Haruna Iddrisu, the Minister of Education, has admitted that although the economy has shown signs of stability, unemployment remains one of the biggest issues confronting the John Mahama administration.
According to Haruna Iddrisu, the Mahama government is aware that economic growth must translate into employment opportunities.
He argued that unemployment remains one of the biggest issues the Mahama administration must address
Speaking on GTV’s Breakfast Show, Haruna Iddrisu stated, “As I have said, whether that stability and growth is making us address unemployment, that I would accept as a challenge that government must resolve to deal with”.
Haruna Iddrisu admitted that unemployment and underemployment remain social issues that require continued attention despite progress in other sectors.
The Education Minister admitted that creating jobs remains an important part of the government’s agenda.
Also, Dr Johnson Asiama, the Bank of Ghana Governor, has admitted that stability is good, but people are hungry.
The BoG Governor detailed that there is unemployment everywhere.
Dr Johnson Asiama further linked the unemployment crisis to the performance of banks.
He revealed that the central bank is focused on stabilising the banking sector to enable lower interest rates for businesses, aimed at boosting growth and job creation.
The BoG Governor also highlighted that the high interest rates are killing businesses.
According to Dr Johnson Asiama, the BoG is working to bring down the high interest rates.
He quizzed how businesses borrow money above 30% interest rate above 30%; how do you expect that business to repay?
Speaking in a video shared on April 5, 2026, the Governor explained, “Stability is good, but people are hungry. There’s unemployment everywhere. So, the next step is to strengthen the markets.
“Our focus currently is to engineer a low-interest environment and a stable exchange environment”, he said.
“If a business borrows money at above 30%, how do you expect that business to repay? Interest rates are 30%, what are you going to use the money for?” he questioned.
“It’s not surprising there’s a lot of unemployment. It’s not surprising the private sector is still really under pressure”, he said.
Meanwhile, Dr Abdul-Rashid Pelpuo, the Minister for Labour, Jobs and Employment, has claimed the John Mahama government has made significant progress in tackling unemployment since assuming office in 2025.
According to the Labour Minister, the Mahama government’s performance in job creation has been very good.
He claimed that the government’s efforts to create jobs are beginning to yield results, with both youth and general unemployment showing signs of decline.
Speaking on Eyewitness News on Thursday, July 9, Dr Pelpuo stated, “Government performance has been very good. As you know, job creation is a multi-ministerial, sectorial issue and what we have seen is that each ministry has a component on how jobs are created and they are all up and doing and working very hard”.
“The private sector is energised to do more, and we can see them committed to doing the best they can,” he added.
He expressed confidence that the government’s overall economic and employment policies are producing positive results.
“Generally, I see that things are moving well and the statistics show that so far we have done so well,” he stated.
Dr Abdul-Rashid Pelpuo further indicated that unemployment has declined compared to since the current administration took office.
“Given the rate of unemployment before we came and the rate of unemployment now, there has been a decrease in both youth unemployment and general unemployment,” the Minister said.
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