Ghana’s New Economy Will Tackle Unemployment, Support Youth and Businesses – Ato Forson

Finance Minister Dr Cassiel Ato Forson says Ghana’s New Economy will prioritise tackling unemployment and removing the obstacles that prevent young people, farmers and small businesses from building sustainable livelihoods.

He said Ghana could no longer tolerate a situation where education does not translate into employment, talented young people lack the necessary support, and hard work fails to create meaningful economic opportunities.

“Unemployment is personal. It is the graduate who has finished school but cannot find work. It is the young person with talent but no capital,” Dr Forson stated.

The Finance Minister made the remarks last Friday during an engagement with students and faculty members of the University for Development Studies at its Nyankpala Campus in the Tolon District of the Northern Region.

The engagement forms part of a series of consultations Dr Forson is holding with key stakeholders across the economy ahead of the presentation of the government’s 2027 Budget and Economic Policy.

Dr Forson explained that the New Economy agenda would place job creation and access to economic opportunities at the centre of Ghana’s development efforts, highlighting the human impact behind the country’s unemployment figures.

He also drew attention to the challenges facing farmers who struggle to secure reliable markets for their produce and small business owners who are unable to expand because of high borrowing costs.

According to him, the country must address both the difficulties people face in finding jobs and the barriers confronting those with the potential to create employment for others.

He noted that unemployment was particularly distressing for families who make significant sacrifices to educate their children, only for them to remain unemployed after completing school.

“It is the family that sacrifices to educate a child, only to watch that child sit at home,” he said.

Dr Forson rejected the notion that such hardships should be accepted as a normal part of Ghanaian life, insisting that the New Economy agenda seeks to change the situation.

“No serious nation can accept this as normal. The New Economy says Ghana must no longer accept it,” he emphasised.