Finance Minister Dr Cassiel Ato Forson has said Ghana’s New Economy will prioritise job creation and economic opportunities, with a focus on addressing unemployment and the challenges facing young people, farmers and small businesses.
He said the country could no longer afford a situation where completing an education did not lead to employment, talented young people lacked the resources to develop their potential, and hard work failed to translate into sustainable livelihoods.
“Unemployment is personal. It is the graduate who has finished school but cannot find work. It is the young person with talent but no capital,” he said.
Dr Forson’s remarks highlight the human impact of unemployment beyond the figures, pointing to the difficulties people face in finding jobs or building businesses.
He also drew attention to farmers who struggle to find dependable markets for their produce and small business owners who cannot expand because of the high cost of borrowing. These challenges, he suggested, show the need to improve opportunities not only for job seekers but also for people seeking to create jobs and grow productive enterprises.
The Finance Minister said the consequences of unemployment also extend to families that make significant sacrifices to educate their children, only to see them remain without work after graduation.
“It is the family that sacrifices to educate a child, only to watch that child sit at home,” he said.
Dr Forson rejected the idea that these difficulties should be accepted as a normal part of life in Ghana, stressing that the New Economy was intended to change that reality.
“No serious nation can accept this as normal. The New Economy says Ghana must no longer accept it,” he added.
