Part 2 of this series of articles presents a High-Level Programme Design for 24HE and six accompanying outcomes.
Market systems approach
24-HE should adopt a market systems approach to stimulate increased demand for Ghanaian goods and services in both domestic and export markets; strengthen the growth, productivity, and competitiveness of Ghanaian enterprises; provide skills for employment and entrepreneurship; improve the business enabling environment for both local and foreign direct investment; and increase the availability and quality of public services for Ghanaian residents and citizens.
High-level programme design
The enabling environment for the efficient and effective functioning of labour markets will be provided by Outcome 2. Labour demand will be stimulated by Outcomes 1, 3, and 4, while labour supply is addressed by Outcome 6. Decent work for the informal sector is tackled by Outcome 5.
Outcomes
24-HE should deliver six interrelated outcomes that will lead to the creation of 1.7 million new decent jobs, as well as the transformation of a targeted number of existing vulnerable jobs into decent ones.
The first outcome of 24HE should be increased business growth, competitiveness, and productivity at the enterprise and industry levels.
Indicators to measure this will include sales growth, market share, and factor productivity. Examples of the latter include labour productivity, return on investment, farm yield per hectare, and processing yield per metric tonne of raw materials.
The second outcome should be an improved institutional, legal, and regulatory environment for the functioning of 24-HE.
Indicators to measure this will include enhanced capacity of the Ministry of Labour, Jobs, and Employment to coordinate, monitor, and evaluate all job and decent work initiatives across the public sector, private sector, and development partners.
It is critical that the Ghana Statistical Service (GSS) continues to receive funding to generate Quarterly Labour Statistics to inform policy and track its outcomes. In the future, the GSS should transition to monthly Jobs Data, as is the case in some countries.
The legal and regulatory environment will be improved by reviewing, updating, and enforcing laws such as the Labour Act, 2003 (Act 651); Factories, Offices, and Shops Act, 1970 (Act 328); and Workmen’s Compensation Law, 1987 (P.N.D.C.L. 187).
New laws will also be passed, including the Employment Act, Competition Act, and Consumer Protection Act.
The third outcome of 24-HE should be the development of local economies across all regions and districts in Ghana.
There are no published official statistics on the contributions of the various regions and districts to gross domestic product (GDP). However, the GSS Labour Statistics for 2023 Quarter 3 indicates that 44% of the almost 12 million persons employed nationally are concentrated in three out of the sixteen regions of Ghana: Greater Accra, Ashanti, and Eastern regions.
Data from the Ghana Investment Promotion Authority (GIPA) also indicates that foreign investment is concentrated in the Greater Accra region.
24-HE should address this geographic imbalance in national economic development by tasking Metropolitan, Municipal, and District Assemblies (MMDAs) to conceptualise, design, and implement 24HE initiatives that develop their local economies and create jobs for residents.
The fourth outcome of 24-HE should be the extension of service times and delivery channels for high-demand public services.
The service delivery periods for some Ministries, Departments, and Agencies (MDAs) that render fee-paying public services can be extended beyond the traditional Monday to Friday, 9 am to 5 pm schedule.
The business case for an MDA to offer, for example, 12, 16, or 24-hour services to the public on a self-financing basis should be established.
The design for such extended services will include streamlining business processes, extending back-office operations to operate around the clock, introducing or enhancing digital platforms, and mobile service units.
Public services that could be extended include driver and vehicle licensing, business and entity registration, filing, amendments, and search services; tax filing and payments, and tax clearance certificates; passport acquisition and renewal; land registration and search; vigorous enforcement of land laws; courts and administration of justice; cargo import clearance and export forwarding at seaports.
The fifth outcome of 24-HE should be the transition of informal sector economic actors to the formal sector.
According to the 2021 Population and Housing Census, the private informal sector contributed 77% of employment and the bulk of vulnerable work.
The starting point is to clearly define what constitutes the informal sector. Some definitions limit an informal sector operator to a business that is not registered with the Registrar-General of Ghana as a sole proprietorship, partnership, or company; or registered as a cooperative with the Department of Cooperatives.
Yet, the Ghana Revenue Authority collects income taxes from these operators using the tax stamp, and MMDAs also collect levies from them.
Nevertheless, 24-HE should collaborate with private sector associations, civil society organisations, and organised labour to form or strengthen member associations of informal sector actors, including wage workers, own-account workers, self-employed persons, and employers in the informal economy.
The associations should be an avenue for bringing marginalised workers and informal sector operators into the formal economy.
They should serve as a conduit for providing TVET skills; access to markets, finance, micro-pensions, and other business services; and access to government regulatory services.
24-HE should ensure the representation of the informal sector in the National Tripartite Committee to make inputs on labour and employment policy.
The sixth outcome of 24HE should be the development of employable skills.
President Mahama’s agenda for technical and vocational education and training (TVET) is outlined in Chapter 5.1.4 of the NDC 2024 Manifesto.
It seeks to expand investment in TVET to develop a critical mass of skilled workers for the job market. This is complemented by other programs outlined in the manifesto, including the National Apprenticeship Scheme, the 1 Million Coders initiative, Digital Literacy (especially for informal sector workers), and multilingual competence at various levels of education.
Part 3 of this article series will discuss the cross-cutting themes in the High-Level Programme Design for 24HE.
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