By Nii Otinkorang, HR & Organizational Development Practitioner
Ghana stands at a defining moment. With a youthful population and rising aspirations, the conversation about employment can no longer revolve around job creation alone; it must focus on employability, skills relevance, and long-term productivity. This is why the government’s flagship infrastructure drive, popularly known as the “Big Push” under the Government of Ghana, deserves more than a political lens. It deserves a human capital lens.
As an HR professional working closely with organizations, SMEs, and growth-focused enterprises, I see firsthand how infrastructure investments can either unlock or limit workforce potential. The difference lies in how intentionally we integrate youth employment and skills development into these projects.
Infrastructure as a Skills Incubator
The Big Push initiative is largely centered on roads, housing, health facilities, schools, and other large-scale public works. Traditionally, such projects create short-term construction jobs. However, when strategically designed, they can become structured talent pipelines.
Large infrastructure projects stimulate demand for:
- Civil and structural engineers
- Quantity surveyors
- Project managers
- Technicians and artisans
- Health and safety officers
- Logistics and supply chain specialists
- ICT and digital monitoring professionals
This demand presents an opportunity to align training institutions such as the Council for Technical and Vocational Education and Training (COTVET) and the Youth Employment Agency (YEA) with project contractors to create apprenticeship pathways.
If structured properly, every major infrastructure contract can include a mandatory youth apprenticeship quota. This transforms projects from temporary employment engines into long-term capacity-building systems.
A Legislative Imperative: Mandating Local Content and Apprenticeship Quotas
To ensure sustainability and accountability, Ghana should move beyond policy statements to binding legislation.
The Parliament of Ghana should consider enacting a Local Content and Apprenticeship in Public Infrastructure Act that would:
1. Mandate Local Hiring Thresholds
Require all international and local contractors executing publicly funded infrastructure projects to employ a minimum percentage (e.g., 60–70%) of Ghanaian professionals, artisans, and labor from the building industry.
2. Enforce Structured Apprenticeship Programs
Make it compulsory for contractors above a defined contract value to enroll a fixed number of apprentices per project phase in partnership with accredited TVET institutions.
3. Require Skills Transfer Plans
International firms must submit detailed knowledge transfer and capacity-building frameworks before contract approval.
4. Link Payment Milestones to Compliance
Tie government disbursements to verify compliance with local hiring and apprenticeship obligations.
Incentivising Compliance: Rewarding Responsible Contractors
Legislation should not rely solely on penalties. It must also reward compliance and excellence.
To encourage meaningful participation, government through agencies such as the Ghana Revenue Authority and the Public Procurement Authority could introduce structured incentives:
1. Tax Incentives
Contractors who exceed local content and apprenticeship thresholds could receive:
- Corporate tax rebates on qualifying projects
- Import duty waivers on construction equipment not locally available
- Accelerated capital allowance benefits
These incentives would make compliance financially attractive rather than burdensome.
2. Local Content Compliance Certification
Establish a National Infrastructure Local Content Certification system awarded annually to compliant firms. This certification would:
- Enhance corporate reputation
- Serve as a prerequisite for bidding on future public contracts
- Improve access to public-private partnership opportunities
Over time, such certification could become a mark of responsible corporate citizenship within Ghana’s construction industry.
3. Preferential Procurement Scoring
In tender evaluations, certified firms could receive additional technical or compliance points, strengthening their competitiveness in future bids.
4. Public Recognition and Ranking
An annual published index ranking infrastructure firms based on local employment impact and apprenticeship output would drive healthy competition and transparency.
From Compliance to Competitiveness
From an HR standpoint, this dual approach mandates plus incentives creates sustainable workforce development. It shifts local content from a political talking point to a measurable business strategy.
When contractors know that:
- Compliance improves profitability
- Certification enhances brand value
- Apprenticeship programs strengthen future talent pipelines
They are more likely to embed workforce development into core operations rather than treat it as an administrative obligation.
A National Opportunity
Ghana’s demographic dividend can either become a catalyst for growth or a source of instability. The Big Push initiative presents a rare opportunity to convert public spending into long-term human capital development.
Infrastructure builds roads and hospitals. But intentional workforce design backed by enforceable legislation and smart incentives builds nations.
If Ghana integrates mandatory local content laws, structured apprenticeship systems, tax rewards, compliance certification, and SME inclusion frameworks into public projects, the country will not just complete infrastructure, it will cultivate a generation of technically competent, employable, and globally competitive youth.
That would be the true Big Push.
About the Writer
Nii Otinkorang is an HR and Organizational Development Practitioner with experience in strategic human resource management, leadership development, and SME capacity building across Ghana. He is passionate about aligning national development priorities with sustainable workforce transformation.
