Eminent economist, Kwame Pianim, has charged Ghanaian youth, especially young women and men, to stay back in the country and help grow the economy instead of travelling abroad in search of greener pastures.
He said Ghana must create employment and channel investments into productive areas to stop the rising youth population from becoming a liability to the economy.
“Now that the weather is changing in Europe, they will give us free visas to go there while they come and stay here. So you and I, let’s do the right thing and be strong, and I think we will maintain this macroeconomic stability and move it forward.
“Otherwise, in 10 years, I am gone. You and your children are here. Make sure that this place we have called Ghana is made safe and productive for us. Our young women and men, stay here to work instead of running away, walking to other countries to add value to our raw materials in countries where nobody wants them,” he said.
Speaking at a panel discussion during the Fidelity Bank Debt Capital Markets Conference 2026, he said Ghana must prioritise food security, stressing that the nation has to invest heavily in agriculture and irrigation to feed its people.
“To me, food security, we have to feed ourselves,” Mr Pianim stated, calling on regulators, including the National Pensions Regulatory Authority (NPRA), to focus on growth and job creation.
He also underscored the urgency of creating jobs for young people entering the job market, cautioning that failure to do so would have dire economic and social implications. “You either create jobs for them so they become forces for development or you leave them, and they become destroyers,” Kwame Pianim said.“
They will be bandits; they will be armed robbers. They will not be contributing to growth,” he added.
Mr Pianim further warned that illegal mining, widely known as galamsey, is increasingly endangering Ghana’s water bodies and long-term economic future.He said water shortage could trigger major conflicts across the world, noting that Ghana cannot afford to destroy its own natural resources.“
If the galamsey continues, there is nothing you do, you won’t have water. You are not rich enough to import avian water to drink and the genetic make of our women are being destroyed.“So let’s focus on that. Clean it up. The next war will be fought over water, where the water is and when the West move in, they will push us to the arid areas,” he emphasised.
