Akufo-Addo has created over 1m jobs so far – Employment Minister

By Papisdaff Abdullah

Minister of Employment and Labour Relations, Ignatius Baffour-Awuah

Ghana’s Minister of Employment and Labour Relations, Ignatius Baffour-Awuah has said the Akufo-Addo government has made significant stride since coming into power in addressing Ghana’s unemployment challenges.

This, according to him, has led to the creation of some 1,996,444 jobs in both the public and private sectors through various interventions.

Mr. Baffour-Awuah disclosed this Tuesday at the launch of the Nation Builders’ Corps (NABCO) in Kumasi saying: “This happened within the formal economy. So what happened within the informal economy is not even accounted for here.”

More than 1.2 million persons from 15 years and older are estimated to be unemployed, representing the total unemployment rate of 11.9%, according to a 2015 Ghana Labour Force Survey Report.

Of this number, about 714,916 are females, representing 57.2 per cent and 535,997 for males representing 42.8%, the survey commissioned by the Ghana Statistical Service (GSS) stated.

NABCO to solve unemployment frustrations

Touching on NABCO, the Employment and Labour Relations Minister said its emergence will address the “frustration, confusion, lack of growth and direction for our youth” therefore the NABCO intervention is apt and appropriate.

“If there is any single intervention which addresses the school to work transition in our country we can’t have any better programme than NABCO,” he stated.

NABCO is aimed at tackling graduate unemployment in Ghana and will be launched by President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo on May Day.

The programme will operate seven modules designed to meet the pressing needs of the nation while providing jobs for the teeming youth who have received tertiary education but are struggling to find jobs.

Meanwhile, the Coalition for Public Trained Registered Nurses and Midwives has described as “very sad” government’s plan to recruit them under the Nation Builders Corps (NABCO).

Accepting the government’s policy, predicted the Coalition “will be the beginning of the extinction of nursing and midwifery in Ghana.”