MiDA Unveils Internship Programme For Ghanaian Youth

The Millennium Development Authority (MDA) has rolled out the Africa's Promise Initiative in Ghana, as part of the Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC) programme to build the technical and leadership skills of African Youth and to expand their horizon.

By the rolling out of the Initiative, which was announced in 2016 by the US Government, Ghana becomes the first Country, out of the seven, MCC Africa implementing countries, to implement the initiative that is expected to end in 2021.

MiDA, as the main implementing body of Ghana's MCC, is therefore providing a six-month internship for the first cohort of four young persons as interns, who are expected to support the implementation of the various projects under the Power Compact.

The Africa's Promise Initiative is targeted at young Africans with ages below 35, who make up nearly 60 per cent of the Continent's population, offering them internship programmes and the opportunity to work on Compact Programmes being implemented by their home countries.

Mr Martin Eson-Benjamin, Chief Executive Officer of MiDA, at a ceremony held on Monday to welcome the interns, said the four, two males and two females, were selected out of the over 66 candidates that applied to participate in this year's programme.

The four are; Ms Khadijatu Iddrisu, a 29 year old currently pursuing a Master of Arts in International Affairs at the University of Ghana and possessing a Bachelor of Technology in Procurement Management from the Koforidua University of Technology, and Mr Esmond Mahama Anarigede, 28 year old qualified Accountant from the Institute of Chartered Accountants, Ghana.

The others are; Mr Derrick Amanor Narkah, 24 year old who has a Bachelor of Science in Electrical/Electronic Engineering from the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST) and Ms Dzifa Adadevoh, a 33 year old who holds a Masters in International Commercial Law from the University of Leicester and a Bachelor of Art in Law (LLB) from the Southampton University.

Mr Eson-Benjamin congratulated the four for their success in the recruitment process, saying their selection indicated their quality and the efforts they put into the exercise.

He said the programme involved the offering of two batches of four interns an internship programme every six months at MiDA from this year until 2021.

He said the Africa's Promise Interns would support large-scale development projects that make up MCC-funded compact programmes with a focus on reducing poverty through economic growth.

Interns would learn best practices on project management including; financial and public sector management, in the local country context and be exposed to targeted professional development and networking opportunities in both the public and private sectors.

The Power compact would enable the interns to acquire skills that would undoubtedly prepare them for the job market after the six months internship, Mr Eson-Benjamin said.

Mr Kenneth James Miller, Resident Country Director of MCC said the training would offer the youth of Africa the opportunity to learn and fill the knowledge gap, as promised under the Compact.

He urged the interns to take the opportunity of the offer, make themselves useful and follow-through to help MiDA to successfully implement the entire MCC programme on time.

Ms Khadija Iddrissu on behalf of the interns, thanked MiDA and the MCC for the opportunity offered them, saying, they would take full advantage of the offers and learn the experiences to become better persons and good ambassadors of the Authority.

Seven countries, namely Ghana, Benin, Liberia, Malawi, Morocco, Niger and Zambia have been selected to implement the MCC which was being sponsored by the US Government of which the African countries have their share of financial commitments.

In August 2014, the Government of Ghana signed a five year Compact with the US Government, to receive US498 million to improve Ghana's power sector.

The Compact has six major Projects namely, the ECG Operational and Financial Turnaround Project, the NEDCO Operational and Financial Turnaround Project, and the Energy Efficiency and Demand Side Management Project.

The rest are the Access Project, the Regulatory Strengthening and Capacity Building Project and the Power Generation Sector Improvement Project.