Ghana’s economic growth remains heavily dependent on the mining and oil sectors, raising concerns about the country’s slow structural transformation and limited job creation, experts have said.
Speaking at the launch of the Productivity, Employment and Growth Report in Accra on February 24, 2025, Government Statistician Prof. Samuel Kobina Annim stressed the need for Ghana to rethink how labour and capital are combined across all sectors.
He noted that while productivity has improved over the past three decades, much of the growth has been driven by extractive industries, which contribute significantly to GDP but create few jobs.
“The data shows that while productivity has increased, much of this progress is confined to the mining sector, which does not generate enough employment opportunities,” he said.
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“If Ghana wants to double its quarterly GDP from GH₵48.2 billion to GH₵96.4 billion, we must rethink how efficiently we combine labour and capital across all sectors.”
Prof. Annim explained that productivity is not just about output per worker but also how efficiently labour and capital are used together.
He called for regular reporting on productivity to help policymakers assess its relationship with earnings and sectoral performance.
Productivity gains not translating into job creation
The report, released by the Ghana Statistical Service (GSS), shows that labour productivity in Ghana has increased by 240 per cent since 1991, surpassing the average for lower-middle-income countries.
Despite this, the economy has not undergone broad structural transformation, with growth concentrated in a few capital-intensive sectors.
Manufacturing, commercial agriculture, and utility industries expected to drive industrialisation are growing more slowly than mining and services.
Labour economist Prof. William Baah-Boateng of the University of Ghana said the slow pace of transformation is evident in employment patterns.
“Ghana has done well in maintaining economic growth, but we cannot say the same about transformation,” he said.
“With 80 per cent of the workforce in the informal sector and wages failing to keep pace with productivity, we need to rethink how we move workers into higher-value sectors.”
According to the report, manufacturing recorded a 14% increase in productivity between 2013 and 2022, yet employment in the sector grew by only 2.5 per cent.
The mining and quarrying sector, despite seeing the highest productivity growth, showed no net job gains.
Prof. Baah-Boateng pointed out that the dominance of informal employment is a major concern, as it limits workers’ ability to benefit from rising productivity.
He urged policymakers to focus on labour mobility, deliberately moving workers from low-productivity sectors such as household agriculture and informal services into industries that can generate higher wages and sustainable employment.
