Government has announced a strategy to create job and business opportunities for one million Ghanaian youth by 2024, through programmes including the establishment of ‘YouBanC.’
This will be part of the ambitious ¢100 billion GhanaCARES ‘Obaatanpa’ Programme that the government describes as vital in its journey towards economic recovery and transformation, post Covid-19.
Finance Minister, Ken Ofori-Atta, disclosed this at the presentation of the 2021 Mid-Year Review of the Budget Statement and Economic Policy in Parliament on Thursday, July 29, 2021.
“Our strategy to place the private sector at the heart of this endeavour is to accelerate competitive import substitution and export expansion to generate sustainable jobs for our teeming youth (under 35 years), who make up about 71% of the population.
“The unemployment situation in our country has been exacerbated by the Covid-19 pandemic. This is a situation which we will confront aggressively. Indeed, it is an issue that will be at the forefront of our national discourse,” he explained.
“The future of our young people and their livelihoods are of utmost importance to us as a nation. It requires urgent action and the President [Akufo-Addo] has directed that we consolidate and implement new programmes and projects to address it. It is crucial to our destiny,” he added.
Chronicling why the establishment of programmes to address rising unemployment, the Finance Minister said “over the course of this year, like many of my colleagues in government and in this House {Parliament], I have travelled around the country, engaged with the people, especially young people. We have listened to them and heard their concerns.
“Eight weeks ago, I visited Tamale and Sunyani and interacted with thousands of our young people, drawn from various universities and tertiary institutions as part of the ‘Springboard Foundation’ programme. I also participated in both the Accra ‘Springboard’ and NUGS Annual Leadership Training programmes. These interactions provided me with yet another opportunity to experience at first hand, the expectations and aspirations of our young people.
“Our responsibility as government is to accelerate our response. In connection with that, I have had extensive discussions with my colleague Ministers of Employment and Labour Relations, Youth and Sports and Lands and Natural Resources. New programmes will be introduced and existing ones scaled-up and refocused to meet the aspirations of our youth,” he added.