Road to Election 2024: Do party manifestos address jobs issue?

Amid Ghana's economic difficulties, symbolised by unemployment rates, periodic elections provide a window of opportunity to compel action from those who run affairs or seek to do so.

Graduate unemployment, unskilled and/or uneducated youth, low income levels, and the lack of access to basic facilities, including recreational amenities, amplify the issues that define the challenges of Ghana's economy.

Indeed, the Annual Household Income and Expenditure Survey Quarter Three Labour Bulletin by the Ghana Statistical Service indicated that the average rate of unemployment in the country had risen to 14.7 per cent in the first three quarters of 2023.

It said the number of unemployed youth aged between 15 and 35 rose from about 1.2 million to over 1.3 million during the same period, specifying that the rate among females was consistently higher than males.

Unemployment rate is the percentage of a country's labour force that are without jobs but are available to work and actively seeking employment.

Such is the importance of the subject that 60 per cent of respondents to a poll run by graphic.com.gh said the economy ranked as their priority as far as the December 7 polls were concerned.

Ghana’s unemployment rate is, however, below the continental figure, with South Africa expected to record about 30 per cent rate in 2024, while Djibouti and Eswatini, having unemployment rates of 28 and 25 per cent respectively, according to the respected economy and politics platform Statista.

Given the importance of the subject, the economy and employment has been key joint subject in elections contests, at least under the country's Fourth Republic.

Statista published in July 2024 that almost half of Ghana's population works in the service sector, and around 33 per cent work in agriculture. The population is relatively young, with only around three per cent of the total population aged 65 or older.

This explains why the joint issue of employment and the economy remains important to the voting population.

Parties positions

For the 2024 elections, the major parties have proposed varied initiatives to address the perennial issue of unemployment and job creation.

The NDC touts the 24-hour economy policy as the game changer, emphasising that it will be the foundation for the economic resurgence the party promises.

"The 24-Hour Economy policy aims to transform Ghana into an import-substitution and export-led economy," the manifesto says, while promising a Women’s Development Bank, a National Apprenticeship Programme, an ‘Adwumawura’ Programme aimed at facilitating the creation, tracking and mentoring of a minimum of 10,000 businesses annually, digital jobs initiative involving a $3 billion investment, a million coders programme, among others.

NPP's priority

The NPP manifesto states that the number one priority is to stimulate businesses and create jobs, with a strong focus on the private sector.

"Our commitment to you is to invest in the growth of Ghanaian businesses, create millions of secure jobs for the youth, ensure individual and collective prosperity, safe communities, and to offer you a problem-solving leadership of integrity," the document states.

Those commitments, it said , would be delivered by sustaining and expanding "Ghana's rebounding economy", creating new jobs, including training a million, among other interventions.

Alan’s 10-Point Plan

Alan Kyerematen, an Independent presidential candidate and leader of the Movement for Change in his Great Transformation Plan, said he would focus on job creation, particularly for the youth, adding that his 10-Point Youth Empowerment Plan he introduced recently was aimed at addressing the high unemployment rates in the country.

The plan included supporting youth-owned businesses, installing 100,000 health booths to be managed by the youth, assisting the youth in mining communities to own small-scale mining companies, and promoting youth involvement in agriculture and industrialisation.

Cheddar 12 Pillars

The Leader of the New Force Movement and an Independent Presidential candidate, Nana Kwame Bediako popularly called Cheddar in his “12 Pillars for Economic Freedom” said he would generate 8 million jobs over the 10 years when he elected as President.

This bold initiative aims to tackle unemployment and stimulate economic growth across the nation.

Cheddar’s strategy focuses on several key sectors, including industries, mineral resources and agriculture.

By investing heavily in these sectors, the plan seeks to create a diverse range of job opportunities, catering to various skill levels and educational backgrounds.

Expert

A Professor of Finance, Chartered Economist and Barrister at the University of Cape Coast, Professor John Gatsi, said governments could deal with unemployment through the expansion of existing businesses, through new opportunities and new venture creations.

"So, if you are having an economy that is expanding in an inclusive manner, then you have a policy that is truly going to address unemployment, especially for the young people.

So, the first policy that we should see, that should give us hope that we are going to tackle the unemployment situation is the productivity of the country.

"(We have to analyse) Whether we have policies that are focusing on productivity of the economy because that is what is going to bring about business expansion. That is what is going to create new venture opportunities and businesses.

Then we can add institutional reforms to job creation," Prof. Gatsi told the Daily Graphic.

He said both the NDC and the NPP had talked about digital economy, specifically in relation to training up to a million young people in coding.

"So, that is one area that if we are able to do, can give some respite," he said.

The lecturer, however, stressed that "all the youth who are unemployed cannot be IT experts, cannot be focusing on IT to get jobs. So, we also need to expand job opportunities through economic engagement in other sectors".

