Ghana must pursue urgent economic reforms built on diversification, digitalisation and skills to ease rising youth unemployment, Deloitte Ghana’s Daniel Kwadwo Owusu told the 10th Ghana CEO Summit in Accra.
Owusu, Country Managing Partner of Deloitte Ghana, spoke on Thursday at the summit, held at the Kempinski Hotel Gold Coast City under a theme focused on accelerating economic transformation through leadership, technology and industrialisation.
He warned that Ghana’s narrow economic base, leaning heavily on mining and a handful of industries, cannot absorb the growing number of graduates entering the labour market each year. He cited research suggesting only about 15 percent of graduates secure meaningful work within six months to two years of leaving university, with some remaining unemployed or underemployed for up to six years.
To reverse the trend, Owusu pressed for immediate diversification, arguing that a broader base spanning industry and services is needed to generate substantial and lasting jobs. He said unemployment should be treated as a national priority demanding coordinated public and private action.
He identified the digital economy as one of the largest untapped sources of employment, pointing to e-commerce, artificial intelligence (AI), digital trade and platform based services as areas that could create new forms of work and raise productivity. He also called for stronger investment in skills, including technical and vocational education and training (TVET), to align the workforce with industry demand.
On industrial policy, Owusu urged incentives and relief for manufacturers and highlighted the National Policy on Integrated Oil Palm Development, which he said could establish about 10,000 hectares of new plantations, create around 250,000 jobs and unlock a 500 million dollar financing package. He further backed the Ghana Investment Promotion Authority (GIPA) Bill as a step toward better investor protection.
Marking a decade of the event, the summit gathered policymakers, business leaders and academics, with sessions geared toward turning long standing dialogue into measurable reforms.
