POSITION PAPER
- yefltamale
- Aug 18
- 7 min read
FUNDING OF THE YOUTH EMPLOYMENT AGENCY &NATIONAL YOUTH AUTHORITY.
Introduction
The Ghana National Youth Policy (2022–2032) defines youth as persons aged 15 to 35. This group constitutes a major share of Ghana’s population and remains central to the country’s development prospects. Yet youth unemployment (21.7%)[1], vulnerable employment, limited access to skills, and weak transitions into decent work continue to constrain the potential of young people.
Youth development is recognized in the National Youth Policy and in Ghana’s commitment to the Sustainable Development Goals, particularly SDG targets 8.5 and 8.6 on full and productive employment, decent work, and a reduction in the proportion of young people not in employment, education, or training. However, progress towards these goals is weakened when youth programmes and institutions do not receive predictable and adequate financing.
This position paper argues that the declining compliance with statutory funding obligations under the Youth Employment Agency Act, 2015 (Act 887) and the National Youth Authority Act, 2016 (Act 939) has weakened the institutional capacity of the YEA and NYA to deliver on their mandates. It therefore calls for full restoration of statutory DACF allocations, transparent reporting, and stronger accountability in the use of youth-sector resources.
[1] Annual Household Income Expenditure Survey (GSS, 2023)
About YEFL – Ghana and the Follow the Money Campaign
YEFL-Ghana is a youth-focused and youth-led organization committed to empowering young people economically, socially, and politically to lead change in their lives and communities. Guided by its vision of “Youth Leading Change,” YEFL-Ghana works through regional youth networks that have been strengthened as Youth Budget Monitors and Youth Policy Champions. Through the Follow the Money Campaign, these youth leaders advocate for more compliant, accountable, and transparent youth financing mechanisms, with particular focus on the YEA, NYA, and flagship initiatives such as the National Apprenticeship Programme and Adwumawura.
Challenges Confronting Youth
Young people continue to face significant barriers, including limited access to entrepreneurial support, financing, vocational and technical training, digital tools, and decent work opportunities[1]. According to the Annual Household Income and Expenditure Survey conducted by the Ghana Statistical Service in 2023, 7 in every 10 unemployed persons in the third quarter of 2023 were aged 15 to 35, representing an estimated 1.3 million young people. In addition, many employed youth remain in vulnerable employment, while gaps in access to ICT devices and internet use further limit their participation in emerging economic opportunities.
[1] Volunteer National Report, 2025
Government’s Operationalization of Youth Employment Strategy
In response, government has introduced a number of youth-focused interventions aimed at expanding skills development, entrepreneurship, and job creation. The establishment of the Ministry of Youth Development and Empowerment is an important institutional step because it creates a dedicated platform for youth policy leadership, coordination, and programme delivery.
Key interventions include the following:
National Apprenticeship Programme (NAP): intended to provide structured skills training and apprenticeship opportunities for 10,000 young people.
Adwumawura Programme: designed to support youth enterprise development and expected to reach 10,000 young people.
Institution-led youth programmes: implemented through agencies such as the National Youth Authority (NYA), the Youth Employment Agency (YEA), and the National Entrepreneurship and Innovation Programme (NEIP).
[2] Volunteer National Report, 2025
Funding Commitments
Government has made notable budgetary commitments to selected flagship youth employment programmes. Under the Appropriation Act, 2025 (Act 1126), GHC 220,998,810, representing 74% of the allocation for the National Apprenticeship Programme (NAP), has been released. In addition, GHC 100,000,000 has been released for the Adwumawura Programme, representing 100% of its allocation (Ministry of Finance, 2026, RTI).
These releases demonstrate a degree of political commitment to youth employment. However, they do not resolve the deeper financing challenge: the weakening of statutory funding streams for permanent youth institutions mandated by law to lead youth development, employment, mobilization, and empowerment. This concern is reinforced by the decline in the allocation to the NAP from GHC 300,000,000 in 2025 to GHC 170,000,000 in 2026, which raises questions about the predictability and sustainability of youth financing.
