Renowned business management consultant and CEO of Ishmael Yamson & Associates, Dr. Ishmael Yamson, has issued a sobering reality check to the government, asserting that while recent “economic stabilisation is spectacular”, the underlying disease afflicting the Ghanaian economy remains untreated.
Speaking at the opening ceremony of the University of Ghana’s 77th Annual New Year School and Conference (ANYSC) on Tuesday, Dr. Yamson delivered a blunt assessment of the nation’s progress.
While he lauded the government’s first-year performance in 2025—notably the recovery of the Cedi from GH¢15.11 to GH¢10.65 and the drop in inflation to 6.3%—he warned against the “joys of what we see” masking deeper structural failures.
Dr. Yamson used vivid medical metaphors to describe the current state of the Republic, suggesting that the government has successfully performed emergency triage but has yet to perform the necessary surgery.
“We have stopped the bleeding, yes, but we have not healed the wound. We have managed the crisis, but we have not cured the disease,” Dr Yamson declared. “What we are seeing is stabilisation. We are not at the transformation stage yet.”
He argued that building the “Ghana we want” requires more than “policy tweets” or another “borrowing spree”. Instead, he called for a “fundamental structural, cultural, and economic reset”.
Reflecting on the pulse of the streets and the boardrooms, Dr. Yamson highlighted a “consensus of discontent” that he believes is more dangerous than open rioting: a quiet, pervasive weariness among citizens and investors alike.
He noted that in a functional economy, businesses plan for decades, but in Ghana, they struggle to plan for even six months. This “agony of unpredictability” is driven by a history of volatile macroeconomic shifts where prices for food, fuel, and materials “shift like the wind”.
“The Ghanaian middle class, the engine of any democracy, has been hollowed out by an inflation tax that has eaten away their savings and dignity,” he added, noting that despite the achievements of the last 12 months, long-term confidence remains elusive.
Dr. Yamson challenged the audience to answer with “brutal honesty” why the status quo is no longer tenable. He identified three dimensions of the national malaise:
- The Structural Trap: An economy that remains vulnerable to external shocks and lacks a solid industrial base.
- The Crisis of Values: A culture of impunity driven by the current political architecture.
- The Execution Gap: Beautiful vision statements that become “epitaphs of potential” because they lack the “iron will of execution”.
As the New Year School—themed “Building the Ghana we want together for sustainable development”—commences, Dr Yamson’s remarks serve as a mandate for the sessions to follow.
He emphasised that iron will and discipline of character are the only things that will prevent this current recovery from being another temporary reprieve before the next crisis.
“Slogans do not applaud the youth,” he warned. “No country can build a suitable, vibrant economy in a constantly disruptive and uncertain environment.”
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