Kojo Oppong Nkrumah, Member of Parliament for Ofoase/Irebi, has proposed 5 concepts for presidency to undertake to resolve the worsening drawback of youth unemployment within the nation.
He recommended the necessity for governments to anchor all employment applications to a broadcast efficiency scorecard with clear metrics on beneficiaries, value per job created, time to employment and job retention.
He additionally advocated separating expertise creation from job creation and financing in separate methods, saying that coaching expertise with out creating demand for expertise will solely result in disappointment.
“Shift financing fashions from sovereign lending to non-public mobilization. Whereas non-public capital drives large-scale job creation, governments ought to deal with de-risking, co-investment and regulatory readability,” he recommended.
apprentice financial system
Mr. Oppong Nkrumah has launched an announcement on the rising youth unemployment price in Ghana, calling on the federal government to
The apprenticeship financial system is the spine of our youth employment technique by means of nationwide {qualifications}, employer co-funding and clear routes to employment or self-employment.
“We proposed making a dependable labor market info system that might publish well timed district-level knowledge on vacancies, sectoral demand, expertise gaps, graduate scholar absorption, and so on. to information coverage and finances choices,” he stated.
disturbing unemployment statistics
Rating Member of the Financial Improvement Committee, Mr Oppong Nkrumah, stated that as of December 2024, the unemployment price amongst Ghanaian youth between the ages of 15 and 24 stood at 32 per cent, in keeping with knowledge from the Ghanaian Bureau of Statisticsâ Quarterly Labor Drive Statistics.
By the third quarter of 2025, this quantity rose to 32.5%, he stated.
âWithin the Accra metropolitan space, the youth unemployment price will attain 49.3 per cent within the third quarter of 2025, with virtually one in two youths within the metropolitan space unemployed,â he stated.
He stated the GSS additionally confirmed that seven out of 10 unemployed Ghanaians are underneath the age of 35.
âGSS classifies 1.34 million younger folks aged 15 to 24 as not in schooling, employment or coaching.
âIf Ghana’s Nationwide Youth Coverage definition applies as much as the age of 35, practically 2 million Ghanaian youth might be with out earnings or instructional attainment, and that quantity will rise to 1.95 million,â he stated.
Let’s all take accountability
Mr Oppong Nkrumah, Rating Member of the Financial Improvement Committee, stated the nation’s unemployment drawback was not a basic drawback with a youth dimension, however a youth drawback and the burden was getting worse.
He bluntly acknowledged that no authorities, together with the earlier New Patriotic Social gathering authorities, had absolutely resolved the difficulty, including: “All of us should take accountability.”
Mr. Oppong Nkrumah requested what’s presently being executed to fight unemployment and whether or not it’s working nicely, referring to the assorted employment-related applications proposed by the present authorities as aid measures.
He cited guarantees of a 24-hour financial system, one million programmer program, the Adumaura program and 250,000 jobs a 12 months.
He stated the 24-hour financial system was launched in July 2025, however the powers invoice was solely launched within the Home of Commons in February, and issues have already been raised that it doesn’t present for the promised shift system or job development.
âThe 1 Million Programmers program acquired over 90,000 purposes in 48 hours, exhibiting the starvation amongst younger folks.
“Nevertheless, this system’s web site was successfully taken offline by November 2025 and relaunched with plans to enroll 30,000 folks within the first cohort,” he stated.
issues worsen
Concerning Adumaula, he stated that though a goal of 10,000 companies per 12 months was introduced, solely 475 entrepreneurs had been awarded grants by March 2026, 11 months after its launch.
He recalled how on November 12 final 12 months, 21,000 youths gathered at Erwak Stadium for recruitment coaching for the Ghana Armed Forces.
He stated six folks had died and an extra 5 have been in intensive care within the rush, with simply 2,000 folks competing for spots.
“The query we face is whether or not these applications will work or whether or not we urgently want new job creation methods,” he stated.
“Ghana’s youth don’t need slogans. They need viable applications that create dignified, productive and well-paid jobs,” he stated.
