Former Minister for Labour, Jobs and Employment, Dr Abdul-Rashid Hassan Pelpuo, has left behind a strategy aimed at mobilising up to GH¢200 million in private-sector investment into workplace inspection and compliance, with the potential to generate a similar amount in additional revenue for the state.
Pelpuo presented the proposal as part of the ideas and initiatives he developed during his tenure to strengthen the Ministry’s financial capacity and reduce its reliance on government funding.
Speaking as he handed over the Ministry, he said his approach was to identify agencies with the potential to generate revenue and explore ways of using private-sector and expertise to significantly expand their contribution to the national economy.
“What we did was to look at the agency that is creating money, any agency that is creating money to add value to it. That was why we looked directly at the Factory Inspectorate Division, to see how we can introduce private sector intervention into it,” he said.
Gh¢200m Private-Sector Investment Targeted For Factory Inspectorate
According to Pelpuo, the Factory Inspectorate Division had significant untapped revenue potential, which he believed could be unlocked through a major private-sector intervention and a more commercially oriented approach to its operations.
He outlined a model under which about GH¢200 million from private-sector could be injected into the agency, with the ambition of generating approximately GH¢200 million for the national coffers in the first year.
“Our expectation was that we will earn so much into the national coffers and for the first year, hopefully we are hoping that we will be able to put into the national account GH¢200 million after we would have injected another GH¢200 million from the private sector into that agency to create that value,” Pelpuo said.
Pelpuo’s broader strategy was to create a stronger financial base for the Ministry by identifying commercially viable areas and developing partnerships capable of bringing additional capital into its operations.
Digital Inspections To Drive Revenue Growth
He also linked the proposal to the planned expansion and digitalisation of workplace inspections.
The National Workplace Compliance and Safety Management System, he said, was intended to move the Ministry from predominantly manual inspection processes towards a data-driven compliance system.
Under the targets he outlined, annual workplace inspections could rise from about 6,000 workplaces in 2026 to more than 500,000 in 2027, while projected revenue could increase from about GH¢6 million to more than GH¢200 million.
Us$50m Dual-Skills University Proposed
Beyond the revenue-generation strategy, Pelpuo also disclosed a proposal for a US$50 million dual-skills university as part of his vision for transforming skills development under the Labour Ministry.
The proposed university was conceived as an institution that would combine academic education with practical, industry-oriented skills training, strengthening the connection between vocational education and employment.
“Our expectation is that we’ll build a university of dual skill,” he said.
Pelpuo said the institution could provide opportunities for workers to advance their education while also expanding the capacity of the Ministry and its agencies to deliver skills development.
He said the proposed university would also create opportunities for workers to pursue further education while taking on additional responsibilities that could improve their overall earnings through salaries and allowances.
He said the US$50 million investment was intended to provide the financial backing for the proposed university, with the Ministry expected to determine where the institution would be located.
He further suggested that the proposed institution could be named after President John Dramani Mahama, linking the idea to the government’s broader skills and employment agenda.
However, the proposal, like the GH¢200 million revenue strategy, represents an initiative that the new leadership of the Ministry would have to take forward.
A Blueprint For The Next Minister
Pelpuo’s final remarks suggest that he viewed the initiatives not simply as completed projects, but as a pipeline of ideas and partnerships that could be developed further by the Ministry’s new leadership.
The new Minister, Mr. Emmanuel Kwadwo Agyekum, will therefore have to assess the commercial and institutional viability of the proposals, determine the appropriate financing and partnership structures, and establish whether the targets can be achieved or exceeded.
The former Minister’s broader argument was that the Labour Ministry could play a larger role in mobilising resources for skills development and labour-market programmes if it actively leveraged private capital, technology and partnerships.
Expanding The Skills-Development Pipeline
He cited several other initiatives, including a proposed GH¢82 million skills-development partnership, collaborations aimed at digitalising labour-market services and plans to expand industry-linked vocational training.
For Pelpuo, the underlying objective was to ensure that skills development translated into actual employment opportunities.
“One of the central lessons of my tenure is that job creation without skill development is incomplete, while skills development without pathways to employment is equally inadequate.”
“We therefore placed strong emphasis on demand-driven skills. We pursued partnerships that connect training directly to the needs of industry,” he added.
The Challenge For The New Leadership
The challenge now passes to the new leadership of the Ministry: to determine which of the proposals can be converted into viable programmes, secure the necessary investment and partnerships, and potentially build on Pelpuo’s GH¢200 million revenue ambition and US$50 million dual-skills university vision.
