BILT Lessons for AI Skills in Ghana’s TVET & SMEs

TVET (Technical and Vocational Education and Training) is where Ghana’s “AI in the workplace” story will either become real—or stay as conference talk. If you want AI to help SMEs write better proposals, manage customer communication, and keep cleaner accounts, then people need practical skills: basic digital fluency, data discipline, and job-ready problem solving.

That’s why UNESCO-UNEVOC’s BILT project (Bridging Innovation and Learning in TVET) still matters, even though its public launch happened years ago. BILT was built around a simple idea: TVET improves faster when institutions share what’s working, compare how it affects curricula and standards, then adapt it across regions. For Ghana, where the demand for tech-enabled work is rising and youth unemployment remains a pressure point, that peer-learning model is a blueprint we can borrow.

This post is part of our series “Sɛnea AI Reboa Adwumakuo Ketewa (SMEs) Wɔ Ghana”. The focus here is straightforward: how Ghana can use BILT-style approaches to train people who can actually apply AI in day-to-day SME work—admin, sales, bookkeeping, customer service, and operations.

What BILT gets right (and why Ghana should copy the method)

BILT’s core strength is not a single tool or curriculum. It’s the process: structured peer learning around real challenges—digitalization, green skills, entrepreneurship, migration, and new competencies.

At its 2019 launch (during the UNESCO-UNEVOC Global Forum in Bonn), BILT partners highlighted what many countries quietly struggle with: TVET can’t keep up if it changes only through slow policy memos. It moves when teachers, trainers, government, and industry stay aligned and keep testing what works.

Here’s the part Ghana can copy immediately: BILT workshops didn’t just showcase “cool innovations.” Participants examined:

• Added value: what problem does this training solve?
• Curriculum impact: what needs to change in learning outcomes and standards?
• Transferability: can another institution or country realistically adopt it?

That discipline matters for AI training. Most programmes fail because they start from software features instead of workplace tasks.

Peer learning beats “one big curriculum reform”

If you’ve worked with SMEs, you know the reality: needs vary wildly. A printing shop in Accra, a cassava processor in Cape Coast, and a construction firm in Tamale don’t need the same AI skills on day one.

Peer learning lets TVET institutions test small, practical modules—then share results quickly. It’s the difference between:

• A 2-year reform that arrives late, and
• A 12-week pilot that improves training this term.

Ghana doesn’t need to wait for a perfect national AI curriculum to begin. We need repeatable pilots and a network that shares outcomes honestly.

The five BILT themes, translated into Ghana’s SME reality

BILT’s themes map cleanly to what Ghanaian SMEs are asking for—whether they call it “AI” or not.

1) Digitalization/Industry 4.0 → “AI for everyday office work”

For many SMEs, AI starts with boring wins: writing, summarising, customer replies, and basic data handling.

What TVET can teach (job-ready, not abstract):

• Creating standard operating procedures (SOPs) and templates using AI
• Writing invoices, quotations, and tender letters with consistent formatting
• Turning WhatsApp customer chats into a simple CRM-style log
• Basic spreadsheet hygiene: clean data in, useful reports out

My stance: if learners can’t manage files, email, and spreadsheets confidently, “AI skills” won’t stick. TVET should treat digital fundamentals as non-negotiable.

2) Greening → “AI-assisted efficiency”

Greening isn’t only about solar panels. For SMEs, it’s often about reducing waste and improving efficiency.

Practical training examples:

• Using simple forecasting (even in spreadsheets) to reduce over-ordering
• Tracking fuel use and delivery routes for logistics SMEs
• Inventory discipline to cut spoilage for food businesses

AI doesn’t need to be complex here. It can be as simple as teaching learners to:

• Categorise expenses properly, then
• Use AI to summarise trends and recommend actions.

3) Entrepreneurship → “AI for sales and customer growth”

Most Ghanaian SMEs don’t fail because the founder lacks passion. They fail because systems are weak: inconsistent customer follow-up, poor record keeping, unclear pricing, and messy cash flow.

TVET entrepreneurship modules should include:

• AI-assisted marketing copywriting (with brand voice rules)
• Customer segmentation from basic purchase histories
• Proposal writing for corporate and government supply opportunities

Teach learners to produce assets SMEs can use immediately: a one-page capability statement, a pitch deck outline, a customer follow-up calendar, and a monthly reporting template.

4) Migration → “skills recognition and workforce mobility”

BILT flagged migration as a major challenge—recognising skills and qualifications across borders.

For Ghana, think broader: labour mobility happens internally too (north–south movement, rural–urban shifts) and across West Africa.

