Member of Parliament for Ofoase-Ayirebi, Kojo Oppong Nkrumah, has called for a fundamental rethink of Ghana’s youth employment strategy, warning that skills training programmes without corresponding job opportunities only create frustration among young people.

Contributing to discussions on youth unemployment in Parliament, Mr. Oppong Nkrumah outlined a five-point proposal aimed at improving the effectiveness of government interventions and addressing what he described as the country’s worsening unemployment crisis.

According to him, the first step is to strengthen accountability in job creation programmes through the publication of delivery scorecards.

“We need to anchor every job programme on published delivery scorecards with clear metrics on beneficiaries, the cost of these jobs, the time to placement, and employment retention.”

The former Information Minister argued that such a system would enable policymakers and the public to accurately assess the performance and impact of employment initiatives.

Mr. Oppong Nkrumah also called for a clear distinction between skills development programmes and job creation initiatives, insisting that both require separate funding and policy approaches.

“We need to separate skills development from job creation and fund both separately. Training people without creating demand for their skills only manufactures disappointment,” he said.

He further advocated a shift away from heavy reliance on sovereign financing towards greater private sector participation in employment generation.

According to him, government should focus on creating an enabling environment by de-risking investment, co-investing where necessary, and providing regulatory certainty.

“Government should focus on de-risking, co-investing, and creating regulatory clarity, while private capital drives the large-scale job creation that we need.”

Mr. Oppong Nkrumah also highlighted the importance of apprenticeships, proposing that the apprenticeship economy become the central pillar of Ghana’s youth employment strategy.

He suggested the introduction of national certification systems, employer co-funding arrangements, and structured pathways into formal employment or self-employment for apprentices.

“We need to make the apprenticeship economy the spine of the youth employment strategy through national certification, employer co-funding, and clear pathways into employment or self-employment.”

As part of the reforms, he called for the establishment of a credible labour market information system capable of providing timely and reliable employment data across the country.

He said such a system should generate district-level information on job vacancies, sectoral demand, skills gaps, and graduate absorption rates to guide government policy and budgetary decisions.

“We need to build a credible labour market information system for the Republic of Ghana that will provide timely district-level data on vacancies, sectoral demand, skills gaps, and graduate absorption.”

Concluding his remarks, Mr. Oppong Nkrumah urged policymakers to move beyond rhetoric and focus on practical solutions to the unemployment challenge. “We do not need more slogans or promises. What we need are effective ways to solve the worsening youth unemployment problem in our country.”

“The Ghana Statistical Service data is clear: the youth unemployment problem is getting worse, and the time to act is now.”