Minister-designate for Foreign Affairs, Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa says economic diplomacy that creates jobs for the youth of Ghana will be one of his core priority areas if approved for the role.
Samuel Okudzeto has hinted that through economic diplomacy, he is committed to engaging in strategic bilateral agreements to boost the employment prospects for young people both outside the country and locally.
Appearing before the Appointments Committee of Parliament on Friday, January 31, 2025, the Member of Parliament for North Tongu in the Volta Region also pledged to ensure a regulated migration of the youth in the country.
Experts explain economic diplomacy as the use of foreign policy to attract trade, investment, and job creation for the benefit of the citizens of one’s home country. With this Okudzeto suggests he will pursue bilateral agreements with countries and multinational corporations which will create employment for Ghanaian professionals.
However, he maintained that this kind of economic diplomacy which will create opportunities for the Ghanaian youth will be carried out through legal, structured, and mutually beneficial migration policies.
It is anticipated that this vision will also create skills exchange program opportunities in the areas of technology, healthcare, service, etc with foreign governments and corporations.
“I have just talked about one of the priority areas, economic diplomacy – pursue bilateral agreements to create jobs for the young people of our country in a regulated migration that benefits the individual in the country,” the Minister-designate told the Appointments Committee.
Over the years the unregulated migration by Ghanaians has been beneficial in bringing remittances into the country, however, the downsides have been enormous.
Aside from the brain drain, some Ghanaians outside suffer human trafficking and job exploitation. There are several reports of how many Ghanaians live in inhumane conditions, especially in the Gulf countries.
It appears the Minister-designate aims to employ a proper economic diplomacy strategy to mitigate these unpleasant situations by formalizing migration processes. This will ensure that Ghana’s labor force that moves outside to work does so under legally binding and well-regulated conditions.