TVET can help by moving toward skills evidence, not just certificates:

• Portfolio-based assessment (work samples, logged tasks, projects)
• Micro-credentials for discrete competencies (e.g., “basic bookkeeping with digital tools”)
• Standardised rubrics that employers understand

This approach also makes hiring easier for SMEs: show me what you can do, not only what you studied.

5) New qualifications and competencies → “how AI changes job roles”

BILT discussions separated two realities that Ghana must also manage:

1. System level: how competencies enter curriculum and training regulations
2. Practice level: how teachers and trainers actually teach them day-to-day

You can write “AI literacy” into a syllabus and still graduate learners who can’t apply it.

BILT identified four approaches to integrating new competencies:

• Cross-cutting (applies across programmes)
• Sector-specific
• Occupation-specific
• Modular

A launch-day audience poll favoured cross-cutting most (36%). That preference makes sense for Ghana right now.

Cross-cutting AI skills: the fastest win for Ghana’s TVET

Cross-cutting skills mean every learner—business, hospitality, construction, garment making—gets foundational competencies that travel with them.

For Ghana’s “AI ne Adwumafie ne Nwomasua” agenda, cross-cutting should include:

• Prompting as communication: giving clear instructions, checking outputs, improving drafts
• Data habits: naming files, tracking versions, clean tables, consistent categories
• Ethics and privacy: what not to upload, how to protect customer data
• Quality control: verifying facts, checking numbers, avoiding copied misinformation

Here’s a snippet-worthy rule I wish more training programmes would adopt:

If a learner can’t explain the output, they don’t own the skill yet.

What this looks like in an SME internship

A solid TVET-to-SME pathway could require learners to complete a simple “AI productivity log” during attachment:

1. One admin task improved with AI (e.g., invoice wording, proposal drafting)
2. One customer task improved (e.g., FAQ responses, follow-up messages)
3. One finance task improved (e.g., expense categorisation, weekly cash summary)
4. One reflection: what went wrong, what was corrected, what was verified

That’s training that employers can feel.

Public–private partnership: BILT’s most practical message

BILT kept returning to one point: TVET works when industry helps define the skills. Not as a last-minute reviewer, but as a co-designer.

For Ghana, public–private partnership shouldn’t mean a ceremonial MOU. It should mean employers commit to three things:

• Competency definition: “This is what we expect a trainee to do in week 2, week 6, week 12.”
• Real data and scenarios: anonymised invoices, sample customer messages, inventory sheets.
• Placement slots with supervision: SMEs get support so internships aren’t just errand-running.

If SMEs are the end users of these skills, SMEs must help shape training. Otherwise, institutions will train for yesterday’s jobs.

A simple Ghana-ready model: the 90-day TVET–SME AI sprint

If I were advising a TVET institution in Ghana, I’d start with a 90-day sprint:

• Weeks 1–2: baseline assessment (digital skills, writing, spreadsheets)
• Weeks 3–6: cross-cutting AI productivity modules (admin, customer, finance)
• Weeks 7–10: sector projects (hospitality, retail, construction, agro-processing)
• Weeks 11–12: SME attachment with measurable deliverables

Success metrics (keep them measurable):

• % of learners who can produce a clean monthly expense summary
• Average time saved on a standard quotation/proposal
• Employer rating on communication quality and accuracy

People also ask: practical questions Ghanaian SMEs raise

“Do we need advanced AI tools to start?”

No. Start with workflow clarity: what task repeats weekly, who does it, what inputs it needs, what a good output looks like. Then add AI to speed up drafting and summarising—while humans verify.

“Won’t AI replace staff?”

In SMEs, AI usually replaces messy processes, not good people. A staff member who learns to use AI for reporting and customer replies becomes more valuable, not less.

“How do we stop learners from copying wrong AI answers?”

Build assessment around verification. Require learners to show sources of numbers (their books), explain decisions, and submit drafts with revision notes.

What Ghana should do next (and what SMEs can do this week)

BILT’s big lesson is that modernization doesn’t arrive as one heroic reform. It arrives through shared practice, tested modules, teacher training, and employer involvement.

If you’re in TVET leadership, pick one cross-cutting package—digital basics + AI productivity + ethics—and run pilots across departments, not just IT.

If you’re an SME owner or manager, start smaller:

• Choose one recurring pain point (quotations, follow-ups, expense tracking)
• Document your current steps in a one-page SOP
• Train one staff member or intern to improve that workflow with AI, then measure time saved

This series is about Sɛnea AI Reboa Adwumakuo Ketewa (SMEs) Wɔ Ghana—and the honest truth is that the best AI strategy is still a people strategy. Skills first. Evidence of work. Partnerships that aren’t decorative.

If Ghana built a BILT-style peer learning network across TVET institutions and SMEs, what would you nominate as the first module: customer communication, bookkeeping, or proposal writing?