24-HOUR ECONOMY Let me begin with a confession.

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24-HOUR ECONOMY Let me begin with a confession. I was baffled by the name, “24-Hour Economy”. It seemed to me, a layman that it is as natural as breathing. Hunters and fishermen work mostly at night. As a newspaper boy in elementary school, I got up at dawn to catch a “tro-tro” bus to go pick my papers before going to sell them. I remember the carpenter behind my house working through the night in November and December to make ” nkronua” that the shoemakers needed to make more ladies’ sandals/shoes for sale ahead of Christmas to meet increased demand.

And when I was escaping for one of my exiles, we boarded the boat at Jewu-Wharf at dusk, traveled through the night and got to Abidjan the next morning.

Now, it seems the “24-Hour Economy” was the inappropriate name for President Mahama’s economic transformation plan for Ghana. I am all for it. God knows Ghana needs some economic stimulus besides the IMF program.

The launch by President Mahama a few days ago was impressive. And Goosie Tanoh’s elaboration with Bernard Avle was masterful. Now you would pardon my ignorance if the economic terms do not seem as familiar to me as fufu would be with soup. I am just a citizen. Upon listening carefully, the new transformation initiative sounds rather familiar. As Prof. Bokpin pointed out in Joyfm’s Newsfile program, there are significant similarities between this “24-Hour ECONOMY ” and NADAA ‘s “GHANA BEYOND AID” initiative with its pledge to end the “Guggisburg economy “.

Indeed, I respectfully suggest that the roots of this initiative go as far back as Osagyefo’s “7-year development plan” and its dream of transforming the Volta Lake/basin etc. It would seem reasonable, as Bernard Avle pointed out that if Goosie is the point person to the President’s key transformative initiative, he should be more central in the President’s economic team. Maybe, he is. My concern though, is how we launch these initiatives with panache only to let them fizzle out.

What was Ghana’s Return on Investment on “Ghana BEYOND Aid” on our way to going for aid from the IMF? What happened to “1-D-1-F”? What happened to “Planting-for-food-and-jobs”? What benefits did Ghana derive from the development authorities? It would seem to me that we need some accountability for our past initiatives, structures and investments before we boldly pour $4billion USD into another initiative. This kind of review, in my opinion, belongs to Parliament.

It seems that we should move away from the practice of permitting Presidents to name the price of initiatives, appropriate funds and disburse them with virtually no executive oversight. While on this inquiry, Parliament might look into why our governments are becoming increasingly fond of new Secretariats and Authorities, established besides our normal government machineries.

Also, I suggest that before embarking on this initiative, we honestly explore some of the perennial causes of our failures–like corruption. What role would our Diaspora play in this initiative? How are we going to transform our agriculture and tourism while Galamsey continues to lay our waterbodies and environment to waste? How can we succeed when our State-Owned Enterprises that would be crucial parts continue to be inefficient and continue to drain our economy? When “Ghana BEYOND AID” was launched, its authors predicted growth rates of 9%! Only China has had such growths in the last quarter-century.

How realistic was that? Finally, my fellow Ghanaians, this plan, like all those before, looks great. The problem, as in the past, would be Execution. In the end, it is the execution that matters. It is why Singapore, Malaysia and all our contemporaries have left us behind. For once, let us execute.

God bless Ghana.

Arthur Kobina Kennedy

(July 6th, 2025)