The Youth Employment Agency (YEA) of Ghana has initiated engagements with private labour exporters to enhance the country’s coordinated migration efforts.
At a meeting in Accra with executives from SOS Labour Ghana, YEA’s Chief Executive Officer, Malik Basintale, emphasized the agency’s commitment to partnerships that will support President John Dramani Mahama’s ‘Work Abroad’ legacy project.
“We’ve heard all the proposals you’ve made and we’ve also heard of the good works you have been doing in the past.
“We’ve read about you, and we’ve investigated a lot, around the organization and I can confidently say that it’s one of the reasons why today’s meeting has been granted approval and made possible”
Malik Basintale, CEO of YEA
Addressing the gathering, Mr. Basintale expressed optimism about the collaboration and commended SOS Labour Ghana for its previous achievements in the sector.
He emphasized that the YEA is now the sole agency officially mandated to “facilitate legal migration of Ghanaian youth” with the full backing of President Mahama and relevant state institutions.
The CEO outlined the vision behind the initiative, noting that the ‘Work Abroad’ model seeks to tackle “brain drain” by creating an organized system where Ghanaians work abroad, acquire skills, and eventually return to invest their expertise into the local economy.
“We are willing to work with you. At the end of the day, we will be seeing people off at the airport”
Malik Basintale, CEO of YEA
Skills and Investment Exchange
Highlighting the broader national agenda, Mr. Basintale underscored that the migration strategy is intended to serve as more than a stopgap against unemployment. Instead, it is designed as a knowledge and investment exchange program.
“We seek to create a proper channel where Ghanaian workforce and labor in this country could migrate in a very serene and coordinated manner, so that in some few years, they come back and then inculcate whatever they’ve learned into our local economy”
Malik Basintale, CEO of YEA
He further noted that the agency has met all necessary operational requirements, enjoying the collaboration of ministries, immigration services, and labour departments to ensure the model’s success.
SOS Unveils JDM
In response, the Chief Executive Officer of SOS Labour Ghana, Rev. Dr. Princess Asie Ocansey, revealed that the organization had developed a special program titled JDM – Jobs for Development Migration, named after President John Dramani Mahama’s initials.
“It is wonderful that the door is open once again, and we are bringing something extra,” she announced, explaining that the JDM program focuses not only on securing overseas employment but also on building lasting economic ties back home through a novel housing scheme.
Workers sent abroad under the program will benefit from free food, accommodation, transportation, and crucially, access to “no money down,” mortgages.
“The housing program is particularly exciting because it brings remittances home,” Rev. Dr. Ocansey highlighted.
She indicated that partnerships with legitimate developers are being pursued to create an “offtaker model” allowing workers to gradually pay for their homes while employed abroad, marking the first initiative of its kind on the African continent.
Optimistic Outlook
Rev. Dr. Ocansey expressed enthusiasm about the potential of the partnership and the leadership shown by the YEA.
“There’s so many streams that come out of a well structured and crafted migration system and that is what we plan to do here in Ghana, leading with you and your team”
Rev. Dr. Princess Asie Ocansey, CEO of SOS Labour Ghana
Mr. Basintale concluded by assuring her and the SOS Labour Ghana team of YEA’s commitment to the project and hinted that the President would be briefed on the outcomes of the meeting, further reinforcing the importance of the initiative at the highest levels of government.
With the YEA firmly at the helm of Ghana’s legal migration efforts, and private sector collaborators like SOS Labour Ghana offering innovative additions, the country stands poised to redefine migration from a national challenge into an opportunity for economic and human capital transformation.
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