Without a clear, sustainable, and formalization plan, IMANI Africa fears the new government’s job creation initiatives will not be any different from the failures of NABCO and YouStart under the previous administration.
IMANI’s analysis of the new policies to create jobs reveals that the methods are virtually not new but a recycling of old and non-performing models that failed to provide the needed results.
The government has so far launched at least three job creation initiatives for the youth. So far, the Adwumawura Programme, the National Apprenticeship Programme, and the One Million Coders Programme have all been outdoored seeking to create jobs through various means.
Nearly a budget of GHC500 million has been earmarked by the government for the three ambitious youth employment programmes aimed at tackling the country’s worsening youth unemployment menace.
But in a sharp critique of the programmes, policy think tank IMANI Africa warns that the latest efforts mirror past interventions such as the Nation Builders Corps (NABCO) and YouStart, both of which, despite consuming significant public resources, failed to deliver structural employment transformation.
IMANI says the new initiatives also fails to demonstrate a clear to creating sustainable jobs and addressing the structural deficiencies in the country’s productivity.
“Three youth-focused initiatives, Adwumawura, National Apprenticeship, and 1 Million Coders Programmes, have been launched with a combined budget of nearly GHC500 million. However, there is no clear analysis of how these programmes will address productivity gaps or generate sustainable employment. IMANI argues that they mirror past efforts like NABCO and YouStart, which absorbed significant resources but delivered little in terms of structural job growth,” IMANI lamented in its assessment of the programmes.
The public policy think tank further raised questions about how the initiatives are largely geared towards the informal sector. IMANI identifies that there is no coherent and clear cut strategy that ensures that beneficiaries transition into formal, productive, and scalable employment.
This concern emanates from the point that Ghana’s informal sector already accounts for over 80% of total employment. While it absorbs large portions of the labour force, it remains plagued by low productivity, limited access to social protection, and negligible contribution to tax revenue.
Channelling even more young people into this space, IMANI says, without a viable formalization plan risks worsening the structural deficiencies of the economy.
Launched in 2018, NABCO was touted as a stopgap measure to reduce graduate unemployment. The programme enrolled over 100,000 graduates at its peak, yet it struggled to transition beneficiaries into permanent roles. Evaluations by civil society groups, including IMANI, showed that many participants were left in limbo when stipends ceased, with no clear progression pathway or formal integration into the job market.
YouStart, introduced as an entrepreneurship support initiative, faced similar criticisms. Despite the fanfare and resource allocation, the programme struggled with disbursement bottlenecks, limited business incubation support, and inadequate post-funding mentorship. For many young entrepreneurs, it offered hope but delivered little in terms of long-term viability.
“While these programmes may reach thousands of young people, they tend to channel beneficiaries into the informal economy,” the think tank noted.
IMANI fears that the new crop of programmes is heading down the same path.
“By continuing to direct employment programmes into this space without a clear path to formalization, the government not only limits their transformative potential but also undermines its own revenue ambitions,” the analysis of the three initiatives concluded.
IMANI is calling for a reorientation of government employment policy. Rather than duplicating past interventions.
