The Minister for Finance, Ken Ofori-Atta, has said at least one million jobs will be created as part of a three-year strategy to address youth unemployment in the country.

Presenting the 2021 Mid-Year Budget Review in Parliament on Thursday (29 July), Ofori-Atta said though the government through its flagship programmes like the 1 District 1 Factory (1D1F) and Planting for Food and Jobs (PFJ) has created significant number of jobs, the issue of youth unemployment in the country still persists.

He said the government is putting measures in place to create more and better jobs for young Ghanaians, both in the public and the private sectors of the economy.

He said: “I have had extensive discussions with my colleague ministers of employment and labor relations, youth and sports and lands and natural resources. These conversations culminated in a comprehensive strategy to sustainably address youth unemployment. New programmes will be introduced and existing ones scaled-up and refocused to meet the aspirations of our youth.”

“We will work together to sensitize and connect the youth to the numerous opportunities being made available by the government programmes, including a three-year strategy to create job opportunities for one million Ghanaian youth. There are currently about five on-going programmes through which we intend to create these jobs,” Ofori-Atta said.

Although the economic disruptions occasioned by the COVID-19 has led to more people losing their jobs, Ofori-Atta said the government’s plan to reboot the economy and set it back in motion through the GHC100 billion Ghana CARES ‘Obaatanpa’ revitalization programme will be vital in the country’s journey towards the creation of this one million jobs.

This, he said, will help accelerate competitive import substitution and export expansion to generate sustainable jobs for the teeming youth (under 35 years), which constitutes about 71% of the population.