Members of the Minority in Parliament have raised concerns over the government’s much-publicised 24-hour economy initiative, arguing that it does not guarantee accelerated economic growth.
Addressing the press on Thursday, March 13, former Finance Minister Mohammed Amin Adam criticised the 2025 Budget, stating that the economic growth projections contradict the expected benefits of the initiative.
According to him, Ghana’s economic recovery began in 2023 when GDP growth exceeded the 1.5% target, reaching 3.1% by the end of the year. This recovery strengthened in 2024, with a GDP growth of 5.7% well above the original budget target of 3.1% and the revised target of 4%.
“For the first time in many years, industry led our economic growth with a remarkable 7.1% increase, followed by services at 5.9% and agriculture at 2.8%. This marks a significant structural transformation of the economy,” he stated.
Dr Amin Adam accused the Finance Minister of downplaying these achievements by attributing the economic growth to illegal mining (galamsey). He argued that official data shows that the construction subsector grew by 9.6%, exceeding the mining sector’s contribution, yet the government failed to acknowledge this.
He highlighted a significant 15.8% growth in the information and communications sector, which he credited to the digitalisation policies of the former Vice President Dr Bawumia. He further claimed that economic growth under the New Patriotic Party (NPP) government was not “jobless growth,” as 2.3 million Ghanaians were employed during their tenure.
“In the services sector, we saw a notable growth of 15.8% in information and communications largely due to the digitalisation agenda implemented by Dr Bawumia. Certainly, our economic growth story shows that growth was not a jobless growth. And that was why up to 2.3million Ghanaians got employed under the NPP government,”he said.
Dr Amin Adam compared this to the National Democratic Congress (NDC) government’s economic performance under former President John Mahama, stating that growth was lower throughout Mahama’s first term as President.
He pointed out that despite the NDC’s promises in the 2025 budget, the government is only projecting a 4.4% growth rate for 2025, which he sees unimpressive.
He further questioned the effectiveness of the 24-hour economy initiative, noting that industry growth is only expected to average 5% between 2025 and 2027.
“If the 24-hour economy is truly meant to boost growth, we should expect a higher projection for the industrial sector,” he argued.
Comparing this to the 7.1% industry growth recorded in 2024, he expressed doubt about the benefits of the initiative.
He pointed out that the 2025 budget contains no clear policy or programme on the 24-hour economy. “If it is not captured in the 2025 economic policy and budget statement, then it is not a priority for 2025,” he said.
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