Stakeholders in Ghana’s refrigeration and air-conditioning (RAC) sector are working to increase women’s participation, skills development and leadership as the country prepares for growing demand for sustainable cooling solutions.
The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) are developing a Gender Equality Strategy for the RAC sub-sector to address barriers limiting women’s entry, retention and advancement.
The strategy is informed by a 2026 UNDP-Government of Ghana gender analysis, which found that women accounted for only 6.8 percent of enrolment in the RAC sector.
The findings point to limited awareness among girls and young women about RAC as a career option, alongside patriarchal norms and perceptions that technical refrigeration and air-conditioning work is better suited to men.
These factors affect women’s access to training and employment opportunities and can discourage them from remaining in the sector.
Women Face Barriers Despite Technical Skills
For 32-year-old Diana Quaicoe, a skilled female RAC worker and member of the Women in Refrigeration Association, having the necessary technical skills does not always translate into acceptance or opportunities.
“I have the skills and the interest to work in this space. But sometimes, getting accepted as a woman is still the difficult part,” she said.
Ms Quaicoe said women who entered the sector often had to repeatedly prove their competence in an industry largely dominated by men.
She said the constant pressure to demonstrate that they belonged could affect women’s confidence and discourage them from pursuing long-term careers in RAC.
Strategy Targets Recruitment, Training And Leadership
The proposed Gender Equality Strategy seeks to address those challenges through measures covering recruitment, skills development, workplace conditions, career progression and leadership.
One recommendation is to intensify early outreach to girls and young women through Junior High School and Senior High School programmes to introduce them to career opportunities in refrigeration and air-conditioning.
The strategy also proposes gender-responsive training programmes that are more inclusive and responsive to women’s needs.
Beyond attracting women into the sector, the strategy identifies retention and career progression as critical areas requiring attention.
This includes creating more supportive working environments, increasing opportunities for women to assume leadership positions and strengthening institutional and policy frameworks that promote gender equality.
Growing Demand Creates Opportunity
Stakeholders say the need to address gender gaps is becoming more urgent as demand for cooling services expands across Ghana’s economy.
Refrigeration and air-conditioning systems are critical to healthcare, agriculture, food preservation, hospitality and several other economic activities.
As Ghana transitions towards more sustainable cooling technologies, the demand for qualified professionals is expected to increase, creating opportunities for women with the appropriate technical skills.
Dr Abdul Razak-Saeed, Head of Environment and Climate at UNDP Ghana, said collective action would be required to ensure that women benefited equally from the sector’s growth.
“As demand for cooling continues to grow, we must ensure that women have equal access to the opportunities this sector creates,” he said.
He said stakeholders needed to work together to remove barriers limiting women’s participation and build a stronger and more inclusive cooling sector.
Government Reaffirms Commitment
Joseph Amankwa Baffoe, Programmes Coordinator of the National Ozone Unit at the EPA, said gender considerations must be fully integrated into efforts to develop Ghana’s RAC sector.
“Women continue to face significant barriers to entering and advancing in the refrigeration and air-conditioning sector,” he said.
He said the government remained committed to creating an enabling environment where women could access opportunities, build their skills and contribute meaningfully to the future of sustainable cooling.
Mr Baffoe said incorporating gender considerations into sector development would help ensure that the benefits of growth were more widely shared.
Stakeholders Validate Strategy
The issues were discussed at a Stakeholder Validation Workshop on the Gender Equality Strategy for Ghana’s RAC Sub-Sector, organised by the EPA and UNDP on August 21.
The workshop was held under the Institutional Strengthening (Phase XVI) Project, with support from the Multilateral Fund for the Implementation of the Montreal Protocol.
It brought together representatives from government, the RAC industry and women’s groups to review the findings of the gender analysis and provide inputs into the draft strategy and its implementation plan.
The validation process was intended to ensure that the proposed interventions were practical and reflected the realities women face in the sector.
For women already working in RAC, stakeholders say technical competence must translate into real opportunities to practise their profession, build careers, assume leadership positions and participate in shaping Ghana’s expanding cooling industry.
