Accra:Chief Executive Officer of the Ghana Association of Banks, John Awuah, has urged the nation to expand its view of employment beyond corporate jobs and focus on skilled trades and entrepreneurship to help young people earn a living.
According to Ghana Web, Awuah emphasized the need for a national framework that provides practical pathways for unemployed graduates and other young people to achieve sustainable livelihoods. He warned that restricting employment expectations to formal corporate roles might lead many young people to miss opportunities in essential services that households and businesses require.
Awuah highlighted the difficulty in finding skilled tradespeople, such as plumbers, as an example of the demand that young people could leverage into viable businesses. He advocated for policymakers to address skills gaps by integrating practical training and entrepreneurship more robustly into education.
He stressed the importance of recognizing the value of a job in its capacity to support a person’s livelihood, urging the development of systems that allow young people to acquire marketable skills and transform them into sustainable businesses. Awuah also noted that expanding legitimate income opportunities could reduce the vulnerability of young people to crime by providing viable means of self-support.