Youth unemployment in Ghana and other African countries remains a major socio-economic and political problem. 

The growth of Ghana’s economy has been quite good but has not translated into enough jobs and businesses for the accelerated development of the labour force. Another problem facing youth graduates in Ghana’s second cycle and tertiary institution is the lack of practical self-employable skills. Many of these graduates are rendered jobless due to the collapse of many state-owned and managed industries and businesses.

Therefore, there is the need to equip these graduates with industrial and entrepreneurial skills which will enable them to develop products and services that can compete globally.

A report on the beauty cosmetics and skincare imports by country, published in 2019 by Daniel Workman shows that Ghana imports about 12.2 million Ghana Cedis worth of cosmetics/skincare products, about 0.02% of the world total (Daniel Workman, 2019). This is an indication of the booming interest in the sale and marketing of cosmetics/skincare products. Exports boost countries’ economic output, thus create jobs and increase wages.
 It is against this backdrop that the CSIR-IIR started this training programme in cosmetics, toiletries and candle production to equip the unemployed youth, women and anyone interested in setting-up their own businesses. Additionally, the training aims at educating trainees on;

• Basic cosmetic science
• The safe production and uses of cosmetics and soap
• latest packaging trends and styles
• Business management
• Business registration
• Product certification and
• Product registration