The African Development Bank (AfDB) indicates that Ghana’s youth unemployment rate was 7.16% in 2023, with the issue being particularly severe among individuals aged.
The bank’s revised 2024 Africa Economic Outlook emphasizes that unemployment is notably higher among women in this age bracket compared to men.
The report observes a slight rise in multidimensional poverty, increasing from 46% in 2017 to 46.7% in 2022, primarily due to the ongoing effects of the Covid-19 pandemic.
The figures show that female youth unemployment reached 36.7%, while the rate for males was 29.3%.
The increasing youth unemployment in Ghana is a growing concern, prompting demands for enhanced structural transformation.
The report highlights that productivity in the services sector, the largest employer, has stagnated, while improvements in industry and agriculture remain minimal.
Employment in agriculture dropped from 53.9% in 2007 to 29.8% in 2019.
Conversely, the industry’s share rose from 14.1% to 21.0%, and the services sector’s share increased from 31.9% to 49.2%.
The AfDB recommends several strategies to expedite Ghana’s structural transformation. These include improving competitiveness by resolving infrastructure challenges, accelerating agro-industrialization through skill development and value addition, and fostering private sector expansion.
Furthermore, the report stresses the necessity of a strong policy framework to support technology adoption and innovation.