Ghana’s economy may be growing, but it does not carry good news for millions of youth entering the labour market to seek employment opportunities.
Landing a decent job as a Ghanaian youth is becoming like a mountain to climb and an ocean to cross. This has been confirmed by the latest World Bank report. The 9th Ghana Economic Update, published by the World Bank under the theme “Addressing Labor Market Challenges and Opportunities in Ghana’s Economic Landscape”, paints a sobering picture.
The report reveals that between 2012 and 2023, Ghana’s working-age population swelled by 2.7 million. In the same period, net employment rose by a mere 250,000, a fraction of what is needed to absorb new entrants into the labor market.
This means millions of young people’s potential is being wasted since the economy is not creating enough decent jobs to meet the demand.
The report singles out five deep-rooted challenges holding back Ghana’s labor market:
Insufficient job creation for a growing workforce
Ghana’s youth bulge is colliding with a sluggish job market. Each year, hundreds of thousands graduate or finish training, only to find the doors of formal employment largely shut.
Weak Demand in Productive Sectors
Manufacturing and high-value services, which are traditional engines of quality job creation, have seen limited growth.
Many workers are shifting between low-productivity sectors such as small-scale agriculture and informal trade, where wages are meagre and security is scarce.
Education-Job Mismatch
The World Bank says that Ghana’s classrooms and lecture halls are producing purported skilled graduates, but they are not what the labour market really needs. This also means the economy isn’t producing the kinds of jobs that can fully utilize their skills.
The result is a fall in average earnings, as degree-holders settle for work that doesn’t match their qualifications.
High job mobility but limited upward progression
While workers are switching jobs frequently, these moves rarely translate into better pay or prospects. Most transitions are lateral, and worryingly, some are downward, into even less secure or lower-paying roles.
Persistent disparities/barriers for women and youth in accessing jobs.
Women and young people remain locked out of many opportunities. From discrimination and cultural expectations to lack of access to networks and capital, the obstacles remain stubbornly entrenched.
Tackling these challenges, the World Bank says, will require coordinated action from aligning education and training with market needs, to unlocking private sector growth in productive industries, to breaking down gender and youth barriers.
For the Bretton Woods institution, Ghana’s growth story cannot be complete if it leaves the majority of its people behind. The real economic progress must be measured not just in GDP numbers, but in the dignity and stability that come from good jobs.
