- Ghana Targets 1.7 Million Jobs Under 24-Hour Economy Programme
Ghana’s flagship 24-Hour Economy and Accelerated Export Development Programme is projected to create 1.7 million productive jobs by 2028, according to Presidential Adviser on the initiative, Augustus Goosie Tanoh.
Speaking at the Ghana Diaspora Townhall Meeting with President John Dramani Mahama at the Ghana High Commission in London, Mr Tanoh said four major agreements signed within the past 90 days already account for more than 160,000 jobs.
The projects, he said, show that the programme is moving from campaign promise to investment-backed implementation, with private capital already committed to key sectors.
Among the projects outlined is the Buipe Solar Farm in the Savannah Region, a US$1.45 billion facility expected to create 13,000 jobs and deliver what Mr Tanoh described as the lowest industrial electricity tariff Ghana has ever seen.
He also cited the Kambonwule Oil Palm Anchor Project, valued at US$300 million, which is expected to generate 120,000 jobs and help close Ghana’s vegetable oil import deficit.
The Bioenergy and Biofuels Programme at Buipe and Damanko is projected to create 30,000 jobs and save Ghana US$450 million annually in foreign exchange.
Mr Tanoh also disclosed that the Tamale Air Cargo Hub has been demarcated for two operators, with operations expected to begin in 2027.
He noted that the employment estimates do not include indirect and induced jobs, which typically carry a multiplier of between one and four.
The programme is being positioned as the second pillar of Ghana’s economic recovery strategy under President Mahama, with a focus on industrial production, exports, agro-processing, logistics, energy and value addition.
Mr Tanoh said Ghana’s recent growth performance had been encouraging, but warned that the structure of growth remains unbalanced.
He noted that inflation had fallen to 3.4 percent, its lowest level in more than four years, after 15 consecutive months of decline. The Bank of Ghana policy rate had also been reduced from 28 percent to 14 percent, while international reserves stood at US$14.5 billion, close to six months of import cover.
Public debt, he said, had declined from a peak of 92.4 percent of GDP to about 48 percent, while the economy grew by 6 percent in 2025.
But the adviser cautioned that much of that growth came from services, which contributed nearly 60 percent, while industry contributed only about 12 percent and grew by just 2.3 percent.
“That gap is what our second pillar exists to close,” Mr Tanoh said. “And that is the work of the 24-Hour Economy and Accelerated Export Development Programme.”
The comments underline one of the central arguments behind the 24-Hour Economy policy: Ghana cannot build a durable recovery on services alone.
For government, the strategy is to expand productive capacity, extend operating hours in selected sectors, improve logistics, unlock export potential and attract investment into industries that can generate jobs at scale.
Mr Tanoh said beyond the projects already announced, the programme also includes the Volta Lake Transport System, the Singa Agroecological Corridor, the Asutuare Pharmaceutical and Garment Parks, and the National Poultry Programme.
“These are signed agreements with private capital committed, in motion now,” he stressed.
The appeal to the diaspora was also central to his message.
Mr Tanoh said Ghanaian remittances reached a record US$7.8 billion in 2025, up from about US$4 billion six years earlier. The United Kingdom is Ghana’s second-largest source of remittances after the United States.
For Ghana, the challenge is how to convert part of that diaspora flow from household consumption into long-term productive investment.
If properly structured, diaspora capital could support agro-processing, industrial parks, export logistics, renewable energy, food production and small business financing under the 24-Hour Economy framework.
But the success of the programme will depend on execution.
Ghana has announced many industrial transformation plans in the past, but delivery has often been constrained by financing gaps, weak coordination, land issues, policy inconsistency and limited infrastructure.
The 24-Hour Economy will therefore be judged not by the size of its projections, but by whether signed agreements translate into operational factories, farms, logistics hubs, energy projects and sustainable jobs.
For now, Mr Tanoh’s message is that the programme has moved beyond rhetoric.
“Your country is ready for you,” he told the diaspora.
The larger question is whether Ghana can convert that readiness into implementation discipline and whether 1.7 million promised jobs can become real income for households before 2028.