Statutory Funding Obligations and Compliance Failure
Beyond discretionary allocations, Ghana’s legal framework provides statutory funding streams for key youth agencies. Section 17(b) of the National Youth Authority Act, 2016 (Act 939) provides that the funds of the Authority include “five percent of the District Assemblies Common Fund, subject to the formula approved by Parliament.” Similarly, Section 23(c) of the Youth Employment Agency Act, 2015 (Act 887) provides that “ten percent of the District Assemblies Common Fund” should be allocated to the Youth Employment Agency as part of its statutory funding.
The table below illustrates the steady decline in government compliance with these statutory obligations.
Year | Youth Employment Agency | National Youth Authority |
2016 | 6.6% | N/A |
2017 | 10% | 5% |
2018 | 10% | 5% |
2019 | 10% | 5% |
2020 | 9% | 4% |
2021 | 5% | 2.5% |
2022 | 5% | 2.5% |
2023 | 5% | 2.5% |
2024 | 5% | 2.5% |
2025 | 0.60% | 0.60% |
2026 | - | - |
The trend shows a clear non-compliance resulting in a financing gap in the youth policy landscape. Actual allocations have fallen significantly below the statutory thresholds, moving from partial compliance in earlier years to only 0.6% for each agency in 2025 and no captured statutory allocation in the 2026 DACF Formula. This pattern undermines the legal intent behind Act 939 and Act 887 and weakens the predictability of youth-sector financing.
The financial implications are substantial. If the 2025 District Assemblies Common Fund Formula had complied with the statutory provisions, the NYA’s 5% share would have amounted to GHC 357,500,000, while the YEA’s 10% share would have amounted to GHC 751,000,000. For 2026, based on a DACF amount of GHC 8,769,707,899.91, the NYA should have received approximately GHC 438,485,395, while the YEA should have received approximately GHC 876,970,789.99. Instead, both agencies are recorded as receiving 0% under the formula.
The result is a contradiction in youth financing: while government continues to invest in selected flagship programmes, the statutory institutions responsible for sustained youth development and employment are increasingly underfunded. This weakens institutional capacity, disrupts programme continuity, limits nationwide delivery, and treats youth development as a discretionary priority rather than a binding statutory obligation.
DACF Actual Allocations and Releases to NYA and YEA, 2017–2026
Statutory District Assemblies Common Fund (DACF) transfers to the National Youth Authority (NYA, Act 939) and the Youth Employment Agency (YEA, Act 887), 2017–2026.
Year | Total DACF Allocation (GHS) | % to NYA | NYA Amount (GHS) | % to YEA | YEA Amount (GHS) |
2017 | 1,575,935,339.00 | 5.0% | 78,796,767.00 | 10.0% | 157,594.00 |
2018 | 1,812,144,435.00 | 5.0% | 90,607,222.00 | 10.0% | 120,000,000.00 |
2019 | 2,079,426,613.00 | 4.0% | 83,177,065.00 | 8.0% | 166,354,129.00 |
2020 | 2,312,706,550.00 | 4.0% | 92,508,262.00 | 9.0% | 208,143,590.00 |
2021 | 2,402,331,910.00 | 2.5% | 60,000,000.00 | 5.0% | 120,000,000.00 |
2022 | 3,342,970,849.00 | 1.79% | 59,685,257.00 | 3.75% | 119,370,513.00 |
2023 | 4,554,034,657.00 | 2.5% | 113,850,866.00 | 5.0% | 227,701,733.00 |
2024 | 5,758,254,325.00 | 2.0% | 115,165,087.00 | 5.0% | 287,912,716.00 |
2025 | 7,510,000,000.00 | 0.6% | 45,060,000.00 | 0.6% | 45,060,000.00 |
2026 | 8,769,707,899.91 | - | - | - | - |
Note: 2026 statutory percentage allocations to NYA and YEA were not captured in the 2026 DACF Formula approved by Parliament.
