Amahoro Coalition Calls for Private Sector Alignment to Turn Refugee Rights into Jobs in Ghana

Introduction

Ghana stands at a critical juncture where its progressive refugee policies can be translated into tangible economic growth through strategic private sector engagement. A landmark study by the Amahoro Coalition, titled the Pathways to Employment: Ghana Country Report, exposes a stark gap between legal rights and lived realities for refugees seeking formal work. While Ghana’s 1992 Refugee Act guarantees refugees the right to work, move freely, and access services, bureaucratic inertia and misaligned systems create insurmountable barriers. The report, presented in Accra, argues that the solution lies not in new laws but in aligning government agencies, financial institutions, and private sector employers to recognize refugees as skilled economic contributors. With over 45 million forcibly displaced people in Africa, Ghana has a unique opportunity to pioneer a model of refugee employment that boosts productivity, fosters regional integration, and fulfills humanitarian obligations. This article synthesizes the report’s evidence-based findings, analyzes systemic failures, and provides a clear roadmap for turning refugee rights into jobs through targeted private sector partnerships.

Key Points: The Core Findings at a Glance

The Amahoro Coalition’s research, conducted by the Refugee-Led Research Hub at the University of Oxford, identifies recurring obstacles across 15 African nations. For Ghana, the key takeaways are urgent and actionable:

• Systemic Misalignment Over Hostility: The primary barrier is not societal prejudice but the failure of administrative systems (immigration, labor, finance) to coordinate, turning routine procedures into de facto employment bans.
• The Circular Permit Trap: Refugees require an employer’s letter of commitment to apply for a work permit, yet employers refuse to provide letters without guaranteed permit approval, creating a deadlock.
• Documentation Breakdown: The Ghana Card, intended as a unified ID, faces renewal delays that block access to banking, formal job applications, and other essential services.
• Pervasive Informal Labor: Despite professional qualifications, most refugees work in agriculture, construction, or petty trade due to formal sector exclusion, missing out on social protection and tax contributions.
• Sectoral Opportunities Exist: Healthcare facilities and international schools already successfully employ refugee nurses, doctors, and French teachers, proving skills gaps can be filled.
• National Service Barrier: Refugees are systematically excluded from mandatory National Service placements, a critical gateway to civil service careers.
• Economic Potential: With only ~12,200 registered refugees, Ghana’s small scale means targeted administrative reforms could yield disproportionate economic and social returns, positioning the country as a continental leader.

Background: The Context and the Coalition

Ghana’s Legal Framework vs. On-Ground Reality

Ghana’s 1992 Refugee Act is widely regarded as one of Africa’s most progressive, incorporating the 1951 Refugee Convention’s principles. It explicitly grants refugees the right to seek employment, own property, and access public services. However, implementation is fragmented. The Ghana Refugee Board (GRB), Ghana Immigration Service (GIS), and other agencies operate in silos, with poor data sharing and contradictory procedural requirements. The introduction of the Ghana Card in 2022 was a step toward a unified national ID system, but its application for refugees remains fraught with renewal delays and interoperability issues with banking and labor systems.

About the Amahoro Coalition and the Pathways to Employment Series

The Amahoro Coalition is a pan-African organization that convenes private sector leaders to drive social impact and inclusive economic growth. It operates at the nexus of business, government, and civil society, focusing on employment as a durable solution to displacement. The Pathways to Employment series is its flagship research initiative, examining how labor market demand, policy frameworks, and private sector practices shape access to work for displaced persons across 15 African countries. The Ghana study was conducted by the Refugee-Led Research Hub (Oxford University) with support from the Mastercard Foundation. The full report is publicly available on the Amahoro Coalition website.

Analysis: Deconstructing the Barriers to Formal Employment

The report moves beyond surface-level observations to diagnose the root causes of exclusion, framing refugee employment as a labor market and regional integration challenge rather than solely a humanitarian issue.

The Circular Dependency Trap: A Systemic Design Flaw

The requirement for an employer’s letter of commitment before a refugee can apply for a work permit is the most critical bottleneck. This creates a classic chicken-and-egg problem:

1. A refugee secures a job interview and impresses an employer.
2. The employer, aware of the bureaucratic hurdles, refuses to issue a commitment letter without assurance the permit will be granted.
3. The refugee cannot apply for the permit without the letter, thus cannot prove legal work status to the employer.
4. The opportunity is lost, often after the refugee has already invested time and resources.

