Member of the Knauf Group Management Committee, and Christiane Laibach, Chairwoman of the Management Board of DEG - Deutsche

Investitions- und Entwicklungsgesellschaft mbH, as part of the German African Business Summit in Ghana on 11 February 2019.

The new training centre will offer up to 800 training positions per year.

The project, is being financed by Knauf and co-financed by DEG, with funds from the develoPPP.de programme of the Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ).

The training centre in Ghana, with an investment volume of approximately €700,000, is part of a large-scale joint training offensive by Knauf, DEG and the BMZ in countries such as Nigeria,

Tanzania, Egypt, Algeria and Tunisia.

It is planned that 12,000 people will be qualified within three years under this initiative.

Vincent Allard, Knauf Regional Manager Western and Southern Africa, told journalists ahead of the opening that the centre would help trainees learn how different gypsum based building materials are processed.

He said sustainability at Knauf is practised reality and firmly anchored in the company culture and values.

The firm complies with the highest standards in the areas of environmental compatibility, sustainable building use and safety and Knauf relies on the raw material gypsum that is sustainable by nature.

For Knauf, this means taking on responsibility for customers, employees and the protection of the environment. Knauf complies Gypsum products that are no longer used can be recycled and reintroduced to the value chain.

Mr Allard said each module of the training programme would be offered at moderate cost to the participants.

Mr Stephen Antwi, President of the Ghanaian German Economic Association, said the building of the centre is a sign of confidence by the German government in the Ghanaian economy.

He said the housing sector offered a huge opportunity for job creation and the training of Ghanaian artisans would go a long way to develop essential skills for the sector.

Knauf is one of the world's leading manufacturers of modern insulation materials, drylining systems, plasters and accessories, thermal insulation composite systems, paints, floor screed, floor systems, and construction equipment and tools.

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