Hon Eric Edem Agbana
Ketu North

Thank you, Mr Speaker, for the opportunity to make this important Statement on Population and Development, a matter that lies at the very heart of Ghana’s socio-economic progress.

A couple of months ago, I had the privilege of participating in an intensive and enlightening workshop organised by the Parliamentary Population and Development Caucus, ably led by the indefatigable Deputy Minority Leader, Hon Patricia Appiagyei, and effectively supported by Hon Kwame Dzudzorli Gakpey. I wish to take this opportunity to commend their leadership and the efforts of all Members of the Caucus for facilitating such a timely and impactful engagement. The workshop was not only informative but also a powerful reminder of the intricate relationship between population dynamics and national development.

Mr Speaker, my motivation for raising this matter today stems from the deep insights gained during that workshop. Ghana’s population is growing rapidly, with the youth constituting a significant proportion. This demographic trend presents both tremendous opportunities and serious challenges. If strategically harnessed, our youthful population can be a powerful engine for innovation, productivity, and sustainable growth. However, if neglected, it could result in rising unemployment, overstretched public services, and widening inequality.

It is, therefore, imperative that Ghana intentionally aligns its population growth with its broader economic development strategies. Parliament, in this regard, has a unique and critical role to play, not just through legislation, but by shaping national narratives, influencing public policy, and ensuring rigorous oversight in the implementation of populationfocused programmes.

Mr Speaker, a key insight from the workshop was the evident gap in our current public policy framework. At present, there is limited synergy in how population issues are integrated into our development planning. This gap undermines the ability of the National Development Planning Commission (NDPC) to effectively formulate and implement population-responsive programmes.

Mr Speaker, the work of the Population and Development Caucus must serve as a catalyst for sustained, long-term action. We must commit to empowering our people, especially women and young people, through access to education, reproductive health services, and meaningful economic opportunities. This is not merely a matter of benevolence, but one of national urgency and strategic importance.

In conclusion, Mr Speaker, I once again express my appreciation to the facilitators, while calling that as the youthful population grows, there is a need for all policymakers to take into consideration the fact that it is important to implement more pro-youth policies to support the growing population, especially among the young people.

Mr Speaker, the time to act is now. Let us work together to build a Ghana where population and development progress are in harmony, for today and for generations yet unborn.

Hon Kwabena Okyere Darko-Mensah
Takoradi

Mr Speaker, we would like to congratulate the maker of the Statement for the brief introduction of the topic.

As far as in Ghana, we know that our population is expected to grow to about 50 million in the year 2050, clearly indicating that there is more we need to do as a country to tackle key issues that affect our country. The first issue, Mr Speaker, I believe has to do with the issue of unemployment. There are so many young people who are getting educated, getting skills, but lacking the ability to get jobs to do, which also puts a lot of strain on the adult population, especially dependency. So the adult who is working virtually is taking care of about four or five more other people who might not be their immediate family members.

I believe that that is one area we need to put emphasis on. What is a curriculum that we would need to change to ensure that the young ones that are coming up are learning relevant skills that are applicable to industries, our homes and communities? That is the question we need to be asking. The question we need to be asking the Ministry of Education is, what are they going to do differently this time around, up to 2050, to make sure that our people are well positioned, that they are mobile enough to go anywhere in the world and be global competitors? What are we telling our Ministry of Education and other agencies? What programmes and policies are they putting in place to make sure that these young ones that are coming up get something to do, or can do something for themselves?

Mr Speaker, in this House, I think that consistently we have come to one conclusion, that it is going to be difficult for Government to provide all the jobs for our people. Therefore, selfemployment and private employment, are the new ways that we can use in changing our countries. If we take all the developed countries that we have in the world, it is the private sector that has been able to generate employment for their people. Today, people talk about China, United States of America, and the United Kingdom. They are all privateled jobs that their people are engaging in. Therefore, what new mindsets do we instil in our young ones to start something on their own?

Mr Speaker, recently I have had the opportunity of speaking to one of our own professors in this House. He is a professor of psychology. What he told me is that these days, the youth even believe more in faith than doing something with their own hands. I believe that that is very dangerous, because we cannot continue to have this saviour mentality that we are waiting for somebody to come up with something before we do something for ourselves. With the rapid increase in population, if we are not careful, the demographic dividend that we expect to get from our youthful population will be lost.

If we compare the numbers in Africa, we see that Ghana, if we are not careful, it will be too late for us, because our population is not too young. They are virtually getting to their peak in their 35s. If we are not careful and we lose the next five years, it means that a lot of them are not going to get the benefit of the demographic dividend that we are looking for to get in this country. That is very dangerous. Mr Speaker, if we take the population growth rate of this country, we are looking around 2.9 per annum, which is quite high. I mean, if we take other countries like China, initially people were complaining that the numbers were too high. But now, they have opened up the gates, that they need the younger people, because the other ones have become too old. If we go to Japan, it has become another major difficulty. I believe that we need to strategically rethink our training programmes and our mindset change programme. In fact, our psychology needs to be different, especially the psychology of creating value. We need to start teaching it in all our schools from the basic—

In fact, I believe that we have to start from the Junior Senior High all the way to Senior High School and then to the university. The mistake we have been doing in this country is that we allow our children to go all the way to university when they have formed their habits already therefore, training them and retraining them become a difficulty. But if we start early, at a younger age, knowing the population growth is still going on, I believe that a lot of them will find their own pathways along the line and make sure that this country benefits from the demographic dividend. The last but not least issue I want to raise has to do with the issue of the environment. I believe that the environment, if kept well, will be able to sustain a lot of our young people. One area I believe that we are all looking up to is the area of agro-processing and agriculture.

Mr Speaker, it is high time we start looking at our own mindsets and how to assist the youth to be able to enter this field. Mr Speaker, the former Commissioner for the African Union H. E. Dr Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma said something striking and I have kept that in my mind. She said that she wanted to see the cutlass and the hoe museum pieces. I believe that she was right. If Africans are finding it difficult to enter the agricultural space, I believe that we should be able to develop new technologies, new autopilot systems, and new aquaponics that the young people can safely and easily jump on and create the next billionaires in agriculture and agribusiness space. I believe that it is doable.

Today, in other jurisdictions where loneliness is prevalent, they are creating robots to take care of lonely people. I believe that if we have the fertile lands and we want to get the best out of agriculture, we should also be able to import technology into our society and be able to do well for ourselves. With these few words, Mr Speaker, I would like to thank you for the opportunity to add my voice to the Statement made by the Hon Member.