Official processing timelines state one week, but in practice, delays extend to several months. This administrative uncertainty deters employers from engaging with refugees at all, reinforcing the perception of refugees as a “high-risk” hire.

Documentation as a Gatekeeper and its Failures

The Ghana Card for refugees is meant to be a foundational document for economic inclusion. However, the report highlights renewal challenges that cause lapses in validity. An expired or pending renewal card renders a refugee unable to:

• Open or maintain a bank account.
• Sign a formal employment contract.
• Access mobile money services crucial for daily transactions.
• Register a business or obtain a trading license.

This creates a vicious cycle: without a bank account, a refugee cannot receive a salary formally; without formal employment, the renewal process becomes more difficult due to lack of proof of stable income.

Labor Mobility, AfCFTA, and the Regional Dimension

As Bathsheba Asati, Principal Strategy Custodian for Growth at Amahoro, notes, displacement in Africa is not temporary. Therefore, solutions must align with continental frameworks like the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) and ECOWAS protocols on free movement. Refugees are already active participants in cross-border trade and labor markets, predominantly in the informal sector. Formalizing this participation requires harmonizing identification systems, migration policies, and labor laws across borders. Ghana’s reforms could serve as a pilot for how a single country’s administrative adjustments can integrate with regional mobility goals.

The Skills Mismatch and Unrecognized Potential

The research counters the myth that refugees lack skills. Many possess high qualifications in teaching, nursing, engineering, and agriculture. The mismatch occurs because:

• Certificates from countries of origin are not recognized or easily verified.
• Language barriers (e.g., French-speaking refugees in English-speaking Ghana) are not adequately supported.
• Employers lack frameworks to assess foreign qualifications and experience.

Conversely, sectors like healthcare and international education actively seek these skills. The problem is a failure of matching mechanisms, not a lack of talent.

Practical Advice: Actionable Recommendations for Stakeholders

The report provides a clear menu of high-impact, low-cost reforms. Success depends on coordinated action.

For Government Agencies and Policymakers

• Streamline the Ghana Card: Transform the refugee Ghana Card into a combined residence and work permit. This single document should be digitally verifiable by employers, banks, and the GIS, eliminating the need for separate permits and letters.
• Eliminate the Employer Letter Requirement: Remove this step from the work permit application. Instead, allow refugees to apply directly based on a job offer or contract, placing the onus on the employer to verify the job’s legitimacy post-hire.
• Establish a Refugee Employment Task Force: Create an inter-agency committee with the GRB, GIS, Ministry of Employment, and relevant private sector bodies to fast-track policy alignment, resolve bottlenecks, and monitor implementation.
• Incorporate Refugees into National Service: Amend National Service Scheme regulations to include qualified refugees, opening pathways to public sector careers and credential recognition.
• Fast-Track Certificate Verification: Develop a simplified, subsidized process for assessing foreign professional qualifications in partnership with relevant Ghanaian professional councils.

For Private Sector Employers

• Adopt Skills-Based Hiring: Shift focus from documentation status to demonstrable skills. Use practical assessments, portfolio reviews, and trial periods to evaluate candidates.
• Engage in Awareness Campaigns: Participate in job fairs and forums organized by the GRB or NGOs to meet pre-vetted refugee candidates and understand legal obligations.
• Join Employer Pacts: Consider collective action through business associations or the Ghana Employers Association to share best practices, reduce perceived risk, and advocate for systemic reforms.
• Explore Micro-Enterprise Support: For roles not suited to direct employment, consider procuring goods or services from refugee-owned micro-enterprises (e.g., catering, tailoring, agriculture) and provide mentorship.

For Financial Institutions and Service Providers

• Accept the Ghana Card as Primary ID: Banks and telcos should update KYC (Know Your Customer) protocols to accept the valid refugee Ghana Card without requiring additional, hard-to-obtain documentation.
• Develop Tailored Financial Products: Create low-barrier savings accounts, micro-loans, and mobile money services designed for refugees who may lack traditional credit histories or permanent addresses.

For Refugee-Led Organizations and NGOs