graduate unemployment in Ghana

On 1st May, Government says it will launch 100,000 jobs to be created under the Nation Builders Corps (NABCO) initiatives. It is an attempt to reduce the pressure building up from unemployed youths.

Africa is projected to have over 840 million youth by 2050 with the continent having the youngest population on earth.

Written By Peter Dadzie & Philip Afran Gaisie - Graduate unemployment, used to refer to tertiary school leavers who are willing and able to work at the going wage rate but are unable to find work, is a global problem.

Written By Kobina Ansah - Hello. It’s me. I hope you are enjoying all the fun and excitement that comes with being in a tertiary institution; the freedom; the variety of friends to make, just name them. I know exactly how it feels like. We all do. We all have been there before.

Skipping lectures seemed fun. After all, tuition fees were not from our pockets. Back in the day, using as many gadgets as we could seemed like a trend. Besides, we had no idea how our utility bills were paid. All we wanted to do was to just pass our exams (obviously with a first class) and work right after national service in a topnotch company with an unusually fat salary.   

Then… reality set in. Life after university. I guess no one told us that our wishes back then were fanciful. Frankly, a few may have had such wishes coming to pass. However, for the masses, they were just wishful thoughts. The uncomfortable truth no one told us was that… the government didn’t owe us a job after school, especially in this part of our world.

Listen. When you are fortunate to have a profitable job (not all jobs are at the end of the month), go to church and thank God profusely with a juicy offertory. Well… many others join the queue of unemployed graduates who, like reserved footballers, pray for someone’s exit either by death or retirement. They join the tall queue of job-hunting graduates who may spend, at least, their first two or three years in ‘retirement’ before a job fortunately finds them.

And… this is when others will sit in the comfort of their homes and advise comfortably, “Why are today’s graduates so lazy? If you can’t find a job, create one!” Little do they (who ironically haven’t created any job on their own) know that no job was ever created with an empty bank account!

Take this from me. First, save. Secondly, save. Thirdly, save. Yes, save! No bank owes you a loan to begin your dreams. Spend less on wants, more on needs. Spend less on parties and hair-dos, more on books and skills. Spend less on looking like a bride every day. Spend more on giving your brain a new look each day. Forget the politician. You are responsible for your future!

Don’t repeat the errors of others. Prepare for your exams but prepare even better for life. Your exam results should not define your life’s results. Life’s exams are not multiple choice questions. They are not the ‘chew-pour-pass-forget’ shade of questions. You can’t answer them by rote. Life’s exams are passed by experience. You go through a gradual process. You make gradual progress. And… you become a gradual success! Pass your school’s exams but don’t fail life’s.

Prepare for life’s exams by thinking outside the box. Be open-minded. Read wide. Think wide. Be extraordinarily unique. Stand out. Know who you are and who you are not. Everyone can pass an exam in class. Being extraordinary depends on the skills you learn outside the classroom. Standing out will revolve around what you are doing on your own to build your self-capacity.

Attend capacity building seminars. Maximize your talents. Explore yourself. Volunteer in and out of school. Learn a few skills out of the classroom. Leave school as a well-baked graduate… not a poorly toasted one who only went to school to mind their own business. Mind you, the world is run by people who have decided not to mind their own business! If all you leave school with is a paper called a certificate, I wonder how you can fit in a world which has problems certificates can’t solve.

Also, learn how to sell as much as you can. You know why? We live in a world where sellers rule buyers. The rich are almost always selling. The poor are almost always buying. The earlier you learnt some marketing skills, the better. You need to sell your talents! Every career is a selling one.

The medical doctor sells his skill just like the banker. Like the carpenter, the architect is selling their skill. He who sells best wins. Learn how to sell and sell well!  Your skills and talents may sadly sit inside of you till you find your way into a grave until you devise a means to sell them. Always remember… sellers rule. Buyers are ruled.

Dear Mr. and Ms. University student. I know you are often too busy to make good friends or even show a kind gesture or two to those around you; your room mates, course mates, friends in your hall or department, name them. However, don’t be too surprised to see the same people you are ignoring today sit in places of authority tomorrow. We call it network. Take advantage of it!

Share your plate of rice with that roommate. That kind gesture may open a door wealth can never buy someday. Be nice to that course mate. Who knows? She may be the one to introduce you to your yet-to-be spouse someday. Be sure to have made a good network of friends before you leave school.   

