Bawumia outlines 8 initiatives to create 4 million jobs for the youth as president

Last Sunday at the Borteyman Sports Complex in Accra, where Vice President, Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia interacted with the youth of Ghana, he spoke of his concerns and priorities for the youth of Ghana.

In an extensive address detailing his comprehensive vision for the youth, Dr. Bawumia said the development and welfare of the youth will be one of his utmost priorities as President, if given the opportunity, revealing that he intends to empower the youth through three main pillars: education, skills training, and jobs.

Explaining, Dr. Bawumia underscored the significance of education to the youth, saying it is the catalyst for their development. He, therefore, announced plans that as President, he will invest more in education and expand access to all, at all levels, especially the tertiary level, following the overwhelming success of Free SHS.

Dr. Bawumia linked the second part, skills training, with education, as that will take place largely under TVET, as well as his well-received plans to train 1 million Ghanaian youth in digital training.

These two: education and skills training, Dr. Bawumia stressed, will prepare Ghanaian youth for the job market, which he intends to significantly expand as President, through a number of policies he said will directly create millions of jobs.

"Once you have an education, and you acquire employable skills, what is left is to thrive in an economic environment which can generate a large and expansive pool of good jobs with good pay, whether as an entrepreneur, self-employed, or employee," Dr. Bawumia said.

"I will outline the bold economic solutions that we plan to roll out which will make it possible to create millions of jobs, if I am given the mandate on December 7, 2024."

"I am confident that these initiatives will create the large pool of diverse jobs that the young people of Ghana desire and deserve," Dr. Bawumia said, before going on to reveal the initiatives, which are as follows:

1. Leverage public policy to sustain and expand Ghana's rebounding economy for business growth and job creation.

Under this, Dr. Bawumia explained that a conducive economic environment is a prerequisite for decent and sustainable job creation.

Dr. Bawumia said it will be a major responsibility of his government to create an enabling environment for the private sector, which he said is "our engine of growth" to flourish and be able to create jobs, in a stable macroeconomic environment.

He added that his government will free up government spending and create fiscal space, by leveraging the private sector to undertake infrastructure projects.

2. Expand public infrastructure

Dr. Bawumia said a focus on expanding public infrastructure, as he explained with the private sector above, will create more jobs for the youth.

An example he gave was the Agenda 111 hospitals, which he said his government will complete to create jobs in the health sector, estimated to be about 72,000 jobs.

3. Support business for job creation

"As stated in our manifesto, my Government has far-reaching policies and programmes that will drive and create the needed decent employment opportunities," Dr. Bawumia said.

We will support the growth of businesses by the following policies:

a) Use Government’s purchasing power to stimulate industrial expansion and business growth, which will help create jobs, by rolling out a “Buy Ghana First” policy under which all goods and services procured by the public sector will first be filled by goods and services produced locally.

b) Establish an SME Bank to meet the special financing needs of small and medium businesses, which employ over 80% of Ghanaians.

c) Incentivise Ghanaian start-ups in selected, strategic sectors with Investment Tax Credits (ITC) for the first three (3) years of their operations.

d) Implement a shift in electricity tariffs structure to a regime in which commercial rates are either equal to, or lower than residential rates, never higher, to power industries and businesses.

e) Reduce the cost of power by bringing on board 2,000 MW of solar power, and incentivising users by buying excess power they generate from solar systems and paying with “free electricity” from the national grid when they need power (through net metering).

f) Special Economic Zones (Free Zones) will also be created in collaboration with the private sector at Ghana’s major border towns such as Aflao, Paga, Elubo, Sampa, and Tatale to enhance economic activity, increase exports, reduce smuggling, and create jobs.

4. Implement a new tax system for job creation

"To support the private sector to create jobs, I will introduce a tax regime that is easy to understand, easy to comply with and easy to enforce and that is not subject to so much discretion," Dr. Bawumia explained.

"My government will implement a very simple, citizen and business-friendly flat tax regime. A flat tax of a % of income for individuals and SMEs (which constitute over 80% of all businesses in Ghana) with appropriate exemption thresholds set to protect the poor."

