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Vice President Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia says the Akufo-Addo-led administration has created two million jobs in the formal sector since he took office in 2017.
According to him, the New Patriotic Party on assuming the reins of government sought to remedy “the hopelessness and despair in which the lack of job opportunities under the previous administration had plunged our youth”, a phenomenon that he described as a threat to the security of the country .
Speaking at the Bawumia Speaks Lecture Series at Cedi Conference Hall, University of Ghana, the Vice President stated that his government had tackled the challenge head-on, leading to the creation of 2 million jobs in the formal sector.
“We took the bull by the horns and in four years we have created more than 2 million jobs in the formal sector, including through government programs like NABCO (100,000 jobs for unemployed graduates), NEIP and Planting for Food and Jobs.
“We have also hired nurses, doctors and other healthcare workers, hired new teachers, police officers and many others in the public sector after many years of job freezes under the previous government.”
He added that through government industrial transformation interventions, such as the One District One Factory program, nearly 19,000 direct jobs have been created for youth in the country.
“… And since helping him restart operations, Anglogold Ashanti’s Obuasi mine has employed more than 4,000. We have revived the Ghana Publishing Company, WAMCO, as well as GhanaPost, ”he stated.
Vice President Bawumia further revealed that to ensure inclusion in the government’s approach to reducing youth unemployment in the country, the National Entrepreneurship and Innovation Program (NEIP) was introduced to help small businesses prosper as well.
“Through the National Entrepreneurship and Innovation Program (NEIP) and the President’s Entrepreneurs Living with Disabilities programs, we are supporting small and medium-sized businesses as one more way to create jobs and sustainable income,” he said.
According to Dr. Bawumia, it takes bold leadership to meet these challenges head-on and deliver, making it an argument for President Akufo-Addo’s term to be renewed on December 7.
