How Ghana can build an economy that produces more with her abundant resources

In September 2026, reporter Jake traveled from Nkroful to Kumasi, passing through several mining towns. He compared his six-hour journey with a three-hour trip from Abidjan to Yamoussoukro. The World Bank revealed that Ghana grew by 6% in 2025, but only 13% of workers held formal wage or high-skilled jobs in 2023, a drop from 15% in 2012.

Better infrastructure, such as roads and electricity networks, can turn growth into productive jobs. Public ownership of assets, like electricity grids, benefits households and businesses, leading to wider access, fewer outages, and reliable service at sustainable costs. Government should define what citizens should gain from public ownership, fund obligations openly, and provide Parliament and citizens with necessary information.

The 2026 Budget proposed a 1,200-megawatt thermal plant, and the government should compare its cost and reliability with other options before committing funds. Governance matters, so the CRC proposed amending Chapter 14 to give SIGA constitutional status and make it accountable to Parliament. However, the government rejected constitutional status for SIGA, favoring legislation to update appointment procedures and governance standards.

SIGA should independently assess the enterprises' performance and publish enterprise-by-enterprise records of missed deadlines and corrective actions. Parliament should call boards to explain repeated failures. Additionally, government should prioritize repairing highway works, set heavy-vehicle tolls based on axle class and corridor use, and introduce electronic tolling.