"We will also introduce a Flat Rate duty regime for all importers; bringing predictability and stability to prices of imported goods. Furthermore, we will harmonise port charges to align with charges in competing regional ports, particularly Togo. Duties at our ports will be the same or lower."

Dr. Bawumia believes that these new friendly tax regimes will help businesses to grow and once they expand, they will employ more.

5. Reform the Agriculture sector for job creation

"I want a Ghana where we sustain food security and create jobs through the application of technology and irrigation to commercial large-scale farming," said Dr. Bawumia.

To achieve this, Dr. Bawumia announced he will:

i. Work with the private sector to create agricultural enclaves in each region based on its comparative advantage.

ii. Invest in research and development of digital and AI technologies aimed at improving production, reducing post-harvest losses and packaging agricultural produce for freshness/longer shelf life as well as farming under arid conditions, and Agric mechanisation.

iii. Redirect ADB to expand its financing and guarantee lines, through the SME bank to support entities engaged in the manufacturing of value-added agricultural products consumed in large quantities in Ghana.

iv. Establish District Agriculture Mechanization Centers in all farming districts in collaboration with the private sector.

6. Reform the housing sector for job creation

"Under a housing for all policy, I will also have a major focus on the provision of Public Housing in the same manner that Singapore did– We will partner with the private sector to build large housing estates without the government having to borrow or spend. The housing market holds the key to millions of jobs: architects, masons, electricians, plumbers, roofers, etc.," Dr. Bawumia explained.

"The mortgage market in the US for example is $12.5 trillion, UK is $250 billion, Ghana is $250 million. My government will unleash the job potential of our housing market by completing the ongoing digitalization of the land registry. Title should be easy to establish online without reliance on land guards. Chiefs will be allowed to register stool lands without initially paying a fee. Banks and other lenders will be able to establish title to different properties easily and provide mortgage lending. Furthermore, my government will ensure a variety of accommodation types to meet different pockets and needs as follows:

a. Social Housing: including homeless shelters (overnight stay for the vulnerable) and an expanded Rental Assistance Scheme for low-income workers.

b. Affordable Housing: including District Housing projects through incentives to the private real estate industry, as well as expanded services of State Housing Company (SHC), TDC, and National Homeownership Fund (NHF).

7. Reform the mining sector for jobs

"As President, my government will usher Ghana into a Golden age for the maximization of the benefits from our natural resources like gold, lithium, bauxite, and so on to create more jobs. The key to doing this is value addition and Ghanaian ownership. We need a new paradigm in natural resource contracts," said the Vice President.

In the mining sector, Dr. Bawumia announced that as President, his government will "formalize, regularize and regulate environmentally sustainable small-scale mining."

"Our goal would be to help grow small-scale mining companies into large-scale companies with capacity building and assisting them to access financing to acquire equipment."

8. Build a world-class digital economy to support job creation:

Under this, is Dr. Bawumia's biggest job initiative. He revealed he intends to train 1 million Ghanaian youth in digital skills, who will be ready to grab opportunities in the expanding digital sector both in Ghana and abroad.

"I want to build a Ghana where we leverage technology, data and systems for inclusive economic growth. I want us to apply digital technology, STEM, robotics and artificial intelligence for the transformation of agriculture, healthcare, education, manufacturing, fintech and public service delivery,"

"I want to see Ghana build the digital talent we require for the Fourth Industrial Revolution. This will mean providing digital and software skills to hundreds of

thousands of youth. This along with other policies, will create jobs for the youth, including school dropouts. In collaboration with the private sector, we will train at least 1,000,000 youth in IT skills, including software developers to provide job opportunities worldwide," he added.

Apart from the digital training of one million youth, Dr. Bawumia also announced, among others, that his government will "provide venture funding and grant support for commercially viable tech projects by Ghanaian start-ups to drive innovation, foster high-tech entrepreneurship, create jobs, and support the growth of Ghanaian high-tech businesses."

The Vice President further promised, "to establish a Fintech Fund with seed capital of US$100 Million to attract additional private sector funding to support Ghanaian start-ups developing payments and financial services solutions, specially focused on region-wide exportable solutions."

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