By Lord Fiifi Quayle
One year into President John Dramani Mahama’s return to office, Ghana’s unemployment figures show a modest dip. The numbers suggest stability rather than rupture; movement, but not momentum. For a country where youth joblessness remains stubbornly high and underemployment widespread, the question is no longer whether policies have been announced, but whether they are translating into durable work at scale.
The government’s intervention list is long and politically ambitious. Adwumawura has commenced with the promise of structured job creation. The One Million Coders programme aims to future-proof the workforce. Akoko Nkitikiti signals an intent to revitalise agriculture and agro-processing. Nationwide road construction has resumed, absorbing labour directly and indirectly. The Volta Basin project and the renewed push to make “Ghana eat Ghana” with state procurement feeding buffer stocks and senior secondary schools seek to anchor jobs in domestic production.
On paper, this is a coherent jobs ecosystem. In practice, it is uneven.
The early employment data reflect this duality. Overall unemployment has edged down slightly, suggesting that public works, agriculture procurement, and programme rollouts are absorbing some labour. Yet youth unemployment remains largely unchanged, a reminder that Ghana’s labour market challenge is structural. Many new entrants are educated, urban, and seeking formal work; many of the available opportunities remain informal, seasonal, or low-productivity.
The most contested pillar; the 24-hour economy captures the dilemma. Conceived as a productivity and jobs multiplier, it has so far manifested as seminars, frameworks, and stakeholder engagements. Critics, including opposition voices who once derided it as under-thought, now argue that execution is lagging. Supporters counter that such a policy cannot be rushed: incentives, power reliability, transport, security, and labour regulations must align before firms can confidently operate in shifts. Both positions can be true. A 24-hour economy promises jobs, but until firms extend operating hours and hire additional shifts, the promise remains latent.
Where the government has moved faster: roads, agriculture procurement, and school feeding_jobs are more visible. These sectors absorb labour quickly and create local multipliers. However, their sustainability depends on financing discipline and productivity gains. Temporary employment without skills transfer risks recycling the problem next year.
The administration’s bet is sequencing: build confidence and capacity first, then scale. If coding graduates are absorbed by private firms, if agro-processing links farmers to guaranteed buyers, if transport and power reliability enable round-the-clock operations, the employment curve could steepen in the second year. If not, the risk is policy saturation without labour transformation, activity without acceleration.
So, is this lip service or the calm before improvement? The evidence suggests neither cynicism nor celebration is warranted yet. Ghana is seeing early motion, not yet momentum. The unemployment rate’s slight dip is encouraging, but insufficient. The true test of President Mahama’s jobs agenda will be visible not in announcements, but in firm-level hiring, youth absorption, and productivity-led wages by year’s end.
For now, the verdict is provisional: the architecture is being assembled. Whether it becomes a functioning engine or remains an impressive blueprint, will define Ghana’s labour market in the months ahead.
GHANA MUST WORK AGAIN
Lord Fiifi Quayle 