Volta Premier Fm
BY: Rustum Senorgbe
The United Nations Industrial Development Organisation, (UNIDO) has selected Ho Technical University to host the Ghana Circular Economy Project Centre – Ghana Innovation and Research Commercialisation Centre, (GIRCC). As part of stakeholder engagements in preparation for the project’s take-off, a team of officials from UNIDO on Thursday, July 11, 2024, called on the University’s management to assess the institution’s readiness and to engage focal persons.
At a brief ceremony at the University’s Council Chamber, Vice-Chancellor, Prof. Ben Honyenuga assured the team of the University’s efforts over the years to become a hub of technical and practical education, the preparedness of staff to support the project to its end and the provision of an office for the project staff. “we want to be a reference point for such initiatives, and we have what it takes to implement this project to the desired end”
The Centre’s mandate includes capacity building and education, resource mobilisation and management, research and innovation, policy influence and advocacy, among others for 5 years.
The Ghana Circular Economy project aims to support the commercialization of circular economy technologies of women, youth between the ages 15-35, private sector organizations, the informal sector to access resources that would enable them to identify, design, develop and scale up circular economy business models. The project is also expected to develop over 200 business models, train 2000 entrepreneurs and to provide platform for national, regional and international exchanges.
As the host institution, Ho Technical University will create the enabling environment for creativity and innovation, support circular economy mapping, develop policy briefs and case studies, plan events and also be involved in innovation pilot programmes, strategy, among others. The Ghana Circular Economy project will initially focus on three sectors: the University of Cape Coast will lead the plastic sector, Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology will lead the agriculture and agro-processing sector, the Or Foundation, an NGO in Accra, will lead the textile sector.
Stavros Papastavrou, Officer-in-Charge, Ghana Country Office, UNIDO expressed his hope for a successful collaboration with Ho Technical University. The other members of the team were Joseph Yeboah, National Project Coordinator and Peter Smalley, Industrial Development Expert.
Prof. Honyenuga led them to tour some labs of the University and the project office, located on the Agricultural Engineering Building.
Dr. Harrison Adjimah, the project team lead at HTU, added that the University is extremely excited to have been chosen as the Host Institution for the Ghana Circular Economy Centre through a highly competitive UNIDO bidding process. He said the project would put Ho and HTU on the global map and benefit numerous small businesses and those in the informal sector.
While there is not yet an internationally agreed definition of a circular economy, United Nations Environmental Assembly, describes a circular economy as “one of the current sustainable economic models, in which products and materials are designed in such a way that they can be reused, remanufactured, recycled or recovered (4-R) and thus maintained in the economy for as long as possible, along with the resources of which they are made, and the generation of waste, especially hazardous waste, is avoided or minimized, and greenhouse gas emissions are prevented or reduced”
UNIDO, Global Affairs Canada and the Ministry of Environment, Science, Technology & Innovation (MESTI), launched the Ghana Circular Economy Centre Project to support the country’s transition to a circular economy in 2022. The project is estimated at 7.5 million Canadian dollars.
