Joint study on employment and structural adjustment in Ghana

Directorate-General For Translation European Commission

Description

Development aid

Sujets

• Economic policy
• Measures of national income and output
• Ghana
• African, Caribbean and Pacific Group of States

Informations

• Publié par: EUROPEAN-COMMISSION
• Nombre de lectures: 20
• EAN13: 928269626
• Langue: English
• Poids de l'ouvrage: 2 Mo

Extrait

JOINT STUDY ON EMPLOYMENT
AND STRUCTURAL ADJUSTMENT
IN GHANA
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EUROPEAN
COMMISSION EUROPEAN COMMISSION
Directorate-General for Development
EUROPEAN COMMISSION AND INTERNATIONAL LABOUR ORGANISATION
JOINT STUDY ON
EMPLOYMENT
AND STRUCTURAL ADJUSTMENT
IN GHANA
COUNTRY REPORT
Brussels
November 1994 This document has been prepared for use within the Commission. It does
not necessarily represent the Commission's official position.
Cataloguing data can be found at the end of this publication.
Luxembourg: Office for Official Publications of the European Communities, 1995
ISBN 92-826-9626-X
© ECSC-EC-EAEC, Brussels · Luxembourg, 1995
Reproduction is authorized, except for commercial purposes, provided the
source is acknowledged.
Printed in Belgium EUROPEAN COMMISSION AND INTERNATIONAL LABOUR ORGANISATION
JOINT STUDY ON
EMPLOYMENT
AND STRUCTURAL ADJUSTMENT
IN GHANA
COUNTRY REPORT
This report reflects the opinion of the team members and not necessarily that of the European
Commission, the International Labour Organisation, or
the Government of Ghana.
Brussels
November 1994 Note: This document will also be published by the International Labour Organisation of
the United Nations, under its own cover.
Additional copies of this document may be obtained by sending your request to the
following address:
European Commission
DG VIII/A/1
Rue de la Loi 200,
1049 Brussels PREFACE
If there is one issue that, since the late eighties, figures among the top priorities for
economic and social development policies in most countries around the world, then it is
undoubtedly employment. OECD countries and many others alike, are making special
efforts to reduce employment and to induce or create more jobs, in order to enable more
people to participate in the distribution of national income and in additional revenues from
economic growth. It is therefore to be expected that many policy papers similar to the
European Commission's "white paper" on employment will soon be presented by govern­
ments and specialised agencies from the United Nations system, and efforts will be made
in view of their implementation.
In the European Community's programmes for development cooperation, employment is
increasingly placed among the key areas to be addressed. Initially, this emphasis was
mainly seen in relation to macro-economic structural adjustment programmes. Later on, it
was above all because creating jobs was considered to be more dignified way to fight
poverty than merely providing support to survive. The recent decision to enhance
operational coordination between the EC and the EU Member States regarding poverty-
oriented programmes (amongst others), can only reinforce this orientation. Ghana was
selected as one of the countries where this poverty-led operational coordination will be
particularly emphasised.
As also for the International Labour Organisation -the eldest of the specialised agencies of
the United Nations- employment had increasingly become a central issue in its work with
developing countries, I am happy that we were able to join forces with ILO for a first
joint case study ont in a context of structural adjustment programmes.
Although we have a vast body of economic theory and political sciences at our disposal,
employment seems to be so complex and sensitive an issue, that the best way to make
progress in this area is to apply a "learning by doing" approach.
It is true, of course, that the current drive towards further liberalisation, adjustment, and
reducing the role of governments in mastering the national economies, coincides very well
with the urgent needs to encourage private sector development from which the bulk of
new employment must come. However, there is also the clear need for a steady political
orientation towards employment, capable government services to design policies and
programmes to steer and facilitate such private sector development in a labour-intensive
way, and committed donors who provide coordinated support and advice. These are some
of our main lines on the issue of employment.
I hope that by making the report from this factfinding mission available to a somewhat
larger audience, this non-conventional approach will contribute to our common quest for
better views, policies and above all better programmes, towards more jobs, more
employment, not only in Ghana, but also in other countries.
Peter Pooley
Acting Director General
Brussels, November 1994 TABLE OF CONTENTS
page
LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS 7
INTRODUCTORY REMARKS 9
1. EXECUTIVE SUMMARY 11
2. THE MAIN REPORT 17.
2.1. MACRO-ECONOMIC ADJUSTMENT AND EMPLOYMENT 19
2.2. PRIVATE SECTOR REINFORCEMENT FORT
CREATION IN GHANA 38
2.3. LABOUR BASED WORKS AND THE CONSTRUCTION
INDUSTRY 46
3. MAJOR FINDINGS 57_
3.1.S RELATED TO MACRO-ECONOMIC POLICIES 59
3.2. FINDINGSD TO PRIVATE SECTOR
REINFORCEMENT 68
3.3.S RELATED TO SUBSTITUTION AND THE USE OF
LOCAL RESOURCES 74
4. RECOMMENDATIONS7
ANNEXES 83_
ANNEX 1: CONCEPTUAL APPROACH 85 X 2: GHANA - COUNTRY PROFILE 93
Table of Contents Page 5