Ghana’s Progress Stalled by Youth Unemployment and Lack of Industrialization – Abu Sakara

As Ghana marks 69 years of independence, agronomist and politician Dr. Abu Sakara has offered a nuanced assessment of the nation’s development, highlighting significant strides while cautioning that youth unemployment, lack of industrialisation, and economic gaps remain urgent challenges.

Speaking to the media on March 6, Dr. Sakara provided a detailed evaluation of Ghana’s economic, political, social, and geopolitical landscape. “Clearly, we have not yet reached where we should be, but we have made a lot of progress,” he said. “I think on the economic side, we have transitioned our economy towards a more mixed economy, but we didn’t achieve industrialisation. We have not achieved it yet, so we’re still behind compared to our contemporaries.”

On the political front, Dr. Sakara praised Ghana’s democratic stability, saying, “On the political side, of course, we’ve made a significant gain. We’re known as the beacon of stability in our neoliberal democracy, and of course, with various changes, peaceful changes of government, so that is a good plus in our cap.”

However, he cautioned that social challenges persist, particularly youth unemployment, which is closely linked to the lack of industrialisation.

“On the social side, there’s a lot of youth unemployment, and that is coupled with the lack of industrialisation. Although we’ve made progress through the foundation of universal primary education, we’re now training people not for our economy, but to export them because we have high youth unemployment.”

Dr. Sakara also addressed Ghana’s evolving geopolitical stance, saying, “I think if you look at the geopolitical stance, we went from a purely Pan-Africanist view, now we have a more non-aligned view, the one in which we have a more multilateral approach, and some will even say that we have aligned ourselves a little bit more with the West.”

Reflecting on overall progress, Dr. Sakara said, “I think we have made significant progress, but a question is not whether you’re on the right path or not. It is whether you are where you are supposed to be. Is this your sitting place, compared to where you should be?”

Despite these advances, he highlighted the economic gap between Ghana and its peers, saying, “Our GDP per capita is around $2,000, compared to $65,000 in some countries, and even South Korea at $35,000. Money is not everything, but it drives many other outcomes.”

Dr. Sakara concluded that while Ghana has made considerable strides since independence, accelerating industrialisation, creating meaningful employment, and positioning the nation strategically in the global arena remain urgent priorities.