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Unemployment and underemployment are global development challenges. The situation in Ghana is no different. In 2016, it was projected that, given the country’s growing youth population, 300,000 new jobs would need to be created each year to absorb the increasing numbers of unemployed young people. Yet the employment structure of the Ghanaian economy has not changed much from several decades ago. Most jobs are low skill, requiring limited cognitive or technology know-how, reflected in low earnings and work of lower quality. An additional challenge for Ghana is the need to create access to an adequate number of high-quality, productive jobs. This report seeks to increase knowledge about Ghana’s job landscape and youth employment programs to assist policy makers and key stakeholders in identifying ways to improve the effectiveness of these programs and strengthen coordination among major stakeholders. Focused, strategic, short- to medium-term and long-term responses are required to address current unemployment and underemployment challenges. Effective coordination and synergies among youth employment programs are needed to avoid duplication of effort while the country’s economic structure transforms. Effective private sector participation in skills development and employment programs is recommended. The report posits interventions in five priority areas that are not new but could potentially make an impact through scaling up: (1) agriculture and agribusiness, (2) apprenticeship (skills training), (3) entrepreneurship, (4) high-yielding areas (renewable energy†“solar, construction, tourism, sports, and green jobs), and (5) preemployment support services. Finally, with the fast-changing nature of work due to technology and artificial intelligence, Ghana needs to develop an education and training system that is versatile and helps young people to adapt and thrive in the twenty-first century world of work.
Youth unemployment in Ghana increases in parental wealth. This occurs because, without unemployment insurance, only workers with sufficiently high parental wealth can afford to remain unemployed, and do so to search for scarce, high-productivity jobs. I estimate a structural model of endogenous education, employment and occupational choice to quantify this effect; I demonstrate that it leads to low educational attainment, high income inequality, and low match efficiency among workers of heterogeneous ability. I decompose the effect of wealth on average lifetime earnings into education and unemployment channels, and show that the latter accounts for 37% of the total effect. Further, I compare the effectiveness of two alternative policy interventions: an education subsidy and unemployment insurance. I find that the former is most effective at increasing aggregate productivity, but comes at the cost of increasing income inequality, while the later has a smaller effect on aggregate productivity, but also decreases inequality.
This youth employment inventory has been compiled to improve the evidence base for making decisions about how to address the problem of youth unemployment or youth who are not in education and not participating in the labor market in Ghana. Policy makers who are considering measures to help young people make the transition into the labor market and obtain decent work are hampered by a lack of information on the various options, the effectiveness of the options in different situations, and options that have been tried and failed among different youth profiles. To guide public policy and inform private efforts, more evidence is needed about the effectiveness of different initiatives and approaches in promoting youth employment and fostering a smooth transition from education and training to work. This study takes a modest step in this direction by mapping youth employment initiatives in Ghana. The government of Ghana has undertaken many initiatives to address the youth unemployment challenges. At the same time, many private sector organizations, some for private entities and others that are nonprofit efforts, have undertaken training programs to contribute to and improve the labor force in Ghana. The key focus of youth employment initiatives in Ghana is skills development and training, entrepreneurial training, apprenticeship, employment services, and direct employment. A total of 40 youth employment programs have been analyzed for this report. Of these, 18 are in the public sector and are implemented by government ministries, departments, and agencies (MDAs). The other 22 interventions are implemented by the private sector, which includes corporate entities, nongovernmental organizations (NGOs), and civil society organizations (CSOs). The existing programs are highly concentrated around skills development, training, and entrepreneurship training. Apprenticeship programs are more common in public sector programs, where over a third of programs offer apprenticeships.
According to the Ministry of Manpower, Youth and Employment the causes of youth unemployment in Ghana include the following the introduction of the Junior Secondary School and Senior Secondary School system without adequate planning for integration into the trades/vocations and job placement; education and training have no link to the needs of the important sectors of the economy; the near collaps. [...] In addition, other initiatives were undertaken, including the introduction of the National Youth Volunteer Programme by the Ghana National Service Scheme; the establishment of the Youth Venture Capital Fund; the enactment of a new Labour Law (Act 561) to ensure a more flexible labour market environment; the enactment of the Disability Bill to address the employment needs of young persons with disa. [...] In the first place, the wage sub-market in Ghana continues to exhibit features of a dual labour market for various types of skills: (1) market for labour by the government as the largest employer of labour in the formal sector and (2) market for labour by the private sector. [...] While the increase in the number of firms in the Ghanaian labour market did not bring about a commensurate increase in the size of firms and the number of jobs created, it has stimulated the demand for various types of skills. [...] One of the greatest opportunities in addressing the unemployment challenge is the commitment of the government as evidenced in the 2006 Budget statement with its thrust in addressing the problem of youth employment in the country.
This timely book introduces a fresh perspective on youth unemployment by analysing it as a global phenomenon. Ross Fergusson and Nicola Yeates argue that only by incorporating analysis of the dynamics of the global economy and global governance can we make convincing, comprehensive sense of these developments. The authors present substantial new evidence spanning a century pointing to the strong relationships between youth unemployment, globalisation, economic crises and consequent harms to young people’s social and economic welfare worldwide. The book notably encompasses data and analysis spanning the Global South as well as the Global North.
Ghana, like the rest of West Africa is experiencing tremendous human migration both internally and across international boundaries. Rural-urban migration has assumed uncontrollable dimensions in the sub-region and the social consequences have become major development challenge. In Ghana the mining communities have been at the receiving end for some time now. This study on the Obuasi Municipal Assembly (OMA) in the Ashanti region of Ghana explores the tremendous socioeconomic changes, especially demographic patterns as a result of the inflows of migrants into the Obuasi Township and its catchment area in search of non existing jobs especially in mining. A major outcome is the serious unemployment problem in the township with all the attendant social vices. A three-month socio-economic study of the municipality was carried out to determine the scope of unemployment. The study showed that there is acute unemployment situation in the municipality which is due to the fact that AngloGold Ashanti, a mining giant in Ghana, the major employer, has limited job openings especially for menial workers who flock to the company. Other income generating opportunities are few. Agriculture which has the capacity to employ majority of the unemployed youth does not appeal to them because it is considered not lucrative. The acute unemployment situation has contributed significantly to the high crime rate, prostitution and widespread illegal mining activities with their attendant problems. The study explores options that are feasible for a typical mining setting especially for the youth who are very vulnerable and susceptible to crime and other social vices. Job creation, through the development and implementation of sustainable programmes aimed at training the youth to acquire the necessary employable skills is one of the options considered by the municipal managers and their partners. The study also looks at broader policy implications for the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS).
A study prepared by the United Nations University World Institute for Development Economics Research (UNU-WIDER)
"The series is sponsored by the Agence Francaise de Developpement and the World Bank."
This book makes recommendations for how Ghana can mainstream youth issues in its development strategies, providing baseline evaluations of socio-economic issues that particularly affect the youth demographic, such as underemployment, a lack of access to quality education and poverty.