Lack of job opportunities compels youth to flee — Report
The country’s working-age population grew by 2.7 million from 2012 to 2023, with people competing for 250,000 available jobs.
The situation caused fewer young people to participate in the workforce, with their participation rate dropping from 62 per cent to 41 per cent, with some of them leaving the country in search of greener pastures.
These were contained in the World Bank Group’s ninth economic update, an annual publication that informs the public of economic issues and policy trade-offs launched in Accra yesterday.
Titled; “Addressing Labour Market Challenges and Opportunities in Ghana's Economic Landscape”, the report also revealed that high-quality job creation in higher-productivity sectors like manufacturing and services had been limited, resulting in workers predominantly moving to lower-productivity sectors and accepting low-quality jobs.
This had led to a lack of mid-level employment opportunities and little structural transformation in the last decade, with the agricultural sector remaining a large source of employment.
Highlight
The report also cited regulatory inefficiencies, trade barriers and inadequate infrastructure as some of the factors hindering private sector growth and its potential for job creation.
The particpants
Another challenge captured in the report was that even though there was rising education levels, the availability of high quality jobs was low.
“Despite increased educational attainment, only 13 per cent of workers held high quality positions defined as formal wage or high-skilled jobs in 2024.
“The influx of better-educated workers is not matched by growth in high-quality jobs, leading to declining returns to education and heightened competition for limited good jobs,” the study added.
The report further revealed that although there was high job mobility, there was limited upward progression.
Recommendations
The report highlighted three broad areas for policy attention in order to attract and retain private capital and create jobs.
It suggested the need for the country to make infrastructure investments in irrigation, transportation and energy to ensure effective business operations and market connectivity.
It also called for the expansion of the private sector to create more jobs by addressing structural constraints such as prevalence of informal firms and the limited integration within value chains while mobilising private capital.
Momentum
The World Bank’s Division Director for Ghana, Liberia and Sierra Leone, Robert R. Taliercio, urged the country to maintain the reform momentum and be steadfast in implementation.
“Enhancing fiscal discipline, strengthening public financial management, and carefully managing inflation and exchange rate volatility will be key.
“Energy sector reform, including thorough private sector participation is urgent to improve management effectiveness and collection of the energy revenues,” he said, adding that such reforms were needed to restore macro-financial stability to support economic transformation and sustainable growth for jobs.
Commitment
The Deputy Minister of Finance, Thomas Ampem Nyarko, said the government was committed to fostering decent employment opportunities.
In line with that, he announced an investment of GH¢ 410 million through the National Entrepreneurship and Innovation Programme, designed to unleash the creative potential of the youth.
He added that insights from the report would be incorporated into the 2026 budget discussions to ensure they aligned with national employment goals.
