Time to bring more Ghanaians into formal sector – Akufo-Addo

President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo has said it is time for more workers in Ghana to be brought under formal sector employment.

According to him, figures available show that very few Ghanaians are employed in the formal sector, a situation which is not in the best interest of Ghanaians.

Speaking during May Day celebrations at the Black Star Square in Accra on Monday May 1, he said: “We have a huge workforce, but the majority of the people are underemployed or inappropriately employed or unemployed. We all know that the number of people in what can be described as formal work is a tiny part of the workforce of our country.

“The figures that I have seen suggest that the size of the workforce in our country is about 13 million people and there are less than 2 million in formal work.

“Unfortunately much of our preoccupation seems to be with this small group in the formal sector. It is time for us all to bring more of our people into the formal sector. It will be, indeed, in everybody’s interest to do so.”

He added: “The first order of business therefore must be to get our economy out of the doldrums and to create the atmosphere for our entrepreneurs to bring on the jobs.

“There are things the government must do and there are things the citizens as a whole and organized labour in particular must do. We in government have set about our task with zeal. Our first budget, the Asempa Budget, has set out clearly the road map to bring prosperity to Ghana.

“We have taken the important steps to create an enabling environment for the private sector to flourish and create jobs. We have reduced taxes, including taxes on kayayei, inflation is on the decline, interest rates are on the decline, and [there’s] relative stability of the exchange rate.”