Paul Eduarko Richardson
Accra, June 19, GNA – Ghana’s youth employment, dominated by the service sector, is projected to grow to 51 per cent by 2030, the World Data Lab (WDL) has indicated.
According to WDL, from 2023 until 2030, about 57 per cent of the new jobs in Ghana would come from Services, followed by Agriculture, with Industry adding the least number of jobs.
It stated that, Ghana’s future service jobs would mainly be in education, human health, and trade, whilst industry sector jobs would mainly come from construction.
The WDL noted that, Ghana’s youth predominantly worked in informal services jobs, which were female dominated.
Mr Kwadwo Agyapon-Ntra, Data Scientist, WDL, revealed this in Accra during the launch of the Africa Youth Employment Clock, a digital tool that monitors real-time job growth and forecasts employment trends in Africa up to 2030.
Developed by the WDL in partnership with the Mastercard Foundation, the Clock draws from surveys and datasets made available by national statistics offices, the International Labour Organization (ILO), and the International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis (IIASA).
Expanding on WDL’s projections for Ghana, Mr Agyapon-Ntra, said Industry jobs were more spread out across the nation’s regions, whilst Agriculture jobs were more concentrated in the middle and the north, with Services jobs in the south.
He said higher populated regions had lower shares of employed youth, who worked mostly in services.
Higher-educated youth in Ghana worked majorly in services, with over 60 per cent of the youth having at least secondary school attainment, he said.
He indicated that, Ghana’s youth were fairly educated with an almost equal chance for both male and female to complete most educational levels, whilst educational attainment was projected to increase among the youth.
The WDL, however, pointed out that, there was a growing share of Ghanaian youth Not in Employment, Education or Training (NEET), a situation mainly driven by inactivity, especially in the female demographic.
Mr Agyapon-Ntra said should the current trends persist, the NEET share would grow up to 2030.
The WDL, by combining new data sources with groundbreaking modelling methods, assists the public, governments, and other organisations in making data-driven decisions to solve the world’s biggest challenges.
The WDL does this as part of its mission to democratise data and make it accessible and actionable for everyone.
The Mastercard Foundation is a registered Canadian charity that works with visionary organisations to advance education and financial inclusion to enable young people in Africa and indigenous youth in Canada to access dignified and fulfilling work.
GNA