Ghana – Employment creation potential, labor skills requirements, and skill gaps for young people: Ghana case study (Ernest Aryeetey, Priscilla Twumasi Baffour, and Festus Ebo Turkson, Brookings)

The issues of jobless growth and the poor performance of manufacturing have become major concerns in Africa. A new growth trajectory has emerged in the region with services as the driver of growth, contrary to the expectations of manufacturing export-led transformation with the capacity to absorb low- to medium-skilled workers as previously observed in East Asia and other newly industrialized countries. It has become imperative for African countries, such as Ghana, to redirect attention toward identifying and supporting sectors with more significant employment potentials, in the quest to provide decent employment for a rapidly growing population, especially the youth. Indeed, the challenge of jobless growth in Ghana has brought to fore the need to diversify the economy away from mineral dependence through industrial transformation, mindful of the new technological developments. In this report, “industries without smokestacks” (IWOSS) the Ghana case study identified agro-processing and tourism as two of the sectors that could be relied on to potentially address the country’s jobless growth issue and enhance the competitiveness and productivity of small and medium-sized firms.

Employment creation potential, labor skills requirements, and skill gaps for young people: Ghana case study (brookings.edu)