Beyond the headline $300 million education commitment, the World Bank Group’s three-day working mission to Ghana has produced a broader set of development pledges spanning private sector growth, youth employment, and clean energy investment, as Managing Director and Chief Knowledge Officer Paschal Donohoe concluded his visit this week.
Donohoe met with Finance Minister Dr. Cassiel Ato Forson during the mission, commending Ghana’s progress in restoring fiscal discipline and macroeconomic stability. The two sides agreed that the World Bank will undertake a Jobs and Growth Analysis to map priority sectors for employment expansion and inform future policy and investment decisions. The Finance Minister stressed that public sector hiring alone cannot meet the scale of Ghana’s youth unemployment challenge, calling for deliberate, policy-driven private sector job creation.
At a high-level International Finance Corporation (IFC) Business Council session with private sector leaders, discussions focused on removing barriers to business growth and scaling opportunities for youth and women entrepreneurs, who collectively own an estimated 44 percent of Ghana’s micro, small and medium enterprises (SMEs). The World Bank Group reiterated that private investment remains the primary driver of job creation across the continent.
The delegation also visited LMI Holdings’ 16.82-megawatt rooftop solar installation at the Tema Free Zones enclave, co-financed by the IFC and described as Africa’s largest and the world’s third-largest facility of its kind. LMI Holdings Chairman Kojo Aduhene called for regulatory reform to remove structural barriers limiting private solar investment, specifically citing gaps in power wheeling rules and standardised power purchase agreement terms.
At the University of Ghana, Donohoe flagged figures showing that 1.34 million young Ghanaians aged 15 to 24, representing 21.5 percent of that age group, are not in employment, education, or training (NEET). “The data is clear on what works. The question is not what to do, but whether there are the political will and institutional capacity to do it on a scale,” he said.
The Donohoe visit, his first official mission to Africa since his appointment in November 2025, signals the World Bank Group’s intent to deepen its partnership with Accra across multiple fronts as Ghana advances through its ongoing International Monetary Fund (IMF) programme.
