Imani disappointed with establishment of Nation Builders Corps

Policy think tank, Imani Ghana, has expressed disappointment with the government’s decision to establish a Nation Builders Corps (NabCorp) to deal with the ever-escalating phenomenon of graduate unemployment.

Passing a verdict on the policy, Imani said in its preliminary assessment of the 2018 budget: “This programme is a reflection of policy incoherence and a myopic approach to solving the graduate unemployment challenge.”

Delivering the budget statement to Parliament last Wednesday, the Minister of Finance, Mr Ken Ofori-Atta, said the government would create a Nation Builders Corps which would employ at least 100,000 graduates next year

But Imani, in its statement, said the programme could not be the solution to the canker of graduate unemployment.

It questioned the viability of investing GHc600 million in the NabCorp when the amount could be channelled into other productive ventures such as agriculture to finance graduates interested in going into agriculture.

It said while the government had said that the focus of the budget was to revamp agriculture for food sustainability and to feed the numerous factories to be established under the one-district, one-factory policy, surprisingly the amount allocated to the Ministry of Agriculture was cut by 21 per cent, a decision that was likely to negatively affect productivity.

“However, the elephant in the room is the ageing cocoa and food crop farmers and the low interest of the youth to venture into agriculture. One would have thought a policy to engage graduates across the country would centre on finding innovative solutions to encourage graduates into agriculture.

“A more prudent solution to graduate unemployment will be to invest the GHc600 million allocated to NabCorp in providing financing through a seed fund to encourage more graduates into the value chain of agriculture,” the statement said.

Read also: TUC describes National Builders Corps as ambitious

Affront to NEIP

Imani further stated that the creation of NabCorp would be an affront to the National Entrepreneurial Improvement Policy (NEIP) which sought to create an entrepreneurial nation.

Citing “cheap funds” and business development plans as the biggest challenges graduates faced in starting businesses after their national service, it said it was regrettable that only GHc50 million was allocated to the NEIP as initial funding to support 500 youth businesses in 2018.

“The allocation to the nebulous NabCorp, when channelled to NEIP to create a special venture capital for graduate start-ups/projects, will create more sustainable jobs in the medium term,” it said.

Read also: 100,000 Graduates to be employed under Nation Builders Corps

Difference

According to the statement, since details were not given on the operationalisation of the NabCorp programme, it was difficult to differentiate between it and the compulsory one-year national service for graduates.

“The National Service programme already provides hands-on training and apprenticeship for graduates and transitions them well into the world of work after school, as they serve their nation in various sectors. What additional skills will the NabCorp offer graduates who have been trained for four years in specialised fields?” it asked.

It indicated that what graduates in Ghana needed were sustainable jobs created by a thriving private sector, entrepreneurial training and seed capital to start their own businesses.