Ghana has positioned itself at the forefront of technical education across Africa with the commissioning of the continent’s first American Welding Society (AWS) certified Welder Training and Testing Centre, a development that industry leaders are calling a game changer for the country’s industrialisation ambitions.
The facility, located at the Design and Technology Institute’s (DTI) campus in Accra, represents more than just another training centre. It’s a strategic response to a persistent challenge that has hampered Ghana’s industrial growth: the chronic shortage of internationally certified skilled workers, particularly in sectors like oil and gas, mining, power generation, and construction where welding expertise isn’t just important but absolutely critical.
For years, Ghanaian companies have had to send materials abroad for testing or import certified welders at significant cost, creating delays and inflating project expenses. The new centre’s mechanical and metallurgical testing laboratory now enables organisations in oil and gas, power generation, mining and construction to conduct all required mechanical tests and welder qualifications locally for the first time, fundamentally changing the economics of major infrastructure projects in the country.
The state-of-the-art facility boasts a 40-booth workshop, digital welding simulators, and a metallurgical training laboratory designed to train and certify Ghanaian welders to international standards. This positions graduates for opportunities both locally and in global markets where AWS certification carries substantial weight. It’s worth noting that the AWS, established in 1919, represents the highest authority in welding and fabrication worldwide, setting the gold standard for welding education, certification, and research.
Dr. Archibald Buah-Kwofie, Acting Director of the Nuclear Power Institute at the Ghana Atomic Energy Commission, described the centre as a strategic national asset during the commissioning ceremony. His perspective is particularly relevant given Ghana’s ambitions in nuclear energy development, where certified welders will be absolutely essential for construction and maintenance of future nuclear facilities.
But Dr. Buah-Kwofie didn’t stop at praise. He called for a national welding dialogue to establish frameworks for standardising training, aligning curricula, and certifying welders across the country. His vision is ambitious: every region of Ghana should have access to a world-class technical and vocational education and training (TVET) facility, transforming how the country approaches skills development.
DTI President Constance Swaniker highlighted the institute’s five-year journey advocating for stronger collaboration between academia and industry. She pointed to something many educators won’t openly admit: the skills mismatch between what graduates learn and what industry actually needs has contributed significantly to Ghana’s high youth unemployment and low productivity. DTI’s approach appears to be working. The institute reports a 70 percent employability score for its graduates, validated by the IFC Vitae Assessment, a testament to their commitment to co-designed curricula, entrepreneurship training, and industry-led instruction.
What sets this facility apart from traditional technical schools is its holistic approach to skills development. The centre integrates soft skills training facilitated by clinical psychologists and arts-in-education specialists, ensuring graduates aren’t just technically competent but also emotionally intelligent and workplace ready. It’s an acknowledgment that technical expertise alone doesn’t guarantee success in modern work environments where communication, teamwork, and adaptability matter just as much as knowing how to execute a perfect weld.
The centre adopts the AWS SENSE (Schools Excelling through National Skills Education) curriculum, a comprehensive set of minimum standards and guidelines for welding education. This alignment means DTI graduates will receive internationally recognised certifications aligned with AWS, ASME (American Society of Mechanical Engineers), and ISO standards, opening doors to employment opportunities across continents.
Isaac Tetteh, DTI’s Welding and Fabrication Department Head, emphasised that the facility represents more than just infrastructure; it’s the realisation of a dream to train, certify, and elevate the continent’s welders to global recognition. He called for strategic partnerships with international certification bodies and local regulators to expand certification opportunities and support Ghana’s broader industrialisation agenda.
The centre’s impact on local content development could be substantial. By reducing dependency on international testing services and foreign labour, it creates pathways for more Ghanaians to participate meaningfully in major infrastructure projects. Ms. Swaniker framed this in terms of transforming petroleum revenues into human capital dividends for Ghana, suggesting the centre’s funding benefited from strategic use of national resources.
She cited examples from China and India where structured collaboration between academia and industry has led to innovation and job creation, models she believes Ghana can replicate. The Mastercard Foundation’s support for the initiative reflects growing recognition among development partners that addressing Africa’s unemployment challenge requires moving beyond theoretical education toward practical, market-relevant skills training.
The timing of this commissioning is significant. Ghana, like many African countries, faces a youth unemployment crisis even as industries struggle to find qualified workers. This paradox exists largely because traditional education systems haven’t kept pace with evolving industry needs. Facilities like DTI’s welding centre represent attempts to close that gap by creating tight feedback loops between what’s taught in classrooms and what’s needed on factory floors and construction sites.
For the oil and gas sector, which has been central to Ghana’s economic planning since commercial oil production began in 2010, having locally certified welders could reduce project costs and timelines considerably. The same applies to ongoing and planned infrastructure projects in energy, transportation, and manufacturing where welding quality directly impacts safety and longevity.
The commissioning also sends a signal about Ghana’s readiness to compete in specialised technical services within the African Continental Free Trade Area framework. As industries across the continent seek to localise their supply chains and reduce dependence on expertise from outside Africa, centres of excellence like this one could become regional hubs attracting students from neighbouring countries.
There are questions, however, about scalability and sustainability. One facility, however well-equipped, can only train a limited number of welders annually. Dr. Buah-Kwofie’s call for similar centres across all regions suggests awareness that meeting national demand will require substantial additional investment and replication of this model. There’s also the matter of ensuring graduates find employment that matches their newly acquired skills, something that depends on broader economic conditions and the pace of industrial development.
Still, DTI’s achievement in securing AWS certification, the first institution in Africa to do so, demonstrates that meeting international standards is possible with proper planning, investment, and commitment. Whether other institutions can replicate this success, and whether Ghana can translate this capacity into meaningful employment outcomes for its youth, will determine whether this becomes a genuine turning point or simply an isolated success story in Ghana’s TVET landscape.
