24-Hour Economy must deliver jobs
The nation’s economic narrative is shifting, and the numbers coming out of London in the United Kingdom (UK) this week give flesh to that story.
Presidential Adviser on the 24-Hour Economy and Accelerated Export Development, Augustus Goosie Tanoh, told the Ghana Diaspora Townhall Meeting with President John Dramani Mahama that the flagship 24-Hour Economy and Accelerated Export Development Programme is projected to generate 1.7 million productive jobs by 2028.
More importantly, he said four major agreements signed in the last 90 days was already accounting for over 160,000 of those jobs. If the projections hold and implementation is disciplined, the nation could be looking at the most ambitious jobs-and-exports drive in a generation.
The details matter.
The Buipe Solar Farm in the Savannah Region, a $1.45 billion facility, is expected to deliver 13,000 jobs, and crucially, the lowest industrial electricity tariff Ghana has ever seen.
Cheap, reliable power has been the missing link in our industrialisation story for decades.
If Buipe delivers, factories can run three shifts without choking on power costs.
That is the hard infrastructure the “24-Hour Economy” slogan needs to become a real productivity strategy.
The Kambonwule oil palm anchor project, valued at $300 million, brings 120,000 jobs and directly targets Ghana’s vegetable oil import deficit.
We spend hundreds of millions of dollars annually importing oil that we can grow and process here.
An anchor project of that scale, properly linked to smallholder outgrowers, can raise farmer incomes, reduce import pressure on the cedi, and build a value chain from farm to refinery to shelf.
The multiplier effect will be felt in packaging, transport and retail. The Bioenergy/Biofuels Programme at Buipe and Damanko is projected to deliver 30,000 jobs and save $450 million annually in foreign exchange.
At a time when fuel imports remain a major drain on reserves, substituting with domestically produced biofuels is both an energy security and a balance-of-payments win.
The Tamale Air Cargo Hub, demarcated for two operators to commence operations in 2027, completes the export logistics puzzle.
Perishable goods from the North and Middle Belt—mangoes, shea, tomatoes, poultry—can reach European and Middle Eastern markets faster, with less post-harvest loss.
Mr. Tanoh was careful to note that these figures would cover direct jobs only. Indirect and induced jobs, with a multiplier of one to four, are not yet counted.
That is realistic.
Without a stronger industrial base, we remain vulnerable to external shocks and import dependency.
It is about deliberately shifting the structure of the economy toward production, agro-processing and manufacturing.
These are the arteries and organs of an industrial economy—transport to move goods cheaply, corridors to organise farming, parks to cluster factories, and poultry to substitute imports and feed a growing population.
The key phrase is “in motion now.”
Ghanaians have heard many launches before.
What we need now are cranes, concrete and commissioning dates.
Two additional points deserve emphasis.
First, the diaspora.
Ghanaian remittances hit a record $7.8 billion in 2025, up from about $4 billion six years ago, with the UK as the second-largest source after the US.
The diaspora brings capital, skills and networks.
If the 24-Hour Economy can offer bankable projects, transparent incentives and reliable infrastructure, those remittances can move beyond consumption support to productive investment in factories, logistics and farms.
Second, implementation discipline.
A 1.7 million jobs target by 2028 is ambitious.
It will require coordination across ministries, local government, traditional authorities and the private sector.
Land acquisition, environmental permits, grid connection and skilled labour must be resolved quickly.
The Daily Graphic welcomes the direction.
The 24-Hour Economy, if executed, would address the country’s twin challenges: jobs for a youthful population and exports to earn foreign exchange.
But Ghanaians will judge it not by press releases but by salaries.
We are being told that by 2027, when the Tamale Cargo Hub operators start, we should see Northern farmers exporting directly.
By 2028, Buipe’s tariff advantage should be reflected in lower factory gate prices and new shifts at industrial areas.
President Mahama’s government has made the case for stability and investment.
The adviser has now put numbers and projects on the table.
The next phase is execution. Parliament must provide oversight.
Civil society must track progress.
Communities hosting these projects must be engaged so they see ownership, not displacement.
Ghana is ready for 24-hour production.
The agreements are signed.
The diaspora is listening.
The macroeconomy is stabilising.
Now let the work begin. If we convert these pledges into factories, farms and flights, 1.7 million jobs will not just be a projection.
They will be earnings for a Ghanaian.
