Ghana needs to move beyond a focus on creating jobs for young people and invest more heavily in skills development, entrepreneurship and opportunities for self-employment, former NUGS presidentDaniel Korley-Botchway has said.

Korley-Botchway said government cannot realistically employ every young Ghanaian and that sustainable youth employment would require a stronger private sector and better preparation for entrepreneurship.

“Government cannot employ everybody. Neither can even the private sector employ everybody,” he said on theAsaase Breakfast Show on Wednesday (12 August).

He said Ghana’s education system had expanded access to tertiary education but had not sufficiently equipped graduates with the skills needed to secure sustainable livelihoods.

Korley-Botchway said even traditionally sought-after professions such as teaching and nursing could no longer guarantee employment after graduation.

“You can complete a college of education and be at home for three years or four years. You can complete nursing training and be at home for three or four years,” he said.

He therefore called for a deliberate national youth development strategy that combines formal education with technical and vocational training, entrepreneurship and practical skills.

He said young people should also be encouraged to start small businesses while still in school, arguing that early entrepreneurial experience could eventually enable them to create jobs for others.

“If I start something small and I document the growth of the business, I open a bank account, I do all these things, it will help me be able to secure financial support,” he said.

Korley-Botchway also called for a stronger enabling environment for private-sector businesses to absorb young workers.

He said Ghana’s youthful population presented both an opportunity and a potential national security challenge.

The country’s relatively young population could provide a strong workforce for economic growth, he said, but high youth unemployment and economic exclusion could fuel crime and social instability.

“It is a major national security threat to have a very large population being youth, being unemployed, being disillusioned, not knowing what to do,” he said.

Korley-Botchway also called for evidence that the government’s 24-hour economy policy was delivering sustainable opportunities for young people.

He said implementation of the policy was still at an early stage and that the focus should be on its actual impact rather than announcements.

“For me, it is not just about job creation. It’s about creating sustainable opportunities for the young people,” he said.

He urged policymakers to involve young people in major decisions affecting their future.

“If we say that young people are the leaders of tomorrow, that is where I disagree. I say that young people are the leaders of today and tomorrow,” he said.

Korley-Botchway said Ghana’s large youthful population could become a major economic asset if young people were adequately educated, skilled and given opportunities to participate in the economy.