Last but not least, spend your time well. Start something on your own, no matter how small it may look. It may be door-to-door delivery of snacks or even stationery. Create a product or service. How you spend your time after lectures tells a lot about how you may spend your time when you have no job.

The writer is a playwright and Chief Scribe of Scribe Communications, a writing company in Accra. Like his Facebook page, Kobina Ansah, for more motivation.

Written By Dr. Eric Akobeng - The youth are Ghana’s greatest asset and driving force of the economy. However majority of the youth who have acquired knowledge and employable skills do not have stable economic opportunities.

The government has, through the implementation of the One-District-One-Factory (1D1F) programme, mobilised a total of GH¢2.3 billion from local financial institutions to support the implementation of the flagship programme.

Government, through the Ministry of Business Development, says it will create 120,000 jobs under the youth entrepreneurship programmes within five years to help reduce youth unemployment and bolster the economy.

Online portals for the recruitment of 6,500 university graduate teachers and non-teaching staff will go live on Monday, November 2, 2020, the Minister of Education, Dr Matthew Opoku Prempeh, has said.

Despite major investments by both public and private sectors, Ghana is reportedly faced with 12 percent youth unemployment and more than 50 percent general underemployment. This challenge could worsen if deliberate efforts are not made to create the needed job opportunities. A 2020 World Bank report titled “Youth Employment Programs in Ghana: Options for Effective Policy Making and Implementation”, has identified agribusiness, entrepreneurship, apprenticeship, construction, tourism and sports as key sectors that can offer enormous employment opportunities for the Ghanaian youth.

Written By Nathaniel Nartey - Ghanaians have been hit by waves of scams and fraudulent activities over the years. The infamous ‘sakawa’, 419, mobile money fraud and Loom have all come and gone, or at least reduced to a large extent. However, job recruitment scam appears to be the latest on the block. It entails the fraudulent or deceptive use of job advertisements and other career offers both online and offline to lure job seekers with the sole purpose of defrauding them financially or soliciting sensitive information such as personal details, credit card information among others. And with the high rate of unemployment in the country, it is no surprise that University graduates are usually the prime targets as they become vulnerable and desperate after completing school without getting jobs.

 I must confess I have found manifestoes of most of our parties wishy-washy. But at long last the leading ones have stumbled on what should be done to move Ghana forward.

Written By Edward Kwapong (Dr) - There are employees who will of their own volition stay beyond the normal working hours to help fellow workers finish their assigned tasks for the day without any expectation of reward whatsoever.

Written By Dr Abdul-Fatahi Abdulai Kambala - When Ghana became politically independent in 1957, the education system, thus; schools, colleges and universities, was purposely set up, primarily to produce skilled workforce for the young nation.

Written By Dr Bjorn Lomborg - A third of Ghana’s population is between the ages of 15 and 34, but the country struggles to offer employment for its youth.

Written By Bileh Dougsiyeh - The issue of unemployment in Ghana, especially among the youth is of major concern to government and stakeholders in the public and private sectors. According to the 2015 Ghana Labour Survey Report by the Ghana Statistical Service, Ghana's unemployment rate as of 2015 stood at 11.9 per cent.

Written By Wilbert Nam-Katoti - The Expectation Gap is an audit and assurance terminology that explains the gap that exists between what the public, especially users of financial statements, believe auditors must do and what the auditors actually do.

Written By Gerald Sintim-Aboagye - The definition of “National Security” is ever changing, as its framework is based on the study of human evolution and behaviour. There have been many factors serving as contributors to the threats to states and population, including armed conflict, xenophobia, gang violence, terrorism, religious extremism and sectarian violence, which are fervently featured in the media.

Written By Andrews Frimpong - Gambling has become a source of stable income for many young people within the La town.

For years, we in Africa continue to scratch our heads about our myriad challenges. Often, we will point to this symptom or that, as the cause of our woes. Corruption is regularly fingered, so is poor education, healthcare and many others.

Written By Kojo Appiah-Kubi (PHD) - Unemployment rate refers to the percentage of the labour force of a country that is without jobs but is available to work and actively seeking employment.

Despite his graduation four years ago from the University of Ghana with a Second Class (Upper division) in Political Science with the Study of Religions, Mr Antwi Boasiako now washes vehicles at the Yaks and Sons car washing bay at North Legon in Accra in order to make a living.

In the mid-1980s, as a career military officer, I did an Armoured Reconnaissance (Recce) course in the United Kingdom, as part of my professional development.