Nearly 2 million young Ghanaians are out of work, school and training, says Sherif Ghali

Speaking at the National Youth Forum as President of the Ghana Youth Federation, Sherif Ghali put numbers on a problem many young Ghanaians know from experience. He said nearly 2 million people aged 15 to 35 are not in education, employment or training, and that youth unemployment stands at 21.9%, well above the national figure of 12.8%. The Greater Accra Region, at 31.9%, has the highest rate.

He asked the audience to look at the people behind the statistics: graduates who send dozens of job applications and never hear back, and apprenticeship graduates who finish their training but cannot raise the money for the equipment they need to start a business. He also linked scenes of young people crowding stores during a recent chicken-discount promotion to economic desperation rather than recklessness.

His message to government was to strengthen its interventions and focus on lasting economic opportunities for young people, not one-off programmes.