Comrade Steven Nhyira Odarteifio has formally filed his nomination to contest the position of National Youth Organiser of the National Democratic Congress (NDC), pledging to transform the party’s Youth Wing into a platform for economic empowerment, leadership development and sustained political mobilisation.
Comrade Odarteifio submitted his nomination forms at the party’s national headquarters in Adabraka, Accra, outlining a vision that places job creation, access to economic opportunities and youth participation at the centre of his campaign.
Speaking after filing his nomination, he said his candidature was driven partly by the recurring political transitions between the NDC and the New Patriotic Party (NPP), which, in his view, reflected the failure to build sustained political support among younger generations. “Over the past 30 years, all of us have been tired of the baton changes between the NDC and the NPP. Eight years in, eight years out,” he said.
He argued that the NDC needed a more effective youth leadership structure capable of connecting with the aspirations of young people and building a generation of committed supporters.
Drawing lessons from the development trajectories of some Asian economies, Comrade Odarteifio said policy continuity and sustained political leadership were important to long-term economic transformation. “My office shall reshape the entire Youth Wing of our party to ensure that our young people, through the Youth Wing, are empowered to be a blessing to every young person in this country,” he said.
He expressed confidence that a more economically empowered and nationally relevant Youth Wing could strengthen the party’s electoral fortunes and help secure a prolonged period of NDC governance, with a 20-year stay in power as his stated ambition.
Linking political mobilisation to economic opportunity
Central to Comrade Odarteifio’s campaign is a proposal to reposition the Youth Wing beyond its traditional political mobilisation role towards facilitating access to jobs, finance, technical skills, entrepreneurship and markets. He believes the organisation can become an effective link between young people and economic opportunities, including flagship government initiatives such as the Adwumawura Programme, the National Apprenticeship Programme and the One Million Coders Programme.
The proposal comes against the backdrop of persistent youth employment challenges. The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has previously highlighted the scale of unemployment among young people in Ghana, particularly those aged 15 to 24, underscoring the need for more effective pathways into productive employment. Comrade Odarteifio said the Youth Wing could help bridge the gap by connecting young people to existing interventions while developing additional opportunities in agriculture, technology, skills development and enterprise.
Finance and development experience
Comrade Odarteifio brings experience spanning international finance, public policy, agribusiness and development programming. He is a former research analyst at Goldman Sachs and currently serves as Head of Food Systems at the World Food Programme (WFP) Ghana, where he coordinates approximately US$40 million in donor funding aimed at strengthening food and nutrition security.
His previous engagements at the Ministry of Finance and the Millennium Development Authority (MiDA) included work on the operationalisation of 50,000 acres of agricultural land under the Ghana CARES Agricultural Programme, securing US$6.1 million in funding from the Mastercard Foundation and helping mobilise US$80 million for agricultural infrastructure across three regions. His campaign says the interventions have contributed to expanding economic opportunities for more than 100,000 young Ghanaians.
A graduate of Ashesi University with a background in Computer Science, he has more than a decade of professional experience across investment banking, management consulting, agribusiness, agricultural finance and food systems. He also paid tribute to President John Dramani Mahama and the party’s founding leaders, describing the NDC as the political home for a new generation of youth leadership grounded in the values of being empathetic, ethical and entrepreneurial.
“Today, as always, I pay tribute to the leadership of President John Dramani Mahama and the founding fathers of our great party, whose vision, sacrifice and commitment laid the foundation for the NDC. I believe it is our responsibility as the next generation to build on that legacy by cultivating a Youth Wing that is empathetic, ethical and entrepreneurial, one that not only mobilises for political victory but also creates meaningful opportunities and improves the lives of young people across the country,” he said.
Comrade Odarteifio said his professional experience, combined with his commitment to youth development, would inform his approach to leading the party’s Youth Wing.
About Comrade Steven Nhyira Odarteifio
Steven Nhyira Odarteifio is Head of Food Systems at the World Food Programme (WFP) Ghana and a development finance and agribusiness specialist. His professional experience spans Goldman Sachs, Ghana’s Ministry of Finance, the Millennium Development Authority (MiDA) and The Whitaker Group. He holds a degree from Ashesi University.
