Ghana

Opened in 2014, the program's deployment in Ghana is today characterized by a built stock of 112 VN worksites completed for the benefit of more than 950 people, an active workforce of 21 VN apprentices, masons, craftsmen and contractors, and the involvement of a local employee.

Identity card

  • Population in 2023 : 33.5 million inhabitants (41, % rural)
  • GDP per capita : $2,175 (World Bank 2022)
  • Climate: Sudano-Sahelian

History

  • 2012 and 2013 (Volunteers for Sustainable Development): exploratory missions and recruitment of the national coordinator (VSI)
  • 2014 (Building Skills): team formation and launch of the program in Bolgatanga in the Upper East Region, on the border with Burkina Faso
  • 2015 and 2016 (Building for the Future): first private and institutional construction projects, training for masons and apprentices, and institutional partnerships
  • 2017 : regional replication in Garu
  • 2018 : implementation of the UI-TI strategy

Territorial deployment

Building stock

To date, the VN housing stock in Ghana represents   112 completed projects   covering an area of approximately
3,400 m2, benefiting more than   950 people. The average annual growth rate   has been 2 %   since the program began in 2014.

The refocusing of activities on the Garu region in 2017 illustrates AVN's desire to develop the Ghanaian VN market among rural populations, the program's core target audience.

The building stock in figures

 in the 2022-23 season:

  • 7 construction sites representing a built area of 161 m2
  • 100% of projects for residential use in rural areas
  • 3 new locations with at least one new building
  • 86 % of projects found directly by masons, without
    the intervention of AVN teams
  • 88 new beneficiaries living or working in a VN

Updated August 2023

Forming the offer

In the 2022-23 season,   21 apprentices, masons, and craftsmen   including   4 masonry trainers are active in the new vehicle market in Ghana.

VN offer in figures

 in the 2022-23 season:

  • 21 active apprentices, masons, craftsmen, and contractors
  • 6 new apprentices who joined the training program
  • 15 learner qualifications validated


 training activities: 13 modules

  • 8 on-site training courses
  • 5 academy training courses

Updated August 2023

Partners

AVN's UI-IT strategy involves strong mobilization of partners.

 

 

l’INIFRCF (Institut National d’Ingénierie de Formation et de Renforcement des  Capacités des Formateurs)

 

Search For Common Ground

 

Outstanding projects and activities

Partnership with the Youth Harvest Foundation

News

Mon 24 Apr 2023

A Nubian Vault building for the Nongre Cultural Centre in Ghana

A new NV building for the Nongre Crafts and Culture Centre in Bolgatanga, northern Ghana, comprising a meeting room and a small library for the use of local children and their families, was completed in March this year. Their original timber and zinc roof building had been badly damaged in a storm several years ago.

 

Funds for the NV construction were raised by staff and students of the Faculty of Architecture at the Technical University of Vienna, and the associated Young Earth Builders group. Four architecture students from the University were involved in initial discussions about the design of the building, and also documented its construction as part of their degree work.

 

Construction was carried out by NV artisan builder Samuel Kogo and his team in liaison with AVN’s National Coordinator Emmanuel Atubiga. The Director of the Nongre centre, Adombila, and his staff are so pleased with this building, so much more robust and comfortable than their original one, that they hope to have a second NV built alongside it next season.

Tue 22 Oct 2019

Ghana : AVN and Bolgatanga Polytechnic University to collaborate on adapted housing

October 16th last, the Department of Construction Techniques and Civil Engineering of Bolgatanga Polytechnic and AVN-Ghana signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) to define and implement a pilot dual curriculum (theory and practice) for the training of construction technicians and the wider mobilisation of the entire adapted housing sector.

 

The first stages of this agreement involve the creation of a collaborative framework between the Polytechnic and AVN to identify the responsibilities and working methods of each party and to promote a multi-actor network of training involving not only the students, teachers, and Trainer Masons, but also experts in social entrepreneurship and other actors of the sustainable construction sector. A relevant action and fund-raising plan has been defined.

 

The Bolgatanga Polytechnic University is the first institution to have entered into such a technical agreement with AVN.