On the streets of Cape Coast, the sight has become familiar. Young men (and sometimes women), many barely out of school, bend their backs to the steering bars of “Pragyia” tricycles, ferrying passengers through the city’s narrow lanes. It is work, but it is also a signal of something deeper: a city where too many of the young are living from day to day, without the certainty of income or the promise of progress. National figures bear this out. In Ghana, two-thirds of the unemployed are youth, and in towns like Cape Coast the share is even starker.
Yet, Cape Coast is not poor in assets. It sits on the coast with a fishing tradition stretching back centuries, it boasts one of the country’s leading universities, and it is home to castles that draw the world’s gaze. The paradox is that while history and geography have given Cape Coast extraordinary cultural and tourism capital, its young people are surviving in an economy that offers them little beyond tricycles, casual labour, or the occasional seasonal job.
This dilemma is not unique. From Essaouira in Morocco to Hoi An in Vietnam, cities with rich heritage and fragile coastal economies have wrestled with the same question: how to turn cultural significance and location into meaningful livelihoods for the next generation. The solutions they have adopted carry lessons for Cape Coast.
Take Essaouira, for example. Once a declining port town, it reinvented itself around culture. The Gnaoua festival did not only attract tourists; it created year-round work for young people in music, events, food services, and small businesses. Hoi An, a heritage town in Vietnam, took another route by embedding its people in the visitor economy through craft workshops and community-based tourism programs. The lesson from both places is that culture must not only be displayed; it must be worked into an economy that employs.
Cape Coast can do the same. Imagine the tricycle driver not only as a transporter but as a “heritage connector,” guiding visitors from the Castle to the lagoon, from the University to the markets, trained in basic history, safety, and customer care. Cities in Asia that formalized tricycle work have seen incomes rise and safety improve. Why not Cape Coast?
But tourism alone will not suffice. The near collapse of small-scale fisheries has left many households exposed, and here, too, examples exist. On the Swahili coast, seaweed farming and value-added processing into cosmetics provided jobs for women and youth, supported by training and market access. Kenya’s “Go Blue” initiative has gone further, linking thousands of young people to jobs in aquaculture, conservation, and coastal services. Cape Coast could adapt such programs into a “Blue-Coast Youth Corps,” offering six-month paid placements in lagoon clean-ups, mangrove restoration, and fish-value apprenticeships.
To make this work, partnerships are essential. South Africa’s Youth Employment Service shows how industry can co-finance first jobs for young people in tourism and hospitality. A similar Youth4Tourism Cape Coast program, which is anchored by hotels, restaurants, tour firms, and even creative hubs, could provide stipends, mentoring, and career pathways. Festivals too, such as Fetu Afahye, could be expanded into year-round cultural markets, with trained youth in stage management, digital marketing, and event production.
But who will drive all this? Here, the role of leadership becomes decisive. Civil society must mobilize public opinion, press for accountability, and create small community programs that feed into larger citywide initiatives. The media, especially local stations and online platforms (bloggers), must keep youth employment at the center of public debate, shifting attention from episodic reporting to a sustained focus on jobs, skills, and opportunities. The Mayor of Cape Coast must act not only as an administrator but as a convener, bringing together city departments, traditional authorities, and the private sector into one coordinated strategy.
Equally important is the Oguaa Traditional Council. Chiefs are custodians not just of heritage but of land, festivals, and social legitimacy. If the Omanhene and the council deliberately link land access, festival planning, and cultural events to youth work, they can make employment a visible part of Cape Coast’s traditions. Business leaders in the city also have a responsibility. Too often, they treat youth unemployment as someone else’s problem. In reality, it is their workforce, their customers, and their city. A Chamber of Commerce-led youth jobs pact could ensure every medium and large business in Cape Coast commits to internships, apprenticeships, or funded placements each year.
The universities have a role that goes beyond producing graduates. The University of Cape Coast and the Technical University sit on enormous intellectual and physical resources. They co
