The realisation that government can’t simply provide jobs for all unemployed youth has triggered a changed perception and created a sense of redirection for them to discover innovative ways of making a living.
The Labour Force Survey 2015, suggests that more than 1.2 million persons from 15 years and older are estimated to be unemployed.
Of that figure, about 714,916 are females, representing 57.2 per cent and 535,997 for males representing 42
To remedy the situation, the current government has introduced a number of entrepreneurship initiatives to help young people set up businesses and also support those in businesses.
And although the National Youth Employment Programme (NYEP),which was instituted in 2006 to address the unemployment canker, failed to fully absorb this group against the backdrop of surging number of graduates that churned out from tertiary institutions every year.
Some initiatives currently being rolled to support young people are National Entrepreneurship and Innovation Plan (NEIP), The Nation Builders Corps (NaBCo), the Presidential Pitch Competition for Young Entrepreneurs and the Women in Entrepreneurship Programme among others
As good and promising that these initiatives may seem on the surface , it’s not the magic solution to fully tackle the unemployment problem.
This has prompted most young people to start their own businesses or initiatives in areas which were hitherto considered jobs for the uneducated to augment government’s efforts and also support their livelihoods.
Below are some of the businesses with the most appeal to the youth which can also be mimicked by others still pinned to the herculean task of job search.
Photography
Social media has created an insatiable need for pictures and the urge to share every happening on various platforms. Be it business, relationship, birthday and even sad moment, people want to tell it with pictures.
This has created high demand for photographers and most young graduates are looking to that area to make a living.
An interview I had with random graduate photographers some months back suggest that photography provides a modest way of making a living.
Agriculture
The notion that agriculture is for ‘illiterates’ and doesn’t fetch much is gradually being quashed as a number of graduates are moving into the sector.
From growing vegetables to snail production, they are building businesses and offering employment to others.
Fashion designing
For the past five years, I have been wondering why most of my colleagues I was in the same university with have turned into fashion designers, making money from it and why others haven’t had any luck with their white collar job search.
The number of fashion business pages on social media clearly depicts how fashion designing is helping the youth create the future they want.
This has culminated into a lot of fashion schools springing up in the capital and most institutions are now offering fashion design courses.
Makeup artistry
Need I say more? Makeup artistry is virtually the most popular career path among young women now.
It isn’t just a passion anymore because if strategically positioned could serve as their lifeline. With as brief as a month of training in Makeup artistry, one could earn between Gh₵1000 and Gh₵2000 per wedding contract which isn’t a bad start.
Freelancing
As job opportunities shrink and the ones available are saddled with bad working conditions, freelancing is gradually gaining roots especially in the area of technology, engineering and writing among others.
With these money making options, it is just proper that the youth engage themselves in productive means rather than waiting on the government for jobs.
Business World Ghana/ By Pamela Ofori-Boateng