Augustus Obuadum Tanoh, Presidential Advisor for the 24-Hour Economy Secretaria
Augustus Obuadum Tanoh, Presidential Advisor for the 24-Hour Economy Secretariat, has given the assurance that the 24-Hour Economy Policy document will be presented to Parliament after its unveiling on July 2, for comprehensive debate by Members of Parliament.
He believes this will enable legislators from both sides of the aisle to make inputs into the policy to ensure its holistic and seamless implementation.
“We need to debate the content of the programme to justify the creation of an Authority. So, it is inevitable that it is going to happen,” Tanoh stated.
This follows a proposal made recently by the Speaker of Parliament, Alban Bagbin, that the 24-Hour Economy Policy document be debated on the floor of Parliament to gain the buy-in of parliamentarians and ensure national ownership of the policy, regardless of political affiliations.
Mr. Tanoh made this known during a media encounter in Accra on June 30, held to solicit media support in disseminating information about the policy to citizens.
President John Dramani Mahama is expected to officially launch the 24-Hour Economy Policy document on Wednesday, July 2, 2025.
It is envisaged that the flagship programme will create not fewer than 1.7 million jobs over the next four years to drive industrial transformation.
Tanoh also stated that the 24-Hour Economy Secretariat would be converted into an Authority to enhance its operational scope, which would require parliamentary approval.
“There has been approval to convert the current 24-Hour Secretariat into an Authority. And of course, it will need to be passed by a parliamentary majority,” he added.
During his interaction with the media, Mr. Tanoh said the government aims to mobilise four billion US dollars over the next four years from development finance partners and institutions globally to ensure the full-scale implementation of the programme.
The programme, he said, is designed to transform the economy and stimulate private sector participation to create jobs and ensure prosperity for all Ghanaians.
He noted that the government would provide an initial seed capital of $300 million to support businesses and individuals who sign up for the programme to ramp up production.
The programme is anchored on three key pillars:
Production Transformation
Supply Chain and Market Efficiency
Human Capital Development
These pillars are supported by eight sub-programmes, including:
Grow 24
Make 24
Connect 24
Show Ghana
Go Ghana
Digital Technology
Aspire 24
Tanoh indicated that the government drew lessons from previous national development initiatives, including Osagyefo Dr. Kwame Nkrumah’s Seven-Year Development Plan, the Savannah Accelerated Development Authority (SADA), and the National Development Planning Commission’s 40-Year Development Plan.
Abdul-Nasser Suglo Alidu, Head of Strategy and Programmes at the 24-Hour Economy Secretariat, provided a presentation on the policy, highlighting the various sub-programmes. He noted that the initiative is designed to transform production, with agriculture as its main anchor, to ensure food sufficiency.
He explained that the programme also aims to develop the country’s value chain, achieve greater productivity, and expand industrial output to promote an export-driven economy.
For example:
The Make 24 component is meant to boost the manufacturing of goods and services.
Aspire 24 seeks to change the mindset of Ghanaian workers and reduce bureaucratic bottlenecks in the public sector, thereby improving citizen attitudes toward productivity.
Show Ghana aims to showcase the country’s rich and diverse cultural identity and engage with the diaspora to promote tourism.
Go Ghana is intended to mobilise citizens toward building a prosperous nation.
The Made-in-Ghana initiative encourages the local manufacturing of goods and urges Ghanaians to patronise domestically produced items.
Mr. Abdul-Nasser also mentioned that the programme would roll out the Volta Economic Corridor, which will feature industrial parks, agro-ecological parks, and lake transportation on the Volta Lake to boost socio-economic development in the area.
He emphasised that the programme has a national character and is designed to leverage Ghana’s human resource capacity and ingenuity to accelerate socio-economic transformation and create jobs.
Citing countries such as Singapore, Malaysia, China, and Denmark, which have implemented similar initiatives in the past, Mr. Abdul-Nasser expressed confidence that Ghana could soon become a model of industrial transformation in West Africa and the African continent at large.