Akufo-Addo government has created 2.3 million jobs in the last six years

Employment data obtained by Asaase News points to the fact that the Akufo-Addo administration has created over 2.3 million jobs from 7 January 2017 when it assumed office till December 2022.

The total of 2,316,7734 jobs, according to official document titled “Summary tracking sheet for employment data”, have largely been created through the various ministries and the agencies that work directly or indirectly with them.

Over the weekend, Vice-President Dr Mahamudu Bawumia confirmed that the Akufo-Addo-led government has created more sustainable jobs than any government in Ghana’s history.

Addressing party supporters at Mpraeso after a health walk Saturday, Dr Bawumia said the government has created over 2.1 million jobs since 2017, excluding jobs created under the Planting for Food and Jobs, NABCo, NIA and NEIP that brought the figure to over 2.3 million.

“During the NDC administration, there were no jobs, they created unemployment, they were not creating jobs, we had the graduate unemployed association, they were creating unemployment, but I have been looking at the data lately and NPP we have created 2.1 million jobs,” Bawumia said.

“We are not done yet because there are more jobs for us to create,” he added. “But when it comes to job creation, no government since independence has created more jobs than the government of Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, anybody can challenge me and I will provide the data.”

What the data says
The data essentially captures the various recruitments that have been made by the ministries and by their agencies over the last six years. Over all, the Akufo-Addo administration created 413,540 jobs in its first year in office, 2017. In 2018, the government created a total of 373,708 jobs and in 2019, a total of 615,169 jobs were created.

In 2020, which is the year the COVID-19 pandemic started in the country, the government created 382,486 jobs. 304,885 jobs were subsequently created in the year 2021 and in 2022, some 226,946 jobs were created bringing the total to 2,316,734 from 2017 to 2022.

Security agencies
A closer look at the data shows that the ministry of interior through the Ghana Police Service, Ghana Prisons Service, Ghana Fire Service, and Ghana Immigration Service recruited 3,500 persons in 2017 and another 3,500 in 2018.

The four service institutions were unable to recruit in 2019, however, in 2020, they resumed their recruitment taking in about 3,549 new officers. In 2021, they recruited some 2,057 officers and in 2022, a total of 3,208 recruitments were carried out. In all, the four security agencies have contributed a total of 15,814 jobs in the last six years to the country’s job market.

Trade and industry
The ministry of trade and industry through its agencies such as Gratis Foundation, REP, GIPC, 1D1F, Stimulus Package, National Board of Small-Scale Industries, Ghana Trade Fair Company Limited, Ghana Export Promotion Authority, and GIHOC, are also on record to have created a total of 269,520 jobs over the period under review.

In 2017, a total of 31,171 jobs were created through the trade and industry ministry and its agencies. In, 2018 and 2022, no jobs were created, but in 2019, 153,422 jobs were created, 58,357 in 2020 and 26,570 in the year 2021.

SOEs
Beyond the ministries and their agencies, the government, according to the data available to Asaase News, also created a significant number of jobs through the Social Security and National Insurance Trust (SSNIT).

In 2017, SSNIT recorded 171,079 new jobs. In 2018, 188,385, 180,258 in 2019, 123,962 in 2020, 158,214 in 2021 and in 2022, 153,266. In total, SSNIT over the period of six years, has contributed a total of 975,164 jobs to the nation’s employment space.

Other sources
The data sheet also provides statistics on jobs created by the government through several other ministries and agencies such as ministry of works and housing, ministry of lands and natural resources, ministry of aviation, ministry of transport, ministry of sanitation and water resources, ministry of defence/ Ghana Armed Forces, among others.