Although Ghana’s macroeconomic indicators may be improving and restoring confidence in the economy, they mean little if they do not translate into jobs and better livelihoods for ordinary citizens.
This is the view of Professor of Finance at Andrews University in the United States, Prof. Williams Kwasi Peprah.
The Finance Professor, in reaction to the 2026 Mid-Year Review presented by Finance Minister Dr. Cassiel Ato Forson, observed that the presentation placed significant emphasis on economic stability but fell short of demonstrating how those gains have improved the lives of Ghanaians through employment and other benefits.
Prof. Peprah acknowledged the importance of the country’s recent macroeconomic achievements but argued that the review missed a critical opportunity to show whether the government’s policies are delivering tangible benefits beyond the headline figures.
To him, that was his dissatisfaction with the review; although the government outlined future spending plans and projected jobs expected to emerge from upcoming projects. The concrete jobs and benefits already created by the stability, he says, was very crucial.
“I am not fully satisfied. What I see him trying to do and listening to him, he talks more about stability because of where we are coming from. I am not too much satisfied because the media review did not point to us to the job creation aspect. We were hoping to get some real numbers in terms of outcomes based on government projects to tell us what has that been translated into in terms of job creation. He did not tell us,” he remarked in an interview monitored by The High Street Journal
Stability Must Be Measured by Jobs, Not Just Numbers
Prof. Peprah noted that Ghana’s economic recovery should ultimately be assessed by how it affects the daily lives of citizens, particularly young people searching for work.
Although the minister extensively highlighted the country’s return to macroeconomic stability, the review did not sufficiently address the job creation question.
He stressed that economic stability is only meaningful when it translates into opportunities for people. “In economics, once you achieve stability, we must ask ourselves who is benefiting. The people who must benefit are those who are working, you and I,” he said.
The finance professor observed that unemployment, especially among the youth, remains one of Ghana’s biggest development and national security concerns. He argued that the absence of measurable employment outcomes in the mid-year review raises questions about whether the recovery is reaching households and businesses.
Rather than presenting only future employment projections, he believes the government should have accounted for the actual jobs generated through programmes and public investments implemented over the past six months.
Show the Employment Impact of Government Spending
Prof. Peprah further argued that fiscal stability should be deliberately linked to productivity and employment generation. He cited ongoing road construction and other public infrastructure projects as examples where government could have demonstrated the direct employment impact of its expenditure.
According to him, instead of merely announcing projects, the review should have stated how many jobs those investments have already created and how they are improving incomes across communities.
“All the jobs being projected, projects being mentioned, the road construction, you could have been able to tell us these roads are being done and it’s creating this number of jobs. But we are not hearing that,” he noted.
For the finance professor, the next phase of Ghana’s recovery should move beyond celebrating stability and focus on proving that the gains are creating sustainable employment, raising productivity and improving living standards.
