There is no doubt that graduate unemployment and unemployment in general are major concerns for governments and policymakers in all jurisdictions.

Unemployment has been described as a national security threat because if people are jobless, they could pick up arms and other offensive weapons and engage in all manner of criminal activities, including armed robbery, commercial sex work, illegal small-scale mining, and many more.

In fact, the Commander-in-Chief of the Ghana Armed Forces, President John Dramani Mahama, is on record to have warned that unskilled youth are at risk of being exploited by criminal elements.

He said we have many young people ready to be hired by bad actors—drug traffickers, terrorists, and other criminals.

Concerns have also been raised that universities continue to produce large numbers of graduates in fields that do not align with current job openings, thereby deepening the unemployment canker.

So there is no doubt that unemployment is a great concern to all.

Although the July 2025 edition of the Quarterly Labour Statistics by the Ghana Statistical Service (GSS) revealed a marginal decline in the national unemployment rate, unemployment is still a major concern.

According to the GSS, data collected from over 9,000 households across the country showed that Ghana’s unemployment rate fell from 13.3% in the third quarter of 2024 to 13.1% in the fourth quarter of 2024.

This modest decline signals progress but reveals persistent distress.

In 2024, youth unemployment remained alarmingly high at 22.5% for ages 15 to 35 and 32% for ages 15 to 24.

"This evidence highlights the urgency of expanded and more focused labour market practices and policies such as retraining and re-skilling programs to combat skills mismatch and boost employability," the GSS said.

Successive governments over the period have attempted to introduce policies and programmes to address this menace.

For instance, under the previous Akufo-Addo administration, policies such as the Nation Builders Corps (NABCO), the One District, One Factory, Planting For Food and Jobs, and others were introduced as part of the job creation efforts.

Under the current Mahama administration, the Finance Minister, Dr Cassiel Ato Forson, announced in the 2026 budget presentation that the budget was specifically designed to create up to 800,000 new jobs.

The GH¢63 billion road contracts awarded so far under the Big Push will generate an estimated 490,000 jobs.

This estimation is consistent with World Bank metrics on job creation from road investment.

The three new garment factories will create over 20,000 direct jobs.

The seven agro-processing plants are expected to employ about 700 people directly and thousands more through supply chains.

The National Policy on Integrated Oil Palm Development will create 250,000 jobs across the value chain.

These measures, although apt, have not been able to, or will not be able to, address the joblessness situation because the rates churned out by the statistical service do not inspire hope and confidence that unemployment can be addressed.

The focus of this article is to explore the unadulterated role that small and medium-scale enterprises (SMEs), businesses with 1–20 employees, can play in addressing the challenge.

According to the World Bank, SMEs are the backbone of most economies, representing around 90 per cent of all businesses and accounting for more than half of global employment.

In developing countries, SMEs are central to economic diversification, productivity, and poverty reduction, yet the World Bank notes that they face persistent challenges in obtaining the financing needed to start, sustain, and grow.

Over the next decade, the Bretton Woods Institution estimates that 1.2 billion young people will reach working age, but only about 420 million jobs are expected to be created.

This leaves hundreds of millions without a clear path to employment, with far-reaching social and economic implications.

Therefore, expanding access to finance for SMEs is essential to enable private investment, productivity growth, and stronger local economies.

Access to finance enables entrepreneurs to innovate, expand, and hire, empowering women and youth and strengthening communities.

Supporting SMEs—especially women-owned and youth-led enterprises—is thus central to building inclusive and sustainable growth.

In the case of Ghana, this calls for huge investment and budgetary allocation to support SMEs.

Although the government has designated programmes to support SMEs, including skill development programmes such as Adwumawura, which has been allocated GH¢170 million, and the National Apprenticeship Programme with a budget of GH¢690 million, the government must do more if indeed the issue of unemployment is a major concern.

At the moment, the Mahama administration is channeling Ghana's oil proceeds into the Big Push agenda to construct roads across the country.

That is good. But I think equal attention could be given to SMEs.

Portions of the huge funds could be channeled into supporting SMEs to enable them to create jobs, because access to capital has been a major problem for them.

Although institutions such as the Micro Finance and Small Loans Centre (MASLOC ) have been established to support SMEs, MASLOC's operations have been fraught with alleged corruption, favouritism, and political cronyism, thereby veering off its core mandate of supporting SMEs.

To that end, an institution that is not controlled by the political class should be established and given funds to support the SMEs.

These institutions should be managed by experts from the universities, such as the University of Professional Studies, Accra (UPSA), the University of Ghana Business School (UGBS), the University of Cape Business School, and the Ghana Institute of Management and Public Administration (GIMPA).

One would argue that this is not the function of academia, but I make this proposition because the political class can't be trusted to manage such funds without some being unaccounted for.

At least, with the involvement of the universities, it can be guaranteed, to a greater extent, that the funds will be put to good use and the right target (SMEs) will access them to keep their businesses afloat and expand to employ the unemployed.

Thereby, contributing to reducing the high unemployment rate.