1 million jobs coming; gov’t outlines 3-year strategy to address youth unemployment

• Posted on July 29, 2021July 29, 2021
• by Nana Kwesi Coomson
• Comment

Government has outlined plans to create about 1 million jobs as part of a three-year strategy to address youth unemployment in the country.

Finance Minister, Ken Ofori-Atta made this known during his presentation of the mid-year fiscal policy review to Parliament on Thursday July 29, 2021.

According to him, though government through its flagship programmes like the 1 District 1 Factory (1D1F) and Planting for Food and Jobs (PFJ) has created significant number of jobs, the issue of youth unemployment in the country still persist and it is thus putting measures in place to create more and better jobs for young Ghanaians, both in the public and the private sectors of the economy.

He said: “I have had extensive discussions with my colleague Ministers of Employment and Labor Relations, Youth & Sports and Lands & Natural Resources. These conversations culminated in a comprehensive strategy to sustainably address youth unemployment. New programmes will be introduced and existing ones scaled-up and refocused to meet the aspirations of our youth.

“We will work together to sensitize and connect the youth to the numerous opportunities being made available by Government programmes, including a 3-year strategy to create job opportunities for 1 million Ghanaian youth. There are currently about 5 on-going programmes through which we intend to create these jobs,” he said.

Although the economic disruptions occasioned by the COVID-19 has led to more people losing their jobs, Mr. Ofori-Atta said government’s plan to reboot the economy and set it back in motion through the Gh¢100 billion Ghana CARES ‘Obaatanpa’ revitalization programme will be vital in the country’s journey towards the creation of this 1 million jobs.

This he said will help accelerate competitive import substitution and export expansion to generate sustainable jobs for the teeming youth (under 35 years), which constitutes about 71% of the population.