Youth unemployment research has revealed that Ghana has no comprehensive national strategy that focuses primarily on employment.According to the International Labour Organisation (ILO), employment elasticity of output dropped from an average of 0.64 in 1992-2000 to 0.52 and 0.4 in 2001-2004 and 2005-2008.
Average annual employment growth also stood at 3.94 per cent in 1992-99 and 2.69 per cent 1999-06 as against real GDP growth of over 5 per cent.
Dr William Baah-Boateng of the Department of Economics of the University of Ghana said these at a day�s workshop to share the results of a research with relevant researchers and other government authorities to solicit their views and comments in Accra on Thursday.
The research, conducted by the University in collaboration with the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA), was part of an initial scoping study for four countries selected in the Sub-Saharan African. The countries were Ghana, Kenya, Ethiopia and South Africa.
Ghana�s scoping study team of four was led by the Vice Chancellor Professor Ernest Aryeetey.
Dr Baah-Boateng noted that the unemployment situation posed a threat to national security and source of social tension at the same time.The youth currently being unemployed ranged from 15 years to 35 years old who had finished tertiary education.
This group, he said, would serve as a potential resource group of the population for growth and development if they were gainfully and productively engaged.
�They could also be a source of civil conflict and social tension if this untapped resource is poorly managed or left to waste�, he added.
He said high degree of informality and discouraged worker effect suggested that using unemployment to measure labour market challenges might be misleading.
He called for the design of vocational and technical skill training in line with demands of the economy and a promotion of entrepreneurship in line with broader national strategic framework to address the current unemployment rate in the country.
For the short-term, Dr Baah-Boateng said it would require the adoption of labour intensive initiatives through public works programmes, whilst the medium to long term should look at the public investment to boost the growth of agriculture and manufacturing.
�Investment in infrastructure, effective agricultural marketing strategy, affordable credit support and deepening of sectoral linkages, addressing skill mismatch by making education and training more relevant to the needs of the economy and the involvement of industry in curricula design should be looked at� he added.
Professor Aryeetey called for a national industry strategic plan that would involve and link the private sector to solve the unemployment situation facing the country.
Source: GNA
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