Economy
Tamale's economy, which was formerly dominated by a rural agriculture system, has recently expanded into a wide range of industries. The majority of Tamale's workforce works in agriculture, despite the fact that this industry is at risk due to the region's frequent droughts. Other well-liked sectors include manufacturing, education, and commerce. Tamale's economy is diversified, yet it still has high unemployment and poverty rates. Additionally, a small number of NGOs are active in the city. Tamale is strategically located in the Northern Region and by this strategic location, the Metropolis has a market potential for local goods from the agricultural and commercial sectors from the other districts in the region and the southern part of Ghana. By its location, the Metropolis stands to gain in trade from some neighbouring West African countries such as Burkina Faso, Niger, Mali and Togo. Out of the total employed population of 83,229 persons, 11.3 percent work in public (government) sector while 83.2 percent in private informal sector. The occupation with the highest population in the Metropolis is service and sales workers (33.0%). Those in the craft and related trades workers (21.5%) follow this. The proportion of the employed persons engaged in skilled agriculture, forestry and fishery is (17.6%). There are more males compared to females in almost all the occupations with the exception of service and sales (16.5%) for males and a large proportion (50.3%) for females. Also there are more females (11.3%) than males (6.1%) in the elementary occupations.