Ghana Sends Health Workers Abroad to Ease Recruitment Backlog, Akandoh Says

By: Ebenezer Adugyamfi & Emmanuel Ayiku for GhanaianNewsCanada

20 OCTOBER 2026

ACCRA, Ghana — The government is facilitating the placement of Ghanaian health professionals in foreign countries as part of efforts to address a longstanding backlog of unemployed graduates and create room for additional recruitment into the domestic health system, Health Minister Kwabena Mintah Akandoh has said.

The minister explained that the initiative forms part of a broader workforce strategy that combines overseas employment opportunities with phased recruitment into Ghana’s public health facilities, depending on the government’s ability to finance additional workers.

Speaking in an interview on the employment of healthcare professionals, Akandoh said four batches of health workers had been facilitated to secure employment abroad since he assumed office, with further placements expected under the Ghana Labour Exchange Programme.

He maintained that the country’s challenge was not necessarily a shortage of trained health professionals but the government’s limited financial capacity to employ all qualified graduates at once.

The approach is intended to provide employment opportunities for professionals who might otherwise remain unemployed while allowing the government to recruit additional workers into the domestic healthcare system as financial resources become available.

Government cites financial constraints in health recruitment

Akandoh said the government could only recruit health professionals for whom the necessary financial clearance had been obtained.

According to the minister, the government inherited approximately 13,500 nurses and midwives who had been recruited and posted to health facilities without adequate financial provision for their salaries.

He said the administration faced a choice between dismissing the affected workers until funding became available or allowing them to continue working while arrangements were made to pay them.

The minister said the government chose the latter option and that the 13,500 workers had subsequently been placed on the payroll, with outstanding salary arrears covering periods of five, six and ten months paid in full.

He described the situation as evidence of the financial challenges confronting the recruitment of health professionals and argued that employment decisions must be supported by sustainable budgetary commitments.

“Our main problem has been the fiscal space, so as they go, we can still create more space for others,” Akandoh said, explaining the rationale behind facilitating overseas placements.

Fiscal space refers to the government’s ability to increase spending without undermining its financial stability or breaching budgetary constraints.

In the health sector, the issue affects not only the payment of salaries but also the resources required to operate hospitals, equip facilities, provide medicines and maintain essential services.

Recruitment of 16,000 health professionals planned in two phases

The Health Ministry has adopted a phased recruitment plan intended to absorb 16,000 health professionals into the domestic system.

Akandoh said the first phase, covering 8,000 workers, had been approved and recruitment under that phase had been concluded.

The government is awaiting financial clearance for the second phase, which will cover another 8,000 professionals.

The minister said recruitment would begin once the required clearance was secured.

He also indicated that between 70 and 80 per cent of those recruited in the first phase had been assigned to support the government’s Free Primary Healthcare initiative.

The allocation reflects the importance of staffing primary healthcare services, which are intended to improve access to essential medical care and strengthen preventive healthcare delivery.

The government’s ability to recruit the remaining workers will depend on the availability of funding and the completion of the necessary administrative processes.

For unemployed graduates, the second phase represents a potential route into public service, although the timing of the recruitment remains dependent on financial approval.

Backlog spans several graduating classes

Akandoh said the unemployment challenge among health professionals had accumulated over several years because successive governments had not recruited graduates consistently as they completed their training.

He said the ministry was still addressing the backlog involving the 2021 graduating class, while graduates from 2022, 2023 and 2024 remained at home awaiting employment. The 2025 cohort was also undertaking its required rotation.

According to the minister, each graduating batch could contain at least 16,000 health professionals.

The scale of the backlog highlights the difficulty of aligning the country’s health training system with the government’s capacity to employ graduates.

Training institutions continue to produce nurses and other health professionals, but public-sector recruitment depends on approved staffing levels, budget allocations and the ability to meet recurrent salary obligations.

The situation creates uncertainty for graduates who may have completed their academic and professional requirements but cannot immediately secure positions within the public health system.

It also raises broader questions about workforce planning, including how admissions, training capacity, labour-market demand and government recruitment policies can be better coordinated.

Akandoh said the problem would require a long-term strategy rather than a quick solution, noting that the backlog could not be cleared within one or two years.

Ghana Labour Exchange Programme opens overseas opportunities

The Ghana Labour Exchange Programme is a central part of the government’s response to the employment challenge.

Under the programme, the government works with foreign partners to facilitate employment opportunities for qualified Ghanaian professionals in countries seeking skilled workers.

The first group of 121 nurses, midwives and other allied healthcare professionals departed Ghana for Antigua in January 2026.

The government subsequently pursued additional placements in other countries, including Jamaica, Barbados, Trinidad and Grenada.

On October 14, 2026, the government announced the deployment of a second batch of 61 nurses to Grenada under a bilateral labour arrangement.

The initiative is intended to help qualified professionals secure jobs and earn incomes while meeting demand for healthcare workers in partner countries.

Akandoh said the government was also exploring opportunities in the United States and had signed a memorandum of understanding with the City of Columbus, Ohio, to facilitate overseas employment for Ghanaian health professionals.

The September agreement established a framework for ethical recruitment and the protection of workers’ rights and welfare.

