The Vice President and flagbearer of the New Patriotic Party (NPP), Dr Mahamudu Bawumia, says that as President of Ghana, he will focus on three key areas to empower the young people of the country.

Addressing the youth of the country in a special televised event from Accra on Sunday, November 3, 2024, Dr Bawumia said that after extensive engagement, he has identified that prioritizing education, skills training, and job creation will empower the youth of the country, hence his desire to achieve that as President.

"From what I gathered in my interactions with you, I can sum up the priorities of the majority of you in three major categories: Education, Skills, and Jobs," Dr. Bawumia said.

"Once you have an education, and you acquire employable skills, what is left is to thrive in an economic environment which can generate a large and expansive pool of good jobs with good pay, whether as an entrepreneur, self-employed, or employee," Dr. Bawumia explained.

Expand educational opportunities for all

Dr. Bawumia said his government will continue with the massive investment in education of the past eight years and also improve on it by expanding opportunities to ensure easier access to education at all levels.

"Distinguished Ladies and Gentlemen, the NPP government, recognizing and understanding that there are conditions that create sustainable and decent jobs, has implemented numerous policies to this effect.

"The Free SHS Policy, with over 5 million beneficiaries, is one of the critical policies to lay the foundation for decent and sustainable jobs. Expansion of second-cycle education with the Free SHS Policy enhances the skills of all beneficiaries who, some, hitherto, might have fallen off the education ladder due to financial challenges," he said.

"Technical and Vocational Education Training (TVET) has not also been left out. There is a need to train Ghana's labour force with the right skills needed to drive industrialization.

"We have, in the last 8 years, undertaken massive investment in TVET, including Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM). The vision is to prepare the country's emerging labour force with the right training, skills, and education for the 4th Industrial Revolution. More so, this is also to address the mismatch between the skills of the labour force and the demands of the industry."

"My government will build on this by expanding educational opportunities for all," he assured.

Friendly economic environment for jobs

As part of his three key focuses to empower the youth, Dr. Bawumia said that apart from a focus on education and skills training, he will also leverage public policy to sustain and expand Ghana's rebounding economy for business growth and job creation by creating a friendly economic environment for jobs.

"A conducive economic environment is a prerequisite for decent and sustainable job creation," Dr. Bawumia said.

"With our philosophy of economic liberalism, we believe it is our responsibility to create an enabling environment for the private sector, which we believe is our engine of growth, to flourish. Among other things, a stable macroeconomic environment is paramount."

"My government will reduce the fiscal burden on government by leveraging the private sector. Under the two-term administration of His Excellency Nana Akufo-Addo's government, we have put in place many social safety nets like free SHS, Free TVET, etc. With all these social safety nets in place, my government will now focus on jobs and wealth creation by the private sector for all Ghanaians."

"My administration will incentivize the private sector to complement the government in the provision of many infrastructures and other services to reduce government expenditure and improve maintenance."

"The private sector will be encouraged to build roads, schools, hostels, and houses for the government to rent or lease to own. The demand for road construction is massive, and this has historically placed a huge burden on the budget. I believe that the private sector should finance the construction and maintenance of roads through PPP concession arrangements.

"Also, the government will move towards leasing rather than purchasing vehicles, printing equipment, etc. The private sector will be responsible for maintaining the equipment. With this approach, the budget can save very significant outright cash expenditure annually from various items across different Ministries, Departments, and Agencies."

"This policy will energize the private sector and create many jobs. The move towards the private sector provision of many public services would create fiscal space of at least 3% of GDP annually (GHC30 billion). This represents a major paradigm shift."