Early-career academics, postgraduate students, policymakers, and industry leaders are exploring practical solutions to youth unemployment, skills mismatches, and small business formalisation at the 2025 International Ideas Summer School, hosted by the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST).
The 10-day programme is being organised under the auspices of the African Centre for Career Enhancement and Skills Support (ACCESS-Ghana) on the theme “Decent Work and Economic Growth: Exploring Solutions to Youth Unemployment, Skill Gaps, and SME Formalisation in the Global South.”
ACCESS-Ghana Board Member Professor Robert Clement Abaidoo said youth unemployment remains one of the most pressing challenges in the Global South, noting that many graduates, despite holding degrees, struggle to find meaningful work due to skill mismatches.
“Youth unemployment is a huge problem,” he said. “Many graduates have the degrees, but employers often say they are not employable, especially in a rapidly changing environment. As universities, we must ensure that the training we provide aligns with the needs of industry.”
Professor Abaidoo urged participants to use the summer school as a vital platform to share ideas on making academic training more relevant and employment-focused. “We have to align our training with new expectations and realities,” he stated. “If we do not provide the right training, it will be difficult for our graduates to find decent jobs and contribute meaningfully to development. This summer school is a small but significant step in addressing that challenge.”
Pro Vice-Chancellor of KNUST, Professor David Asamoah, reaffirmed the university’s commitment to redefining higher education as a dynamic ecosystem that connects learning with livelihood through innovative teaching, strong industry linkages, and partnerships such as ACCESS.
“At KNUST, we believe that university education must go beyond the awarding of degrees. It must equip learners with the competencies, mindset, and adaptability required for the world of work and indeed, for the creation of work. That is why employability and entrepreneurship have become central pillars of our strategic agenda,” he said.
He also stressed the need to strengthen small and medium enterprises (SMEs), describing them as the backbone of employment and productivity across Africa. “When we talk about decent work, we are not simply talking about jobs,” he added. “We are talking about dignity, fairness, and opportunity, ensuring that every global citizen has a fair chance to contribute meaningfully to society.”
Representing the Ghana Employers’ Association (GEA), Dr. Joseph Amoah, Director of International Relations, described the theme as timely, given the rising rates of unemployment and underemployment in Ghana.
“Youth unemployment and skills mismatch remain two of the greatest barriers to social justice, wealth creation, and inclusive growth in Ghana,” he said.
Dr. Amoah called for stronger collaboration between academia and industry to equip young people with future-ready skills suited for the digital age. He emphasised that employers are increasingly seeking graduates with adaptability, teamwork, creativity, and digital fluency beyond academic qualifications. “We must institutionalise practical, work-based learning to make graduates work-ready,” he said.
He also urged policymakers to create innovation ecosystems that empower SMEs through digital transformation, access to financing, and integration into value chains. Dr. Amoah further advocated for greater gender inclusivity in the world of work, lamenting the underrepresentation of women in leadership and STEM fields. He cited the GEA’s Female Future Programme as an initiative that trains and mentors women for leadership roles and promotes gender-responsive governance.
Dr. Amoah appealed to all stakeholders: government, academia, employers, and development partners to take decisive steps to turn Ghana’s youthful population into a national asset. “If we equip our youth with the right skills and opportunities, they will drive Ghana’s industrial and digital transformation. If we fail, we risk perpetuating unemployment and social instability,” he cautioned. “Let us sow the seeds of learning, innovation, and enterprise today so that Ghana may reap the fruits of prosperity tomorrow.”
Robert Meyer, a representative from Leipzig University, said the ACCESS project is funded by the German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD) and the Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ). The programme aims to improve the employability of graduates from participating universities in Germany, Rwanda, Kenya, Ethiopia, Tunisia, Nigeria, and Ghana.
“We want to equip these international young people from diverse countries,” he said. “We want to work with the ideas they have brought in when they applied for the programme and encourage them to use these ideas to develop project proposals and hopefully implement them. We also want to equip them with the knowledge and experience to jointly develop proposals that can serve as a starting point for future activities to improve graduate employability.”
ACCESS-Ghana Coordinator Dr. Ralph Nyadu-Addo said the 2025 Summer School seeks to empower participants with hands-on skills in dynamic and complex areas of the future of work, employability, skills development, intrapreneurship, leadership, and research on employability.
