On Ghana’s Youth and Joblessness

You must respect that hustling

                                                                        - Joseph Hill of Culture

Our woman on the her daily grind; where's her Republic?

The freshness and crispness of the African morning provides an almost surreal setting. Accra the 100 year plus old capital is about stirring then. The cocks crow, the birds chirp, the horns start tooting; the daily hustle begins. And this daily hustle begins very early in Accra for us all including her. There she comes; all comely and calm swaying delightfully those confounding elements that make her an African woman. Then she hits her world which is carved out of the very ribs of the street; the Ghanaian architectural maestro David Adjaye(www.adjaye.com) will love this. A fabric proudly forlorn is thrown gallantly over a wire fence to serve as screen for a dining area. In a flash her kitchen begins to hum; smoke bellows from the coal pot and the gas stove too. Soon the diners will line up to have their go. Her frenetic pace is unbroken until the sun retires and darkness creeps on us earthlings: Adi sa a na adi asa to wit night fall has a certain finality! If this is not entrepreneurship I do not know what this concept means.

Our woman’s intensity, hard work, focus and consistency is reflected amongst Ghanaians. At the universities, in the factories, on the farms and the streets. The young of our Republic constitute the largest chunk of this work force which it seems has been left to its wretched fate. The argument has gone abroad lately that the debilitating joblessness that Ghana faces currently must be the product of a certain shiftiness and indeed lack of entrepreneurship amongst the youth. This word has become the magic portion of an assortment of business specialists, conmen and women and even policy makers who believe that planting this idea in the cranium and hearts of Ghana’s young people will unlock the doors to work and happiness. They might have a point admittedly but just a miserly point on a very complicated question that stalks our Republic in our times. True it will be useful for our woman to keep her books; have a basic facility with figures and figure out how to increase her share of the market. But that is just a fraction of her needs. Where does she lay her head? How does she get to her empire in the making in the mornings? Where and how does she get water to cook and at what cost bodily, financially and psychologically? How much of her stuff can the ordinary man or woman on the street afford? Can she afford the rent for new space for the business if it begins to expand? What kind of health system exists for her if she falls sick? These are the questions that need answering if we want to be serious about dealing decisively with our joblessness conundrum.

The transport, health, housing, educational and power systems among others must function at the very least  reliably as vital co-operant factors if our potential and actual entrepreneurs are to have a chance to take on West Africa, Africa and the world. The Ghanaian state has become a pale shadow of its true self seduced by dubious ideas from without which urged her to stand haplessly and helplessly by as a nonchalant observer in weighty matters affecting our Republic. The Ghanaian Republic and those who manage it must stand up for its people by becoming that very interested, active, creative, daring, innovative partner in the search for enduring answers to the challenge of joblessness. And this as a duty; not a left handed favor loaded with crumbs for citizens who are seen as lowly imbeciles who must drool and prostrate for such condescending help.

The story is told of Keng Swee then minister of finance of Singapore in its early years. This country faced the same unemployment challenges Ghana now faces. One day as Keng Swee drove from work he espied hordes of young people returning home from school. Keng Swee lowered his head in shame and pondered where the jobs were going to come from to allow them earn their keep. Almost in tears he vowed to put Singaporeans to work. For the results check out this data on per capita income for 2010(World Bank and CIA data): Singapore, $43,324.00; Ghana, $1600.00. Ghana’s ministers might shed tears over their dented four wheelers!!!!!!

ps: when will Ghana have accessible, periodic figures on unemployment??????????