Eni and Government inaugurates “Okuafo Pa” Agric training Centre

Accra, Nov 29, GNA – Eni, an Italian multinational oil and Gas Company and in collaboration with the Government of Ghana have inaugurated the Okuafo Pa Agricultural Training Centre in Dormaa East in the Bono region.

The centre is a pilot initiative of the Africa Project, which aims at supporting economic diversification in the agricultural sector through skill transfer and business support, and in particular by means of self-sustaining agricultural consortia.

A statement issued to the Ghana News Agency and signed by Claudio Descalzi, Chief Executive Officer, Eni said the agreement provided for a joint definition of mechanisms to facilitate access to credit in favour of the local communities and to use available international funds to promote sustainable development initiatives.

He said the initiative was aimed to achieve the United Nations 2030 Agenda’s Sustainable Development Goals (SDG), in particular on poverty; quality education; gender equality; clean water and sanitation; decent work and economic growth; responsible consumption and production; and private public partnerships.

He said professional training, skill acquisition is a precondition for social and economic development, and that Eni intends to play an active role in defining virtuous paths for sustainable growth in the countries in which it operates.

He said the training Centre was a concrete example of what ‘we can do if we pool our resources and those of our partners.’

The “Okuafo Pa campus” extends over an area of 40 hectares and includes experimental laboratories and farming areas. It would provide theoretical and practical vocational training to 800 students per year in the agricultural, agri-food and zoo-technical fields.

The project was equally enhanced by the collaboration with Cassa Depositi e Prestiti (CDP) a financial institution for international cooperation for development, which would ensure the identification of the most appropriated mechanisms to access credit, as well as others like Coldiretti and Bonifiche Ferraresi, which would guarantee support in the start-up of agricultural activities.

Eni and CDP, signed a cooperation agreement for the definition of sustainable development initiatives in the agri-business sector at the event.

The business and agricultural training project was inaugurated in the presence of the visiting Italian Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte, and Ghana’s Senior Minister Yaw Osafo-Maafo.

GNA