The Italian Ambassador to Ghana, Laura Ranalli, has led a delegation of Italian government–private sector cooperation entities to collaborate with Ghana’s Minister for Foreign Affairs and Regional Integration and Member of Parliament for North Tongu, Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa, to award science and agriculture scholarships to 61 students from the North Tongu Constituency for their four-year tertiary education.
The initiative forms part of a broader Ghana–Italy cooperation framework and reflects the deepening bilateral partnership between the two countries, particularly in education, economic development, trade, agribusiness, and community empowerment, driven by shared development priorities and mutual interests.
Mr. Ablakwa underscored the significance of the bilateral collaboration, noting that the latest scholarship awards bring the total number of scholarships secured for students in the North Tongu Constituency to 250 within the last six months, marking a major boost to human capital development in the area.
“I am grateful to our Italian partners for making this particular scholarship scheme possible. The Italian Ambassador, Laura Ranalli, led the Italian team which comprised CIHEAM Bari, MAECI, and BF. BF is an Italian agribusiness investment in my beloved North Tongu, creating hundreds of jobs and demonstrating a strong commitment to community development. This is truly a beautiful Ghana–Italy partnership.” Ablakwa said.
Italy continues to maintain a strong footprint in Ghana’s education sector, offering targeted interventions that complement the Government of Ghana’s efforts to improve educational access, quality, and relevance across all levels of learning, particularly in skills development and science-based disciplines.
The Italian delegation included representatives of CIHEAM Bari, an institution with a long history of multilateral and regional cooperation that delivers education and training, research, technical assistance, and capacity building in agriculture and sustainable development. Also represented were the Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation (MAECI) and the BF Group, a major Italian agribusiness investor operating in Ghana.
In 2025, the Italian government further demonstrated its commitment to Ghana’s education sector by offering a €5 million grant to support the expansion of Ghana’s Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) system, an area identified as critical for youth employment and industrial growth.
This intervention comes at a time when a UNICEF report has highlighted that the surge in enrollment resulting from Ghana’s free TVET policy, while encouraging, is placing significant pressure on infrastructure and undermining the effectiveness of Competency-Based Training (CBT), with implications for the quality of skills delivery, making international partnerships such as Italy’s increasingly vital.
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