Unemployment has been one of the country’s greatest problems since time immemorial. According to a World Bank report, the unemployment rate in Ghana currently stands at 4.70%, which is a 0.05% increase from 2020. The Ghana Statistical Service (GSS) also revealed that about 1.74 million (13.4 percent) of the total working population of 13 million in the age bracket of 15 and above in the first quarter of the year were unemployed. Despite efforts by governments to create programmes and interventions to address youth unemployment over the past years, the situation hasn’t seemed to get any better.
In 2018, the Akuffo-led administration enlisted 1,000 young graduates under the Nation Builders Corps (NABCo) programme to help with public service delivery needs in health, education, agriculture, and technology, among others in the country. Having run the programme on an extended contract term since 2021, the future of the NABCO trainees is unknown as they are crippled with fear of returning to their unemployed status.
Following the abrogation of the contract of the NABCo personnel effective September 1, 2022, the Chief Executive Officer of the National Youth Authority, Pius Enam Hadzide has assured the personnel that there is still hope for them as the government’s entrepreneurial initiative, YouStart, which will be launched soon, will provide job creation opportunities for the masses. The Coalition of NABCo trainees has, however, responded to the termination of their contracts with sentiments of disappointment and worry. According to them, the government “promised them diamonds but delivered graphite”.
The NABCo secretariat, in a memorandum issued to all beneficiaries of the programme, admonished the NABCo personnel to venture into entrepreneurship as a career choice. It is an undisputed fact that entrepreneurship is one of the sure ways to escape the trap of unemployment, more so in this current economy.
Is it very easy, though, to start a business with little or no financial support? Perhaps the government should consider establishing a fund to provide financial aid to this personnel to enable them to pursue their business careers. These monies when collected can be repaid over a period when the businesses start making profits.
The government should also explore other sustainable means of addressing the issue of unemployment in the country rather than implementing short-term strategies that do not solve the people’s problems.
Priscilla Fumadorh
Priscilla is an entrepreneur and a creative communicator who loves to communicate through writing. She is passionate about national economic issues and does not miss a chance to offer her opinions on them for the good of the country.
I don’t understand why the beficiaries of the program are crying. Weren’t they told that it was a temporal venture?
It just so happened that the end was more devastating than they imagined. I learnt some of them had not been paid for many months.
They nabco program was brought about with a good thought .It is the recent economic situation that has given rise to issues like delay in payments etc