Ghana’s workplace conditions, employee wellbeing and career development opportunities will come under scrutiny at the second annual Ghana Health & Labour (GHL) Summit, as industry leaders and policymakers seek practical solutions to the country’s talent retention challenge.

The two-day summit, themed “Work and Wellness: Fixing Ghana’s Talent Retention Crisis,” will take place from October 8 to 9, 2026, at the University of Ghana in Accra.

It is being organised by Mentapulse Africa in partnership with the University of Ghana Business School (UGBS).

The summit will examine how leadership, rewards, professional growth and workplace wellbeing influence skilled professionals’ decisions to remain with an organisation or seek opportunities elsewhere.

It comes amid concerns that organisations across critical sectors are struggling to retain experienced professionals, with many workers looking beyond Ghana for better pay, career progression and working conditions.

Executive Director of Mentapulse Africa and Summit Convenor, Manuel Koranteng, said talent retention should not be treated merely as a recruitment or migration problem.

“Talent retention is too often treated as a recruitment or migration issue when, in reality, it is a workplace issue. People make decisions about whether to stay based on the entire experience of work—how they are led, how they are rewarded, whether they can grow, whether their wellbeing is protected and whether they can see a future for themselves,” he said.

“If we want to retain talent, we must improve that experience,” he added.

Mr Koranteng said employers and policymakers must move beyond asking why professionals leave and begin identifying the conditions that would encourage them to stay.

“We need to build workplaces where talented people can see a future, develop their skills and thrive,” he said.

He explained that producing or recruiting skilled professionals alone would not resolve workforce shortages unless it was matched with conditions that enable workers to remain and thrive.

Head of the Department of Organisation and Human Resource Management at UGBS, Professor Damoah Obi Berko, said the summit would provide an opportunity to ground discussions on talent retention in research and the realities of Ghanaian workplaces.

“The talent retention challenge requires evidence-led conversations and solutions that are grounded in the realities of Ghana’s workplaces,” he said.

Prof. Berko said the partnership between UGBS and the summit reflected the university’s commitment to bringing academic research, evidence and professional expertise into the national conversation.

He said the discussions should help translate research and insights into practical and sustainable approaches to building and retaining talent in Ghana.

Board Chair of Mentapulse Africa, Professor Collins Badu Agyemang, said the 2026 summit would build on the foundation established by last year’s event, which brought together stakeholders in health, labour, policymaking and research.

“This year, we are building on that foundation by confronting another critical dimension of the future of work—our ability to attract and develop the talent Ghana needs,” he said.

Prof. Agyemang said organisations must move beyond simply retaining employees and focus on designing workplaces that are psychologically healthy, motivating and sustainable.

The summit will also explore the connection between workplace health and productivity. Mentapulse Africa’s broader workplace-wellbeing agenda includes addressing work-related stress, unhealthy work environments and the impact of employee health on organisational performance.

The two-day event will feature keynote addresses, expert presentations, panel discussions and interactive workshops.

A job fair, exhibitions, an awards ceremony and a dinner gala will also form part of the programme, providing opportunities for participants to share evidence, develop solutions and build partnerships.

Selected plenary sessions will be livestreamed to extend participation beyond the summit venue.

The event is expected to bring together representatives from government, business, health, labour, academia and the wider workforce to examine practical ways of improving Ghana’s ability to attract, develop and retain skilled professionals.

Interested participants may register through the official GHL Summit page. For further information, organisers may be contacted on +233 20 401 5534 or by email at ghlsummit@mentapulseafrica.org.