By Samuel SAM
The alarming rate of youth unemployment in the country is largely driven by a bulging youth population, according to Prof. Paul Kwame Nkegbe, Dean-Graduate School, University for Development Studies (UDS).
A youth bulge is a demographic trend where a large portion of a population is made up of young people.
Citing formal econometric analysis, Prof. Nkegbe revealed that a 10 percent increase in the youth bulge potentially results in a 7 percent rise in youth unemployment, with the trend more pronounced in developed countries.
He made this known during the 18th UDS Professional Inaugural Lecture dubbed ‘Youth bulge and unemployment: Evidence to action’, held on campus.
The lecture provided a platform for staff and graduate students to present research findings for national discourse.
Mismatch between education and job market
Prof. Nkegbe stressed the need for a collaborative approach between the academic and corporate sectors to design education models aligned with the job market.
“Policymakers must consider an education model wherein policies and programmes are developed jointly by academia and the business community,” he stated.
According to research he cited, 71 percent of Ghana’s employed population aged 15 and older work in the informal sector compared to 29 percent in the formal sector.
A compilation of youth employment interventions in Ghana as of 2016 revealed 40 public and private sector-led programmes, including the Nation Builders Corps (NABCO) which created 97,373 direct temporary jobs for unemployed graduates. Of these, about 49,000 beneficiaries have either been absorbed into various agencies or are now self-employed.
Global and regional trends
Globally, the unemployment rate averaged 5.8 percent in 2023 – representing 27 million people. The rate was higher among youth, standing at 8.9 percent and affecting some 9.4 million young people.
Prof. Nkegbe noted that approximately 20 percent of youth worldwide are not in employment, education or training (NEET). Alarmingly, two in every three NEET youth are women and one-third of the global youth population lives in countries deemed “off track” in achieving Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) target 8.6, which aims to reduce the NEET rate.
In sub-Saharan Africa, youth population growth remains high and is expected to reach 5.2 million annually between 2025 and 2030.
“While governments have introduced policies to create sustainable and quality jobs, the outcomes have been mixed. The link between youth population size and unemployment has been explored, but more needs to be done to address data limitations on informal employment, underemployment and the effectiveness of existing policies,” he added.
Call for collaborative action
Prof. Nkegbe emphasised the need for government collaboration with policymakers and the private sector to design sustainable job creation strategies that will empower youth to contribute meaningfully in national development.
Supporting this call, UDS Vice-Chancellor Prof. Seidu Al-Hassan highlighted the university’s efforts in designing academic programmes that equip students to be market-ready.
