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The Deputy Minister for Trade and Industry, Murtala Mohammed has advised graduates to think outside the box and consider becoming entrepreneurs, instead of their over-reliance on government to provide them with jobs.

More than 600,000 people graduate from tertiary institutions in Ghana every year and the public sector cannot absorb all of them, hence the call on the private sector to step in. Looking at the balance of payment deficit which stood at 4 billion dollars last year, Hon. Murtala expressed optimism that the situation could be averted if government effectively partnered with the private sector to produce more locally so the level of exportation of goods in the country could go up.

“Last year, import stood at 17 million dollars while export stood at 13 billion dollars, meaning we have a balance of payment deficit of 4 billion dollars.” Regarded as the engine of growth, the private sector, the minister said, could be sustained if Ghanaians bought into the idea of “buying made-in-Ghana goods”. The “Friday wear” concept introduced by the erstwhile Kufour administration could also cushion the pace of growth of the private sector, because high demands for them would mean that people have to be employed to serve the needs of the ever-growing population.

“To show commitment to protecting and harnessing the course of the private sector, the Ministry of Trade and Industry has gone beyond wearing Made-in Ghana fabrics on Fridays only to wearing them every day,” he added.

Addressing participants at the launch of the Ghana Journalists’ Association’s (GJA’s) Business Sector Advocacy Challenge (BUSAC) fund project and Media Orientation on Private Sector Development at the Ghana International Press Centre in Accra, the Nanton legislator reiterated that even though the textile industry in the country does not have the capacity to produce enough fabrics, efforts by tailors and seamstresses could bolster the economy as that could be a source of employment for the teeming youth in the country, a suggestion he offered to young graduates to take advantage of, saying “when the youth, especially graduates, take advantage of the textile industry it will encourage people to buy what they come up with. The same applies to other sectors too. They must make efforts to employ themselves and not always rely on government because government cannot employ all of them.”

The President of the GJA, Mr. Affail Monney, charged journalists across the country to intensify media reports on private sector activities as that would make the citizenry aware of their works, appealing to government to give them the necessary helping hand when they need them. Since the media reflects society, the wakeup call on practitioners is to monitor their activities and report accordingly. “Colleague journalists must support the private sector by giving them adequate coverage in their various media,” he said.

Mr. Nicholas Jorgensen Gebara, Fund Manager of BUSAC, said they could achieve results if policy makers and the private sector come together. BUSAC, he said, looks at areas where there are prospects and with that they have been able to make significant impacts in several areas of the economy—business, music, mining, media advocacy, among others. He also said their scope covered local, regional and national levels and this could be witnessed in all 10 regions of the country.