Chairman of the National Development Planning Committee, Dr Nii Moi Thompson, says the job creation component of the government’s 24-hour economy programme is yet to gather the speed required to make a significant impact.
He said that while the government has made efforts to attract investments under the flagship programme, the focus must increasingly shift towards small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs).
Speaking on Joy News’ PM Express on Wednesday, Dr Thompson said the 24-hour economy was one of the key ideas taken from the 48 Development Plan.
“Actually, the 24-hour economy came from the 48 Development Plan. It’s one of the few things that have actually come out of it.”
He said the programme spans a wide range of businesses, from small enterprises to large firms, and that investments in bigger businesses often require time before their full impact is felt.
“You have to understand that they are operating across a spectrum of businesses, from small to large. Usually, it takes a gestation period for big businesses to take off, and I think they put a lot of effort into it. They’ve lined up a lot of investments. It will take a while for those to catch on.”
Dr Thompson, however, said the next phase of the programme should place greater emphasis on SMEs to ensure that job creation is spread across the economy.
“My expectation is that in the next two years, they will focus more on the SMEs also, so that you cover the whole spectrum. You don’t put all your eggs in the big businesses per se.”
According to him, analysis conducted before the 24-hour economy was adopted showed that existing businesses are responsible for a significant share of new jobs.
“In the analysis that we did before the 24-hour economy itself was adopted, we concluded that something like 80% of new jobs are created by existing businesses.”
He said job creation was a central promise associated with the 24-hour economy, but that aspect of the programme still needs to gain momentum.
“You may recall that the 24-hour economy was associated with job creation, and this is one aspect of it that I believe is yet to gather speed as much as it should.”
Dr Thompson also stressed that the government must look beyond simply creating new jobs.
He said Ghana faces challenges with unemployment, underemployment and poor-quality work, making the quality of existing jobs equally important.
“So the issue of dealing with the quality of existing jobs is one of those legs that I expect them to work on in the next two years.”
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