Macroeconomic gains must create employment - Prof. Bokpin

Professor Godfred Alufar Bokpin, an economist, cautioned at the Ghana National Chamber of Commerce and Industry Mid-Year Budget Review Seminar in Accra that Ghana's macroeconomic stability gains must translate into jobs to be meaningful. He stated, "We have a target for inflation, we have a target for growth, we have a target for fiscal balance, but there is no nationally determined target for employment generation in the budget."

Prof. Bokpin noted that the country's economic framework emphasizes indicators over employment creation. Ghana Statistical Service data shows inflation at 5.3% in June 2026, with GDP growth at 6.4% in the first quarter of 2026. Labour market statistics indicate unemployment at 13.0% in the third quarter of 2025, with youth unemployment at 32.4%. Nearly two million persons aged 15 to 35 years were not in employment, education, or training. Prof. Bokpin warned that job creation was insufficient to absorb the approximately 500,000 people who enter the labour market annually.