Economic and political reforms in Ghana over the last three decades have resulted
in a stable socioeconomic environment and generated significant economic growth
rates with a strong focus on private sector development. These growth rates,
however, have not yielded the desired level of employment in the private sector,
which is dominated by the informal sector. The country’s relatively high economic
growth rates have been driven largely by the substantial expansion in nonmanufacturing
sectors, such as mining and other extractive industries, which are capitalintensive
and generate relatively few job opportunities (Cornelius, Landström &
Persson, 2006). Again, the liberalisation and privatisation of the economy have
been accompanied by declining employment levels in the public sector. The
overall result is decreasing employment opportunities in the formal sector and a
swelling number of workers in the informal sector (Langevang, 2008).
This chapter presents the overall socioeconomic environment within which
youth entrepreneurship in Ghana is embedded, examines the levels and characteristics
of youth entrepreneurship across the country, and provides an overview
of key policies and interventions promoting youth employment and entrepreneurship.
To overcome the challenges of the paucity of data on youth entrepreneurship
in Ghana, we draw heavily on the 2012 Global Entrepreneurship
Monitor (GEM) survey conducted across all regions of Ghana by the Institute of
Statistical, Social and Economic Research (ISSER) at the University of Ghana.