“We Are Solving the Wrong Problem” – Joe Jackson Challenges Ghana’s Economic Thinking

The Chief Executive Officer of Dalex Finance, Joe Jackson, is calling for a major rethink of how Ghana understands its economic challenges, warning that the country may be focusing on the wrong issues.

Speaking at a public lecture organised by the Chartered Institute of Marketing Ghana (CIMG), Jackson argued that Ghana’s economic struggles are not primarily about imports or trade deficits, but about deeper structural weaknesses that continue to drain value from the economy.

“Ghana’s economic problem is not just policy. It is how we interpret the economy,” he said.

It’s Not About Imports, He Says

For years, public debate has largely blamed the cedi’s weakness on excessive imports. But Jackson disagrees.

Instead, he points to what he describes as “leakages” — the steady outflow of foreign exchange through profit repatriation, debt servicing, and payments for technical and management services.

“We don’t have a dollar problem. We have a retention of our export problem,” he stated.

According to him, Ghana earns significant foreign exchange from exports such as gold and oil, but retains less than half of that value.

That, he argues, is the real issue.

A Warning for Emerging Sectors

Jackson cautioned that new resource sectors like lithium and bauxite could follow the same pattern if deliberate changes are not made.

Without stronger local participation and control, he warned, increased exports may not translate into real economic transformation.

Rethinking SMEs and Growth

He also challenged the long-standing belief that small and medium-sized enterprises are the main drivers of economic growth.

While acknowledging their importance, Jackson argued that many SMEs in Ghana operate at subsistence levels and lack the scale to drive meaningful transformation.

“If launching SME programmes created growth, Ghana should be an economic superpower by now,” he said.

Instead, he is advocating a more focused strategy that supports a smaller number of high-performing firms with the potential to scale and compete globally.

“We Don’t Have a Single Global Champion”

A key part of Jackson’s argument is the absence of large, globally competitive Ghanaian companies.

“We don’t have a single global champion. Yet we host the champions of other countries,” he said.

He pointed to the dominance of foreign companies in sectors such as banking and extractives, arguing that this reflects Ghana’s failure to build strong local firms rather than any wrongdoing by foreign investors.

“Ownership is about control. Who takes the decisions and where that control resides,” he explained.

Politics and Business Don’t Mix Well

Jackson also raised concerns about the impact of political transitions on business continuity.

“We are eating our young in eight-year cycles,” he said, warning that promising local companies are often weakened or abandoned when governments change.

Policy Efforts ‘Not Enough’

While he acknowledged recent policy initiatives such as the proposed Gold Board, Jackson argued that they do not go far enough to address the real issues.

“Gold Board is good, but it doesn’t solve the key problem,” he said.

He stressed that enforcing existing local content laws and increasing domestic participation in key sectors would have a greater impact.

“It’s Not the Rice”

Jackson also pushed back against the focus on import substitution, particularly around food imports.

“It’s not the rice. It’s the billions we lose through repatriation and service contracts,” he said.

A Timely Warning

Despite recent improvements in the cedi’s performance, Jackson warned that the stability may not last.

“The problem is structural. As soon as discipline slips, we will be back where we started,” he cautioned.

His message to policymakers is simple but urgent: focus on the real problem.

“We are solving the wrong problem.”