A National Housing & Builders Council (NHBC) Critical for Ghana’s Development

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A National Housing & Builders Council (NHBC) Critical for Ghana’s Development

By: Mr. Eric Amofa, a Project Management & Social Safeguards Consultant. 

Ghana’s development agenda requires bold, homegrown solutions—and one of the most urgent is the formal recognition and empowerment of our artisan workforce. I strongly propose the establishment of a National Council for Artisans and Builders: a legal, statutory body to regulate, professionalize, and harness the full potential of artisans, technicians, and builders across the country.

The Council will serve as a national regulatory framework to supervise, guide, and harmonize the activities of artisans, while coordinating closely with TVET institutions to modernize skills and ensure that artisans meet 21st-century industry standards. It will also certify, license, and accredit artisans and their associations—ensuring professionalism and reliability across the sector.

A critical function of the Council will be to enforce discipline and accountability. It must have the legal authority to sanction, suspend, or revoke licenses of artisans and associations who breach safety, ethical, or quality standards. This is vital to protect the public and uphold trust in the profession.

With a decentralized structure—including regional and district offices—the Council will facilitate registration, training, and monitoring at the local level, ensuring every district can build its own skilled workforce. This will reduce our dependency on foreign contractors, keeping more financial resources within the Ghanaian economy.

Importantly, a well-trained, certified artisan workforce opens the door for international labour export. With demand for skilled artisans growing across Africa and beyond, Ghana can position itself as a source of high-quality technical expertise, generating foreign income and creating overseas job pathways for our youth.

Countries like Burkina Faso, Mali, and Niger are already demonstrating the power of relying on local artisans to build national infrastructure. Their schools, roads, and public buildings are constructed by their own people—trained, trusted, and empowered. Ghana not only has the potential to match these efforts but to lead in West Africa.

Through my EKAJ Educational Fund, we have begun this work in Asante Akyem South, in partnership with the University of Cape Coast. But this local initiative must be scaled nationally. I call on the Ministries of Works and Housing, Employment and Labour, Local Government, and Education to collaborate on this initiative with vocational institutions, civil society, and the private sector.

The establishment of the National Council for Artisans is not just a policy suggestion—it is a nation-building strategy. It will transform our informal sector into a pillar of industrial growth, ensure quality in national infrastructure, create jobs, and export talent across borders.

It’s time to build Ghana with Ghanaian hands—and build them stronger.


Source: Mr. Eric Amofa, a Project Management & Social Safeguards Consultant.