By Mercy Nimo
Stakeholders at a national forum in Accra have raised concerns about the alarming rates of unemployment among the youth in the country and are calling on the government to, as a matter of urgency, implement a sustainable response to curtail the menace. The stakeholders at the National Forum, organized by the Ghana Catholic Bishops Conference in partnership with Konrad-Adenauer Stiftung and Sahel Peace Initiative in Accra, made the call against the backdrop of a report by the Ghana Statistical Service survey revealing that 68.5 percent of people working in Ghana were engaged in vulnerable employment — that is, workers without employment and income security who do not have access to social security or any form of social and legal protection. The national forum was under the theme Political Economy of Conflict in Ghana: Addressing Youth Unemployment as a Catalyst for Security and Social Cohesion.
The latest labour force statistics available is the Third Quarter Labour Statistics Bulletin published by Ghana Statistical Service in February 2024. It reports that in 2023, 14.9 percent of the youth between 15 and 19 years were unemployed, meaning they were available for work but without jobs. Among those aged between 20 and 24 years, the rate was higher at 36.6 percent. The unemployment rate for the total youth population — that is, those aged between 15 and 24 years — was 23.7%. This means 754,000 young people between 15 and 24 years were looking for jobs but could not find them. The publication again reports that 1.25 million youths were not in employment, education, or training — hence, idle. It is known that conflicts are usually generated when there are high rates of unemployment among the youth; parties in disputes take advantage of idle youths and influence them to cause mayhem, perpetrate crime, and destabilize societal peace. In the quest to find pathways to avoid these problems, stakeholders have stressed the need for government to swiftly and effectively ensure that the majority of the youth are in gainful employment.
In her remarks, the Country Director of Konrad-Adenauer Stiftung (KAS-Ghana), Ms. Anna Lena Sabroso-Wasserfall, called for the need to build lasting solutions aimed at tackling the root causes that transcend borders. She said the work of Konrad-Adenauer Stiftung in Ghana and West Africa focuses on strengthening good governance, social cohesion, and peace — especially in areas where young people face exclusion, lack of opportunities, and insecurity.
“One of the issues we have returned to time and time again in our work is youth unemployment — not just as an economic challenge, but as something that touches directly on questions of security, trust in institutions, and regional stability. It’s an issue that we need to prioritize because we’ve seen just how central it really is to both the risks we face and the solutions we need,” she said.
Ms. Anna Lena Sabroso-Wasserfall added that youth unemployment and cross-border insecurity are connected, and this connection affects peace-building efforts — not just in Ghana, but across the wider Sahel and West Africa. She said because economic and political challenges do not stop at national borders, it is important to take a look at the regional picture and explore how to work together across countries to build more inclusive, stable societies.
“Three key lessons stand out:
One: Initiatives must be locally anchored.
Two: Projects need long-term vision and continuity.
Three: Coordination and networked approaches are critical. Fragmentation between sectors — development, security, and governance — as well as between national and international actors, limits impact. Aligning efforts across borders and sectors can amplify the positive effects of even modest programmes.
Addressing youth unemployment is more than just an economic or social policy — it is a strategic investment in national cohesion, regional stability, and sustainable peacebuilding,” she said.
The Executive Director of Kaizen Institute for Labour Economics, Dr. Anthony Yaw Baah, presenting a survey by Ghana Statistical Service on youth unemployment and its correlation with the political economy of conflict, said unemployment among the youth is the greatest social and economic challenge facing Ghana today, and the rate at which it is rising is a cause for concern.
He said a conflict can easily arise between the policymakers or politicians and the youth — especially those who are desperately looking for jobs — as seen in Bangladesh in 2024, which led to the collapse of Sheikh Hasina’s government.
“We should note that government policies affect both the supply and demand for labour. This means politics and policies are critical factors in the labour market. It is the responsibility of policymakers to formulate and implement policies that ensure that there is a balance between supply and demand for labour,” he said.
“Placing employment creation at the centre of our social and economic policies is long overdue. It is time for Ghana to have a social contract between the people and our leaders that makes employment creation a priority of priorities, so that together we can eradicate unemployment in the shortest possible time and create opportunities for more decent jobs for the growing population. Other countries have done it,” he added.
Dr. Anthony Yaw Baah has therefore called for a new national consensus that can sustain job creation programmes regardless of the political party or the president in power. A national consensus backed by a social contract between the people of Ghana, the leaders, and their political parties. He added that the new national consensus and social contract should empower the relevant institutions — including the Ministry responsible for employment, the National Development Planning Commission (NDPC), and Ghana Statistical Service — by resourcing them financially, technically, and politically to drive the employment creation agenda.
The Minister for Defence, Dr. Edward Omane Boamah, in his response, said the government is working to engage the youth in various programmes and interventions aimed at enabling them to have gainful employment and keep them away from any form of coercion that may lead to conflicts. The minister urged all stakeholders to join the government to ensure lasting peace and development.