Under such arrangements, the government has emphasised the need to ensure that participating professionals receive fair treatment and that recruitment complies with applicable standards.

The programme also provides an opportunity for Ghanaian professionals to gain international experience and potentially develop specialised skills that could benefit the country if they return.

However, actual placements depend on the requirements of receiving countries, professional qualifications, recruitment arrangements and the availability of suitable positions.

Government links overseas placements to local employment

Akandoh argued that facilitating overseas employment would help the government create room for additional recruitment at home.

His explanation is based on the government’s limited ability to absorb every trained professional into the public payroll at the same time.

By helping some graduates secure employment abroad, the government hopes to reduce pressure from the domestic backlog while continuing to recruit workers into local health facilities in phases.

The minister also pointed to the economic importance of remittances sent home by Ghanaians working overseas.

Money transferred by workers abroad can support household expenditure, education, housing and investment, while remittance inflows also contribute to foreign-exchange earnings.

Nevertheless, the extent of these benefits depends on the number of workers deployed, their earnings, the costs of living in their host countries and the amounts they are able to send home.

Overseas placements are therefore being presented as a complementary measure rather than a substitute for strengthening Ghana’s own healthcare workforce.

The government will still need to recruit sufficient personnel to meet domestic staffing requirements, particularly in underserved communities and facilities experiencing shortages.

New specialist nursing programmes target local and international demand

The minister also disclosed that Cabinet had approved the introduction of additional post-basic nursing programmes in oncology, critical care and nephrology, with the programmes beginning in 2026.

These specialties address important areas of healthcare delivery.

Oncology nursing focuses on caring for patients with cancer, while critical care nursing involves the management of patients with serious or life-threatening conditions. Nephrology nursing specialises in the care of people with kidney-related diseases.

Akandoh said these qualifications were in demand internationally and could also help address specialist staffing needs within Ghana.

The development is relevant as the country seeks to strengthen services for non-communicable diseases and expand access to specialised medical treatment.

Training more specialists could help healthcare facilities improve patient management and reduce gaps in services that require advanced professional skills.

However, the benefits will depend on the availability of suitable jobs, adequate equipment, training quality and the ability of health institutions to retain qualified personnel.

The government’s strategy seeks to create pathways for graduates to work either within Ghana or abroad, depending on their qualifications and available opportunities.

Admissions exceed the government’s annual recruitment capacity

Akandoh said the scale of admissions into health training institutions presented another challenge for workforce planning.

According to the minister, the government struggles to recruit between 10,000 and 16,000 nurses annually, while more than 60,000 students are admitted to health training programmes each year.

He said nursing admissions alone could reach between 34,000 and 35,000 annually, while allied health programmes could admit as many as 30,000 students.

The figures illustrate the gap between the number of people entering health-related training and the number the government can employ each year.

However, admissions do not immediately translate into qualified professionals ready for employment. Students must complete their programmes, satisfy professional requirements and, where applicable, undertake mandatory rotations before becoming eligible for particular positions.

Even so, the difference between training output and available employment opportunities highlights the need for long-term coordination between educational institutions, professional regulators, healthcare employers and government budget planners.

Better workforce forecasting could help align admissions with projected demand, while also identifying opportunities for employment in private healthcare, research, specialist services and international labour markets.

The challenge is to expand access to training without creating unrealistic expectations about immediate public-sector employment.

Balancing overseas recruitment with Ghana’s healthcare needs

The government’s policy has also drawn attention to a broader question: how can Ghana create employment opportunities abroad while ensuring that its own healthcare facilities have enough qualified personnel?

International recruitment can provide employment for professionals who might otherwise remain unemployed. It can also allow workers to gain experience and earn incomes that support their families.

At the same time, Ghana must ensure that overseas placements do not worsen staffing shortages in critical areas of the domestic health system.

The outcome will depend partly on how the government identifies surplus labour, determines local staffing requirements and negotiates arrangements with foreign employers.

Ethical recruitment and clear employment contracts will also be important to protect workers from unfair conditions and ensure that they understand their rights and responsibilities before accepting overseas positions.

The government’s agreements with foreign partners are therefore significant not only for the jobs they may create but also for the safeguards they establish around recruitment, treatment and professional welfare.

Outlook

Ghana’s health workforce employment challenge reflects a combination of rising training numbers, limited public-sector recruitment capacity and the need to maintain adequate staffing across the country’s health facilities.

Akandoh says the government intends to address the problem through a combination of phased domestic recruitment, international employment placements and the development of specialist nursing skills.

The second phase of recruitment for 8,000 health professionals remains dependent on financial clearance, while the Labour Exchange Programme is expected to continue facilitating placements abroad.

The effectiveness of the strategy will ultimately depend on how many graduates secure sustainable jobs, whether domestic facilities receive the personnel they need and whether the government can maintain adequate funding for salaries and healthcare delivery.

For thousands of trained professionals awaiting employment, the immediate concern remains when additional recruitment will begin and how many opportunities will become available.

The government’s stated objective is to create a system in which qualified health workers can find employment at home or abroad while Ghana continues to strengthen its healthcare services.