He said manifesto content that put some focus on agriculture was good as an alternative to the other proposed interventions.

"Looking at the risk in agriculture, bringing on board coordinated approach from regulated institutions like the Bank of Ghana, Ministry of Finance, Ministry of Food and Agriculture to focus on coordinating in terms of agriculture so that the sector could serve as an instrument for currency protection and also serve as an instrument for expansion of agribusinesses and the rest.

"So, there are some indicators in both poster parties' manifestos that show that there is some understanding as to how to approach the canker of unemployment to see that we defeat it," Prof. Gatsi said.

"The question is can these proposals contained in the respective manifestos address the subject of unemployment? The proposals can only address some aspects of unemployment.

And we need much more than just the IT skills to solve unemployment. So, the new ideas in agriculture, for example, can also bring about job creation," he added.

Implementation challenges

Lecturer and sustainable banking consultant, Eugene B.G. Bawelle, said the central themes of the manifestos of the two major political parties dwelt on the creation of jobs.

"Both NDC and NPP, for example, have promised to train a million young people in coding. The NDC goes a step further to talk about its human resource gap analysis within Ghana’s public sector, as well as the establishment of various financial interventions to support small and medium scale businesses," he analysed.

Mr Bawelle explained, however, that the major problem was "the effective implementation of these interventions when these parties come to power".

He said examples of how badly such interventions had been implemented in the past were replete, "hence, even though the issue of unemployment seems to have a considerable amount of attention in the manifestos, the main concern will be how the political parties will efficiently implement these policies to curb the growing unemployment menace".

Cause of situation 

Isaac Doku of the Economics Department of the University of Education, Winneba, diagnosed the unemployment situation as partly caused by weak laws and institutions in the country.

He said the NPP, for instance, had proposed to deal with youth unemployment by creating a youth employment fund dedicated to projects and programmes that engage young people in productive work; facilitate mentorship and training programmes that connect youth with experienced professionals in various sectors; and digital job creation.

"Interestingly, most youthful entrepreneurs in Ghana today are looking for opportunities to exit the country. Their capital has been usurped by the constant depreciation of the cedi and constant rise in their production cost.

What surprises me the most is that new foreign companies entering the Ghanaian market are allowed to operate tax free for several years.

Meanwhile, Ghanaians operating in their own country will begin to pay taxes with several harassment from revenue authorities immediately they begin operation. We tend to forget that most businesses will begin to break even in their third year as research shows. 

"The major opposition party is hitting largely on a 24-hour economy policy of three shifts to encourage and support businesses; Adwumawura programme; digital jobs and one million coders programme.

"As explained by the 2024 Nobel Prize winners why there is large income inequality between rich and poor countries, they mentioned that societies with poor rule of law and institutions that exploit the population do not see growth. Until we strengthen our institutions to work and pay realistic wages to employees, there is no hope.

"Corruption, armed robbery and galamsey are commonplace in Ghana because minimum wage is GHc18.15 compared to the price of bread of GHc20," Mr Dokubsaid.

He added that the youth are "still impoverished even if he is employed", and so find it better to engaged in other illegal activities or emigrate.

"That is why most youths are interested in employment that comes with power and authority, like the police and military, to use them to their advantage," the business consultant added.

Growing concern

Professor of Finance and Economics at the University of Ghana, Legon, Professor Godfred Bokpin, it was good that the political parties had recognised the growing unemployment in the country.

"They've all also articulated how they are going to address that. In fact, if you count the number of times that the word jobs appear in the manifestos, it's quite a lot. And then also, you see that, especially the two main political parties, there's a shifting attention on the youth.

"There's a shifting attention on the youth. There are specific interventions that they have all mentioned. That will create jobs.

"The question that all of them have not been able to answer is how is this going to be financed? And what are the timelines? First year, second year, third year, what are the timelines? What are the specific interventions and operational strategies?"

Prof. Bokpin said if the parties would be able to translate all their promises into reality, the jobs potential would be a lot.

"But I can assure you, the four years will be too short to implement even 40 per cent of the promises they've all made," he emphasised, adding that all the parties were planning for no less than eight years in office, given the nature of their respective manifestos.

The respected academic said while the NDC's 24-hour economy policy would need time to materialise, the NPP's intention to rely on the private sector looked questionable.

"Private sector is not for charity," he said. "Entrepreneurs don't go into business to create jobs. It's never their goal. Entrepreneurs go into business to create value. So their preoccupation is not to solve unemployment."

The lecturer said while tax reforms being proposed by the major parties, including the scrapping of e-levy and betting tax, were good, it would lead to revenue shortfalls, which would need to be addressed through some other interventions.

"And then also, we are under an IMF-supported programme. What it means is that within the first year of implementation or the first two years, you may not be able to have that scope to manoeuvre your way through in implementing many of those promises.

So the four years is too short to even implement 40 per cent of the promises they have made," he said.