Goosie Tanoh rallies UK‑Based Ghanaians to back Mahama’s 24‑Hour Economy
Mr. Goosie Tanoh, Presidential Advisor on the 24‑Hour Economy and Accelerated Export Development, has urged Ghanaians living in the United Kingdom to invest back home and support the 24‑Hour Economy agenda and its related industrial initiatives.
Speaking at a town hall engagement in London, Mr. Tanoh said diaspora investment is crucial to funding export‑driven value chains, transferring technical skills, and building stronger partnerships with local industries.
The event—organised by the Ghana High Commission as part of President John Dramani Mahama’s five‑day official visit—was aimed at updating the diaspora on Ghana’s macroeconomic recovery and mobilising support for national development.
Mr. Tanoh’s presentation doubled as a progress report on the 24‑Hour Economy and a strategic call for diaspora capital to accelerate Ghana’s industrial reset.
He noted that for nearly six decades, Ghana’s economy has been trapped in a cycle of short‑term growth followed by balance‑of‑payments pressures, leading to repeated IMF interventions.
“Ghana has had 17 IMF programmes since 1966—one every three and a half years,” he said, adding that each programme temporarily stabilised the books without addressing the structural weaknesses of the inherited colonial economy.
He explained that President Mahama’s Reset Agenda rests on two pillars, the first being disciplined macroeconomic management. Within 17 months, he said, key indicators had begun to improve.
He cited inflation, which he said had dropped to 3.4 per cent from 3.2 per cent before a recent external‑driven uptick—its lowest in over four years after 15 consecutive months of decline. He also pointed to the reduction of the Bank of Ghana policy rate from 28 per cent to 14 per cent, relative cedi stability, and nearly six months of import cover supported by 38 tonnes of gold on the central bank’s balance sheet.
Mr. Tanoh further claimed that Ghana recorded a trade surplus of 68 billion dollars in the first few months of 2026 alone. Public debt, he said, had fallen from 92.4 per cent of GDP to about 48 per cent, while the economy grew by 7.7 per cent in the first quarter of 2026 after 6 per cent growth in 2025.
He credited the Finance Minister, the Governor of the Bank of Ghana, and the economic management team for maintaining fiscal discipline.
Despite the progress, he noted that the economy remains heavily skewed toward services, which account for 60 per cent of growth, compared to agriculture’s 25 per cent and industry’s 12 per cent.
“Our strategy moves on two deliberate tracks. The first is export‑led. We are building productive capacity where Ghana has latent advantage,” he said.
He highlighted ongoing work across the Volta Economic Corridor—spanning 75 districts around the Volta Lake—focused on garments, pharmaceuticals, and light industries powered by affordable energy.
Mr. Tanoh also outlined four major agreements signed in the past 90 days, projected to create over 160,000 jobs: the Buipe Solar Farm, the Kambonwule Oil Palm Anchor Project, the Bioenergy and Biofuels Programme, and the Tamale Air Cargo Hub.
He described the Kambonwule project as a $300 million initiative to boost large‑scale sustainable palm production and reduce Ghana’s vegetable oil import deficit. The Tamale Air Cargo Hub, expected to begin operations in 2027, is set to transform northern Ghana into a major export and logistics corridor.
Source: GNA