Aya Institute for Finance and Management, a non-for profit international training centre of excellence, emerged from a private partnership of the German Development Cooperation and four private partners under the develoPPP.de programme of the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development.

The other private partners are Krapa Ghana Foundation, IPC, an international consulting firm, and two German software companies specialising in e-learning and digital banking, Chemmedia and Quipu.

As part of the programme, a five-member Governing Council was inaugurated to oversee the organisation, namely Johanna OdonkorSvanikier, former Ambassador to France and Portugal and Chairperson of the Governing Council, Jim Reynolds Baiden, former Managing Director of Fidelity Bank, DorteWeidig, Managing Partner of IPC, John Maxwell Addo, A Human Resources Professional, and Mareike Wolter, Director of Training and Skills Development at IPC.

Speaking during the launch in Accra last Thursday,  the Executive Director of Aya Institute for Finance and Management, AbenaaKessewaa Brown, said the organisation was established in September last year to contribute to improvement in the capacities of future and current employees of the financial sector in Ghana.

She said the vision of the Aya Institute was to be a catalyst for development of people and ethical and inspirational leadership as well as socio-economic change across Africa.

Mrs Brown indicated that since the establishment of the organisation11 months ago, it had trained 400 personnel from the financial industry across 11 organisations.

They include Fidelity Bank, Petra Trust, The OmniGroup, Sinapi Aba Savings and Loans, absa, Dalex Finance, and SIC Life.

The Executive Director said the Ghanaian financial sector needed qualified and specialised staff to increase efficiency and remain competitive in the challenging evolving market environment.

“We are excited to introduce our unique learning experience to the financial services industry and all sectors of the Ghanaian economy, to help develop the skills of teams and improve their performance and productivity,” Mrs Brown said.

She said the Aya Institute offered technical and soft skills training in open and tailor-made programmes covering 80 modules as well as job-readiness modules.

Some of the modules, the Executive Director mentioned were Accounting, Audit and Compliance, Banking and Finance, Entrepreneurship, Human Resources Management, and Leadership Skills.

Ms Brown said Aya Institute had introduced Young Professionals Programme to build the skills of graduates and prepare them for the financial job market, indicating that for a start 50 graduates would benefit from the programme this year.

The Head of Sustainable Economic Development, GIZ-Ghana, Gerald Guskowski, said some graduates lacked the soft skills and technical competencies required by the job market.

 “This is exactly why together with our partners, we are introducing the Young Professionals Programme to nurture young graduates for the job market,” she said.

“Closing the employability gap and the mismatch between the industry’s high demand for qualified personnel, and the numerous job-seeking university graduates, very critical to the growth of the financial sector,” MrGuskowski said.

Doris Bloniarz, Regional Manager of IPC GmbH, said the Institute would help to build the right skills and attitudes for players in the financial sector.