Government Statistician, Dr. Alhassan Iddrisu, has issued a compelling call to action at the United Nations High-Level Political Forum on Sustainable Development in New York, urging world leaders to treat data as core infrastructure in the fight for decent work and economic growth under Sustainable Development Goal 8 (SDG 8).
Delivering remarks on the state of SDG 8, Dr. Iddrisu spotlighted Ghana’s economic strides—citing 5.7% GDP growth in 2024, well above the Sub-Saharan average, and a decline in inflation from 54% in 2022 to 13.7% in June 2025. However, he was quick to caution against overreliance on macroeconomic figures.
“Unemployment remains high at 14.7%, and youth joblessness exceeds 25%. Over 70% of our labour force—mainly women and young people—remains in the informal sector. This is not just a jobs gap. It is a dignity gap,” Dr. Iddrisu said.
Dr. Iddrisu detailed Ghana’s national Reset Agenda, aimed at job creation and protecting the vulnerable through bold programmes such as the 24-Hour Economy initiative, a US$10 billion Big Push infrastructure programme, and digital skills training for 1 million young people under the “1 Million Coders Initiative.” Ghana is also formalising artisanal mining and embedding employment targets into monetary policy.
While these interventions show promise, Dr. Iddrisu warned that their impact hinges on one critical foundation: timely, quality data. Since 2022, Ghana has released quarterly labour statistics, a pioneering move on the continent. In 2025, the country will launch a national skills mismatch survey to better align education and training with labour market needs.
“Our compass for this transformation is data. If we are serious about SDG 8, data must be treated as core infrastructure, essential to recovery, not incidental to it,” he declared.
With only five years left to achieve the 2030 Agenda, he concluded with a rallying call for urgency:
“Let us act, not just commit, in these final five years. The future of work, and the dignity of workers, depend on this action.”
Source: Starrfm.com.gh
