Ghana faces a critical jobs deficit despite solid economic growth, according to the World Bank’s Ninth Ghana Economic Update launched today in Accra.
The report, presented at the Movenpick Ambassador Hotel, highlights a troubling disconnect: while GDP expanded by 5.7% in 2024 and maintained 5.3% growth early this year, job creation lags far behind population growth.
Between 2012 and 2023, the working-age population surged by 2.7 million people, yet net employment rose by just 250,000 positions.
Robert Taliercio, World Bank Division Director for Ghana, opened the event with condolences for officials lost in a recent helicopter tragedy before addressing the labor emergency.
“Despite macroeconomic improvements including reduced inflation and successful debt restructuring, Ghana isn’t generating enough quality jobs,” he stated.
The report identifies five core challenges: weak labor demand in productive sectors like manufacturing, mismatched skills and opportunities, limited upward mobility for workers, and persistent barriers for women and youth.
Fiscal pressures complicate the picture. Though debt-to-GDP improved to 70.5%, the 2024 deficit hit 7.7% amid revenue shortfalls and arrears accumulation.
State-owned enterprises pose particular risks, with the Electricity Company of Ghana facing a potential $2.2 billion funding gap this year. COCOBOD’s financial instability persists despite high global cocoa prices. Taliercio urged balancing fiscal discipline with strategic IDA-funded investments in safety nets, irrigation, and cocoa farm rehabilitation.
The solution, the Bank argues, requires integrated reforms: boosting human capital through nutrition and education, enabling private sector growth, and mobilizing capital for high-potential industries.
With youth unemployment looming as a social time bomb, the report positions job creation as central to Ghana’s economic transformation.
As one attendee muttered during the Q&A: “Growth means little if it doesn’t put food on tables.”
