Senior Lecturer at the Department of Economics at the University of Ghana, Dr. Priscilla Twumasi Baffour has called for solution-based approach to addressing the unemployment challenges facing the country.

According to her, addressing the production sector's challenges is key to restoring the economy and reducing unemployment.

Asked whether John Mahama's proposed 24-hour economy could help resolve these challenges, Dr Twumasi Baffour said more measures must be put in place.

"What is the intervention doing in terms of removing challenges that small and medium-sized enterprises face in this country?

"What is the proposed policy doing in terms of the supply side, the education, training and skills of the people that are moving into the labour market?" .

Dr Twumasi Baffour stated that technology is rapidly changing the way production is organised. Therefore any policy intervention should be intentional about removing barriers to production and equipping the labor force with the necessary skills.

“Skills in terms of digital skills, soft skills and all the relevant skills that the changing labour market requires in this economy,” she added.

Background

The Ghana Statistical Service says the average unemployment rate for the first three quarters of 2023 was 14.7% with the rate among females being consistently higher than the males.

This represents a 1.1% increase from the 13.6% recorded in 2022.

According to the 2023 Annual Household Income and Expenditure Survey Third Quarter Labour Statistics Report, the sharp increase in the unemployment rate of females between the fourth quarter of 2022 and the first quarter of 2023 resulted in the wider unemployment gender

The report also indicated that the difference in the unemployment rates between urban and rural areas widened successively for the first three quarters of 2023.

But in the second and third quarters of 2023, the urban unemployment rate was almost twice compared to rural areas.

When it comes to the regions, the report explained that across all quarters, only four regions (Eastern, Bono East, Oti and Upper West) recorded unemployment rates lower than the national rate.