Employment Ministry to establish Maritime Labour Unit

The Ministry of Employment and Labour Relations (MELR) will soon establish a Maritime Labour Unit at the Ministry which would work in close collaboration with the Ghana Maritime Authority to promote maritime labour in the country.

The Unit, when established, would also ensure the implementation of the Maritime Labour Convention, 2006 of the International Labour Organization (ILO) which Ghana has ratified.


The Minister of Employment and Labour Relations, Nii Armah Ashietey made the statement when he addressed staff and management of the Ethiopian Shipping and Logistics Services Enterprise (ESLSE) in Addis Ababa recently.


The Minister, Nii Armah Ashietey, who is also a renowned Maritime expert, was invited by the Ethiopian Government under the auspices of the ESLSE to the closing ceremony of the Golden Jubilee celebrations of the Company.


According to the minister, the envisaged Maritime Labour Unit under MELR would also examine a Report on Youth Employment in the Maritime Industry which was prepared a few years ago by the Ministry with UNDP support.


The Report contains useful recommendations related to youth employment in the maritime industry, he added.

The minister commended the performance of the Ethiopian Shipping Line for its contribution of eight billion Birr (about $400 million.) to the Ethiopian economy in 2013 and with an expectation to increase this to ten billion Birr (about $500million) in 2015. He expressed optimism that Ghana would reactivate its shipping line under a Public Private Partnership to boost the maritime industry to contribute more meaningfully to the country’s GDP.


He also envisaged that a maritime youth employment module would be developed under the Ghana Youth Employment and Entrepreneurial Agency (GYEEDA) when the programme is reformed and restructured to implement the recommendations of the UNDP Report .


Nii Armah Ashietey paid a courtesy call on Ghana’s Ambassador to Ethiopia, Mr. Albert Yankey, taking advantage to hold brief meetings with the staff and the Defense Advisor. He advised the Mission Staff to work hard and to lift high the flag of Ghana in all that they do.


The Ambassador, the Defense Advisor and staff all had a common message for the Minister i.e. appealing to the Government of Ghana as a matter of urgency, to construct a new Embassy building for the Mission to replace the existing one, which does not befit the status of Ghana as far as its role in the African unity discourse is concerned.


The minister was accompanied by R.S. KUUZEGH, the Director of Finance and Administration at the Ministry (F&A)