The Association of Ghana Industries Construction Sector has been launched in Accra with the mission of influencing the development and growth of the construction industry.

This will be achieved through effective stakeholder engagements and policy reform initiatives that will enhance the capacity and competitiveness of construction sector service providers in the country.

The launch was done at a stakeholder workshop to kick-start the process of developing a Local Content Policy for the construction industry in Ghana.

The workshop organised by the Association of Ghana Industries (AGI) Construction Sector in collaboration with of the Youth Inclusive Development Initiative for Employment (YIEDIE) agreed that the formulation and passage of the policy would address the numerous challenges including delayed payments for work done on government projects, lack of capacity to compete with foreign counterparts, inadequate financial capacity and training for players in the sector.

The workshop was under the theme "Local Content Policy:Panacea to Sustainable Development for the Construction Industry in Ghana."

Speaking at the event, Mr Rockson Kwesi Dogbegah, AGI Construction Sector Chair said the formulation local content policy would not only ensure increasing Ghanaian participation in the construction sector but would provide employment opportunities and help grow indigenous businesses in the construction sector.

He said the construction industry held good prospect for the development of the country and must be supported to grow.

He said the sector had great potentials for job creation and contributes greatly to the country's Gross Domestic Product, saying the sector since 2009-2013 had been contributing 34 per cent to the country's GDP.

Discussions at the event centered on measures needed to promote high local content in the building industry, Delay Payment Policy, Construction and Mental health Policy and the enactment of a Construction Industry Authority Bill, which would culminate in the creation of a construction industry authority to regulate the building industry.

The President of AGI, James Asare-Adjei said the prospects for the construction industry were high and indicated that there was growing demand for real estate houses and office accommodation in the country hence the need for a local content policy for the sector to further drive the growth.

The Minister of Railway Development, Joe Ghartey said government envisaged to invest more than $10 billion in the next four years to build rail lines and other ancillary projects.

He entreated players in the construction industry to position themselves to take huge chunk of the rail projects and disclosed that the ministry had received proposals from about 217 companies to participate in the rail project and was happy that about 80 per cent of the companies were indigenous ones.

The Director of YIEDIE Project, a programme under the Global Communities, an international non-governmental organisation, Kafui Vera Mills-Odoi, in an interview said her outfit was implement the YIEDIE project from now to 2020 to help the youth between 17 and 23 years to get jobs in the Construction Industry.

She said against that backdrop that her organisation supported the dialogue because it formed part of her outfit's effort to build a vibrant construction industry to help create jobs for the youth, especially women.

He said the construction industry offered a great opportunity for the youth between 17 and 23 years to be employed.

In another development, (AGI) Construction Sector has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Youth Inclusive Development Initiative for Employment (YIEDIE) to find innovative ways of using the construction sector to create jobs for the youth.