Accra, Ghana//-The government today explained that its ‘one million jobs’ initiative would be complemented by the country’s private sector to enable it create sustainable jobs for the teeming Ghanaian youth.
A Deputy Minister of Finance, Dr John Kumah who explained this to members of Institute of Financial and Economic Journalists (IFEJ) and Parliamentary Press Corps in Accra, said: “The one million jobs are not going to be created by the government alone. The private sector will complement the government’s effort”.
Presenting the 2021 mid-year budget review in Parliament on Thursday, July 29, 2021, the Finance Minister, Ken Ofori-Atta said this intervention is a deliberate move by the government to empower the youth in order to ensure economic growth.
Taking the journalists through the mid-year budget during a virtual workshop, the Head of Macroeconomic Policy Unit at the Ministry of Finance, John Gyesaw, said the initiative aimed to empower the Ghanaian youth to be at ease and venture into business.
“The clean-up of the financial sector and the invigoration of the entrepreneurial eco-system is expected to help remove the binding constraints of financing and market linkage for our daring youth. Our focus will remain on establishing a strong value system for entrepreneurship to flourish.”
The three and half-years “One Million jobs initiative” according to him seeks to aggressively respond to the needs of the country. This is to promote growth in SMEs, support new ventures, and stimulate innovation and start-ups.
Mr Gyesaw noted that the programmes they have and continue to implement in line with their strategy for Completion, Consolidation and Continuity are addressing the concerns of Ghanaians, especially the youth.
In fulfillment of their Completion pledge, they have completed a number of projects and activities including: the Four-Tier interchange at Pokuase to ease travel constraints and enhance productivity; the 85-bed Central Gonja District Hospital in Buipe to improve access to quality healthcare; key strategic factories to provide jobs and accelerate industrialization agenda; the removal of Ghana from the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) graylist; and the signing of seven Implementation Compacts under the Ghana CARES “Obaatan Pa” Programme.
Towards Consolidating the gains made, Mr Gyesaw mentioned amongst others : the pursued prudent macro-fiscal policies that puts the country back on track to restore economic stability and growth; fostered a resilient financial ecosystem, under Ghana CARES by establishing the building blocks for stronger and catalytic collaboration between institutions such as Ghana Incentive-based and Risk Sharing Scheme for Agricultural Lending (GIRSAL), and Venture Capital Trust Fund (VCTF).
While the Continuity pledge has also driven the country to continue to implement the Phase II of the Ghana CARES “Obaatan Pa” Programme to revitalize the economy; continue to implement key flagship programmes, including Free SHS, PFJ, 1D1F to enhance the quality of life of the people; and continued Environmental Agenda by embarking on a war against illegal mining (galamsey) to preserve water bodies and protect the environment.
In addition to the above, the government he said has continued to provide the needed resources, equipment and personnel to maintain security and peace within its borders.
African Eye Report
