24-hour economy offers solution to Ghana’s structural economic challenges — Economist

As anticipation builds for the official launch of the government’s 24-Hour Economy initiative today, a senior economist suggests the policy, at least on the surface, appears to be evolving into a potential framework for tackling some of Ghana’s deep-seated economic challenges.

Professor Patrick Asuming, a lecturer at the University of Ghana Business School, said although he has yet to access the full policy document, available details suggest the initiative may be moving beyond its initial focus on shift-based employment.

Speaking after a media briefing held by the initiative’s secretariat ahead of its formal rollout, Prof. Asuming recalled that the original design of the policy centered largely on creating multiple work shifts to keep economic activity running across all 24 hours of the day. He described this initial framing as relatively narrow and operational in scope.

However, he noted that more recent expressions of the policy, particularly in the 2025 Budget Statement presented by the Minister for Finance, appear to suggest broader economic objectives, including efforts to drive productivity, stimulate demand, and boost export-led growth.

“Once we start talking about demand creation, export, and productivity, then we begin to see that maybe you are now starting to link it to the key structural challenges that the economy faces. But that is only in bits and pieces. I think to make it very meaningful, we need to get the complete document,” Prof. Asuming noted.

He believes that if implemented effectively, the 24-Hour Economy could become a powerful tool for job creation, particularly among young people, through expanded employment opportunities in sectors such as health, transport, tourism, agro-processing, and manufacturing.

Ghana’s economic structure has long been characterized by a number of entrenched challenges, including heavy reliance on imports, a limited manufacturing base, low export diversification, and a predominantly informal sector with low productivity and limited tax contributions.

Prof. Asuming noted that aligning the 24-Hour Economy with strategic efforts to stimulate domestic production, build export capacity, and raise overall productivity could yield far-reaching benefits beyond job creation.

However, he also sounded a note of caution. While he acknowledged signs of structural ambition within the emerging policy narrative, he warned that without a comprehensive and coherent framework, the initiative risks being misunderstood or reduced to political rhetoric.

“What’s missing,” he said, “is a comprehensive and coherent policy document that outlines how the various sectors, incentives, and infrastructure investments will interact to achieve systemic change.”

The economist concluded that in the absence of such a roadmap, the initiative may fall short of its transformative potential and instead be perceived as another policy slogan. The government is expected to officially launch the 24-Hour Economy initiative, today.