Commonwealth countries must create 5,000 jobs everyday till 2030 – Ayorkor Botchwey

Ghana’s Minister for Foreign Affairs and Regional Integration, Shirley Ayorkor Botchwey, has said that the world is currently in a very bad place due to global events including the COVID-19 pandemic and the Russia-Ukraine War.

Speaking at a lecture in Accra on the topic, “A Vision for a New Commonwealth in a Fast-Evolving World”, Ayorkor Botchwey indicated that most Commonwealth countries including Ghana have particularly been devastated by these global events.

She explained that Commonwealth countries have been disadvantaged more because they are small countries and have almost no power in the global scheme of things.

She said that these countries are now been bedeviled with a huge population of youth who are unemployed; adding that to get out of this mess, Commonwealth countries must create about 5000 jobs every day till 2030.

“Whether it is in Commonwealth countries or the entire world, we do face existential and troubling challenges. Indeed, in security best describes our world, in the political, social, environmental and climatic spheres… The weak resilience that characterises the Commonwealth developing countries can be traced to their marginalisation trading systems with very limited footprints in the global landscape.

“Jobless growth or wealth creation with high unemployment and rising cost of living characterises nearly all our economies. Commonwealth countries need to create over 5,000 decent jobs each day until 2030 in order to create opportunities for our young people who are entering the labour market,” she said.

Ayorkor Botchwey added, “It is estimated that together commonwealth countries need to create 3 in every 5 jobs in the world as the labour market in countries such as Japan, China and Europe shrink”.

Watch her remarks in the video below: