Stakeholders have called on the government and development partners to move beyond training-only models and build a fully funded, industry-linked Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) ecosystem capable of translating skills into jobs and sustainable businesses.
The calls came during a webinar themed “Youth Employment: Unlocking Ghana’s Potential,” organised by the World Bank Ghana in collaboration with the African Centre for Economic Transformation (ACET) and the Institute of Statistical, Social and Economic Research (ISSER).
According to the Mastercard Foundation Africa Youth Employment Outlook 2026, only nine percent of Ghana’s youth are in formal employment, one of the lowest rates among African countries actively pursuing targeted youth employment strategies. Participants at the webinar described the scale of the challenge as structural and called for coordinated action.
Linda Yaa Ampah, Chief Executive Officer of Cadling Fashions and KAD Manufacturing Limited, said a comprehensive TVET framework must do more than train graduates; it must support them through to sustainable employment and enterprise. She called for dedicated funding mechanisms within the TVET ecosystem to serve as start-up capital for graduates, arguing that access to seed financing would boost industrial productivity and reduce dependence on formal job placements. “The goal is to establish a system that not only trains but sustains,” she said, adding that vocational education must also expand beyond traditional classroom delivery to adopt inclusive policies that broaden access across sectors.
Monica Lambon-Quayefio, Associate Professor at the Department of Economics, University of Ghana, said unlocking the full potential of TVET required a deliberate, well-resourced, and inclusive ecosystem. She called for the development of a functional Labour Market Information System (LMIS), backed by strong private sector partnerships, effective job-matching services, and reliable data to guide policy and resource allocation.
She said the school-to-work transition improves significantly when young people receive structured support before, during, and after leaving education through systems that connect institutions, employers, and support services. She urged educational institutions to provide pre-employment support covering curriculum vitae preparation, job search strategies, interview techniques, and soft skills including communication, teamwork, and reliability.
On gender, Lambon-Quayefio called for targeted interventions to remove barriers that disproportionately affect young women, including safety concerns, mobility challenges, and entrenched social norms that contribute to higher dropout rates and limit access to employment.
The World Bank has been working with Ghana’s Ministry of Education on reforms to shift TVET instruction from a ratio of 90 percent theory and 10 percent practical to one that is 70 percent practical, with investments in workshops and laboratory facilities to support that transformation.
ACET has also been conducting a study titled “Building TVET Systems for Economic Transformation in Africa,” assessing vocational training systems in six countries including Ghana, with a focus on closing the persistent gap between what training institutions offer and what labour markets demand.
Participants concluded by calling for a coordinated national TVET framework integrating capacity building, expanded apprenticeship programmes, and access to start-up financing, warning that without adequate funding and industry alignment, the sector’s potential to address youth unemployment would remain unrealised.
