The President of the Ghana Employers Association (GEA), Nana Dr E. Adu-Sarkodee Afriyie, has called on Parliament to enact legislation to clearly define the country’s development objectives and align them with the human capital produced by universities.
He said Ghana’s current human capital base does not match its development needs, warning that the mismatch is affecting business growth and employment.
According to him, universities continue to produce graduates who lack the practical skills and knowledge required by industry.
“We are still producing lots of MBAs, and nobody needs them for anything,” he said.
Call for urgent realignment
Speaking during an engagement with the Minority Caucus at the GEA head office in Accra on March 31, Nana Dr Afriyie stressed the need for a fundamental shift in the country’s approach to human capital development.
“We think that the human capital needs a drastic alignment with the developmental needs of the nation.
“We need people who can actually do things for the nation, and we are not finding them to employ, and that is the problem that we are facing,” he said.
He emphasised that a clear policy direction would guide universities in training the right calibre of graduates to support national development.
Minority engages business community
The meeting formed part of efforts by the Minority Caucus, led by Minority Leader Alexander Afenyo-Markin, to engage stakeholders on challenges affecting businesses and employment.
The discussions focused on identifying constraints within the business environment and exploring solutions to improve job creation.
Participants also considered establishing a joint working group to meet quarterly to exchange ideas and propose reforms to strengthen the private sector.
Other members of the delegation included Deputy Minority Leader Patricia Appiagyei; Member of Parliament for Ofoase/Ayirebi and Ranking Member on the Economy and Development Committee, Kojo Oppong Nkrumah; MP for Obuasi West, Kwaku Kwarteng; Ranking Member on the Trade, Industry and Tourism Committee, Michael Okyere Baafi; and Deputy Ranking Member on the Economy and Development Committee, Tweneboa Kodua Fokuo.
Bipartisan collaboration needed
Nana Dr Afriyie urged political actors to work together to address the country’s human capital challenges.
He said a long-term, bipartisan approach was necessary to ensure consistency in policy implementation.
“This is a medium to long-term goal, and I hope that both political parties can really come together and get something going for us otherwise, because we keep struggling with finding the human capital to manage our businesses for us,” he said.
Unemployment described as national emergency
Responding, Mr Afenyo-Markin said the engagement was aimed at finding solutions rather than apportioning blame.
He described unemployment as a structural challenge affecting productivity and national development.
“And we are not merely counting on empty hands but we are reckoning with a structural favour to equip our young people for work, to protect the livelihood of our artisans, especially from external displacement and to prepare our technical workforce,” he said.
The Effutu MP cited data indicating that more than 1.3 million young Ghanaians are unemployed.
“Education or training and youth unemployment is not a pipeline problem, but it is a national emergency, looking at the 506,000 who bought national security forms.
“The data also has it that youth unemployment stands at 32.5 per cent from ages between 15 to 24 years, and this is a measure of deferred human potential and deepening inequality that no government can afford to normalise,” he said.
Mr Afenyo-Markin expressed optimism that collaboration between policymakers and the business community, particularly the GEA, could help address the challenge.
