Members of the Ghana Project Pordenone, in Friuli Venezia Giulia | Photo: ANSA
Members of the Ghana Project Pordenone, in Friuli Venezia Giulia | Photo: ANSA

With the arrival in Friuli Venezia Giulia of additional workers from Ghana specializing in logistics and transport, the Ghana Project -- focused on integrating them into Italian businesses -- continues to grow.

Additional workers from Ghana arrived in the Italian north-eastern region of Friuli Venezia Giulia. They are specialized in logistics and transport, and they were trained in the schools belonging to the Salesian Fathers in Accra and Sunyani, as part of the Project Ghana.

The initiative is promoted by Confindustria Alto Adriatico (CAA), the business confederation of the Adriatic area, in cooperation with the agencies Umana S.p.A. and Umana Forma.

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Approximately 300 people are part of the program

With the arrival last week of additional persons, the total number of people hired in Italian businesses through the program is almost 300. These workers will be employed, among the interested businesses, by Marine Interiors SPA of Pordenone and the Alf SPA of Gaiarine.

"The Ghana experimental Project is launched based on the Cutro Decree (issued after the disastrous shipwreck off the coasts of Calabria in 2023 with at leaast 180 dead, of which it bares the name) that is proving its efficiency: it offers a tangible response to businesses, and a regulated model for training and integration", stated the President of Confindustria Alto Adriatico (CAA), Michelangelo Agrusti, when he met those who had recently arrived in Pordenone.

The Deputy operational Director of CAA, Giuseppe Del Col, recalled how businesses that have already integrated the workers from Ghana, such as the Fincantieri Group and Cimolai SPA, expressed "extremely favorable evaluations on the level of technical competencies and capacity to integrate in the business culture of the workers".

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'The project follows the objectives of the Mattei Plan'

The project, which aims to bring young people trained at the Salesiani Academies in Ghana to Italy, is also financed with funds from Forma.Temp (training fund for temporary workers). It offers an integrated path: technical training in the country of origin, further specialization in Italy, and employment through Umana. The program also includes language learning, supported by Vis Ghana and certified by the University for Foreigners of Siena.

"The project confirms it is a model example of cooperation among institutions, businesses and civil society, allowing to bring together training, jobs and social integration, following the objectives of the Mattei Plan" (the plan by the Italian Government of collaboration with African countries), concluded Agrusti.

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