NABCO Is “Vulnerable Employment ” – Economist

An economist at the University of Ghana Business School Professor Godfred  Bokpin has expressed worry over the seeming attempt by government to lead job creation drive in the country.

According to the economist, the ideal situation is to have the private sector lead efforts to create jobs in the economy.

The comments come on the back of the launch of the Nation Builders Corps by the government.

NABCO is aimed at tackling graduate unemployment in Ghana and it will operate seven modules designed to meet the pressing needs of the nation while providing jobs for the teeming youth who have received tertiary education but are struggling to find jobs.

The modules include the Feed Ghana module where people serve as agric extension officers to help our farmers. There’s also the Educate Ghana module where people will teach science and mathematics in High schools. The Revenue Ghana module will take graduates into the Ghana Revenue Authority to help in the collection of revenue among others.

The opposition NDC has described the initiative as unsustainable.

Speaking to Francis Abban on the Morning Starr Thursday, Prof. Bokpin said continuity of the programme may be problematic.

“The fact that the public sector is leading in the creation of jobs doesn’t ensure its sustainability also. I am not too comfortable because the private sector should be the engine of growth. As a country our problem is more about enhancing the revenue envelope. While we focus on addressing the wage bill, critically we can focus some attention on enhancing the revenue envelope. Critically, all the people under NABCO can be considered as vulnerable employment,” he said.

Vulnerable employment is defined as the sum of the employment status groups of own- account workers and contributing family workers. They are less likely to have formal work. arrangements, and are therefore more likely to lack decent working conditions, adequate.

Source: Starrfmonline