A Financial Consultant and Senior Lecturer at GIMPA, Dr. Randolph Nsor-Ambala has reiterated the critical role of the private sector in resolving the country's unemployment challenges.

He has therefore charged the government to empower the private sector by providing the necessary incentives that would improve their cash flows to enable them expand and employ more people.

Speaking at the Graphic Business/Stanbic Bank Breakfast Meeting held in Accra, on Tuesday, Dr. Nsor-Ambala noted that government has underestimated the ability of the private sector to solve unemployment issues in the country.

“The blueprint that has been applied everywhere in the world where unemployment challenges have been solved is to trust the private sector, allow them to build enough agility, give them enough absorption capacity, put them in the best place where they can expand their businesses because ultimately, they are the ones who can deal with that level of diversified group of individuals seeking employment,” he said.

The Financial Consultant added that, “most of our multilateral support based programmes from economic recovery programmes, structural adjustment programmes and all, have always stressed on the need for a lean and efficient public sector that now creates a proper enabling environment to support private sector growth. I think that we are underestimating the ability of the private sector to solve this problem.”

Dr. Nsor- Ambala suggested for example that the government must make the tax system efficient for the private sector.

“Ultimately, the strategy would be to empower the private sector, give them a lot of space to be able to manage their cash flows and then they can get involved in the expansionary drives. My biggest worry is some of the contradictory tax system. I personally think that the current withholding tax system has out-lived its usefulness,” he said.

The Finance Minister, Ken Ofori-Atta in a Youth Dialogue in Accra on October 20, 2021 urged the youth to venture into entrepreneurship as the government’s payroll is full.

His comments did not augur well for some Ghanaian youth.

Some entrepreneurs and business owners have also called on the government to inculcate entrepreneurship courses into the country’s educational curriculum.