Observed Discrepancies
This table below, tracks the National Youth Authority's (NYA) statutory 5% share of the District Assemblies Common Fund (DACF) under Act 939 against the amounts actually released to the Authority each year, based on figures supplied for the Follow the Money Campaign through the RTI Act.
Year | DACF (Statutory Due) | NYA (Amount Released) | Shortfall | % Released |
2017 | 76,186,248.13 | 76,405,153.82 | (218,905.69) | 100.3% |
2018 | 85,751,501.26 | 85,751,501.26 | 0.00 | 100.0% |
2019 | 76,788,386.69 | 71,218,530.03 | 5,569,856.66 | 92.7% |
2020 | 64,093,226.87 | 29,218,387.00 | 34,874,839.87 | 45.6% |
2021 | 48,204,556.89 | 40,847,248.57 | 7,357,308.32 | 84.7% |
2022 | 64,093,226.87 | 49,527,149.49 | 14,566,077.38 | 77.3% |
2023 | 66,193,136.64 | 19,952,767.15 | 46,240,369.49 | 30.1% |
2024 | n/a* | 37,135,699.84 | n/a* | n/a* |
2025 | 5,927,792.44 | 5,927,790.44 | 2.00 | 100.0% |
*2024: no DACF-due figure was supplied, so a shortfall and release rate cannot be calculated for that year.
Impact on Youth Development and Empowerment
According to the National Youth Authority, more than GHC 400 million has been received through the DACF since 2017. Of this amount, 79% has been spent on youth-related infrastructure development, including youth resource centres, youth leadership and skills training institutes, astro-turf facilities, regional and district directorates, and the national office complex. This requires validation from CSOs and the media. A further 17% has supported programmes and operations, including feeding grants for youth leadership and skills training institutes, skills development, capacity building, youth policy implementation, and administrative support to regional and district youth directorates. The remaining 4% has supported goods, services, and general administration. This demonstrates that statutory transfers, when made available, can support both infrastructure and direct empowerment functions. The current decline in statutory financing therefore risks reversing gains already made in youth development and meaningful youth engagement.
Our Position
YEFL-Ghana recognizes government’s commitment to youth development, including the establishment of the Ministry of Youth Development and Empowerment and the financing of flagship youth programmes. However, this commitment must be matched by full compliance with the statutory financing obligations that sustain the NYA and YEA. Our position is that youth development financing must be lawful, predictable, transparent, and directed towards measurable empowerment outcomes.
Restore full statutory compliance. Government, Parliament, the Ministry of Finance, the Ministry of Local Government, Decentralization and Rural Development, and the Office of the Administrator of the District Assemblies Common Fund should ensure that the NYA’s 5% and YEA’s 10% statutory allocations are captured in the DACF Formula and transferred automatically at the point of release.
2. Ring-fence youth-sector transfers. DACF disbursement guidelines should protect the statutory allocations to NYA and YEA from discretionary reallocation during the formula and release process, so that youth-sector institutions can plan and implement programmes predictably.
3. Publish allocations, releases, and expenditure. The Ministry of Finance, DACF Administrator, NYA, and YEA should publish annual data on statutory allocations, actual releases, expenditure categories, and programme outputs, while Parliament exercise oversight to improve transparency and public accountability.
4. Prioritize direct youth empowerment. NYA expenditure guidelines should progressively rebalance spending so that a larger share of statutory transfers supports direct youth empowerment programmes, including skills development, entrepreneurship support, employment readiness, civic participation, and inclusion of young women and marginalized youth.
5. Institutionalize youth participation and monitoring. Government should resource the NYA to develop and publicly implement a Monitoring and Evaluation Framework for the National Youth Policy, while ensuring that young people participate directly in budgeting, policy review, and oversight of youth-sector programmes.
Prepared by:
Abdul-Ganiyu Alhassan – Technical Advisor for Youth, Advocacy and Gender
0246990982
Dr. Fathiaya Nzhelayim Zakari – Advocacy & Engagement Officer
0509963699
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