Kojo Oppong Nkrumah calls for bipartisan commitment to tackle youth unemployment
Kojo Oppong Nkrumah, Member of Parliament for Ofoase-Ayirebi, has expressed grave concern over the rising levels of youth unemployment in Ghana, describing it as a matter of urgent national importance that requires immediate and effective solutions.
Speaking on the floor of Parliament on Thursday, Mr Oppong Nkrumah cited recent data from the Ghana Statistical Service (GSS) to highlight the severity of the problem.
He noted that in December 2024, the unemployment rate among young Ghanaians aged 15 to 24 stood at 32 percent, rising to 32.5 percent by the third quarter of 2025.
“In Greater Accra alone, youth unemployment reached 49.3 percent in Q3 2025, meaning nearly one in every two young people in our capital region is unemployed,” he said.
He added that seven out of every ten unemployed Ghanaians are under the age of 35, underscoring the scale of the challenge.
The MP further revealed that 1.34 million young people aged 15 to 24 are classified as Not in Education, Employment, or Training (NEET).
When Ghana's National Youth Policy definition extending to age 35 is applied, the figure rises to 1.95 million.
“Nearly two million young Ghanaians are neither earning nor learning,” he stressed.
The Ofoase Ayirebi legislator argued that the unemployment crisis is not merely a general problem with a youth dimension, but fundamentally a youth problem that was worsening.
He acknowledged that no government, including the previous NPP administration, had fully solved the issue, and urged collective responsibility.
He questioned whether current government interventions were sufficient and effective.
“The government has presented a basket of solutions: the 24-Hour Economy, the One Million Coders Programme, the Adwumawura Programme, and the promise of 250,000 jobs annually,” he stated.
Mr Oppong Nkrumah pointed out that while the 24-Hour Economy was launched in July 2025, the Authority Bill only came before Parliament in February 2026, and concerns had already been raised that it did not adequately provide for the promised shift system or employment expansion.
On the One-Million Coders Programme, the MP noted that the initiative received over 90,000 applications within 48 hours, reflecting hunger among young people for opportunities.
However, he lamented that by November 2025, the programme's website was offline before being relaunched with plans to onboard 30,000 people in the first cohort.
He urged the government to ensure that these programmes were implemented effectively and transparently to deliver real jobs for young people.
“The burden is getting worse, and the question before this House today is what is being done now to tackle it and whether it is working,” he emphasised.
Mr Oppong Nkrumah called for bipartisan commitment to tackling youth unemployment, stressing that the future of Ghana's economy and social stability depends on creating sustainable opportunities for its young population.
GNA