Unemployment not youth-only problem - Kwamina Asomaning

Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Stanbic Bank Ghana, Kwamina Asomaning, has said unemployment should not be seen as a problem only for the youth.

This is because it affected all regardless of age thus, seeing it as a youth-associated problem, only limited the interventions aimed at solving it.

He, therefore, asked the government and all stakeholders to engage collaboratively in addressing unemployment issues in the country.

Mr Asomaning said this at the 2022 second quarter Graphic Business Stanbic Bank Breakfast Meeting in Accra.

He said: “We as a society, are often at risk of associating unemployment with the youth, and yes – it is a problem which our young adult citizens contend with all too often.”

“However, unemployment doesn’t necessarily know a specific age. We see older adults in our community who either haven’t been able to acquire the right skills and training to apply to a vocation or those who have struggled to match their existing skillset to the opportunities available in the job market.”

The CEO noted that: “Whilst the issue of unemployment isn’t up for debate, what we can collaborate our thinking on is how the issue can be mitigated in our own spheres of influence.”

He said that in the absence of having an offer of employment from an established institution, there should be a support system for those who were willing and able to create their own marketplace and employment opportunities.

On the part of the Bank, he said it had been providing critical interventions in education, and skills training, and supported potential entrepreneurs to grow and sustain their businesses.

“At Stanbic Bank our brand promise centres are finding new ways to make dreams possible; the dreams of parents wanting to offer their children the best education, the dreams of graduates wanting to enter into the workforce and put their newly acquired skills to good use, and equally the dreams of the budding graphic designer, retailer, or technician to catalyse their business aspirations,” Mr Asomaning said.

“Where those working-age adults are concerned, we at Stanbic are superbly positioned to support entrepreneurs by fuelling their dreams which lead to individual business development and Ghana’s overall economic growth,” he added.

He emphasised that the Bank did so because its business catered for the needs of small to medium sized enterprises, with its clients directly benefiting from suitable financial products to propel their businesses.

The Graphic Business Stanbic Bank Breakfast Meeting is a quarterly event that brings together industry players, policy makers, civil society and academia to deliberate on critical issues of national development.

The topics for discussions are designed to respond to prevailing circumstances in the country.

The topic for the 2022 second quarter edition was on: “Tackling unemployment to create wealth: opportunities for Ghana.”

The panel included Nana Osei Bonsu of the Private Enterprise Federation (PEF), Florence Hope-Wudu, Managing Consultant, Almond Consulting Services and Dr Adu Owusu Sarkodie, an Economics Lecturer at the University of Ghana.