Ghana’s improving economic indicators may be creating a false sense of progress as widening inequality continues to weaken the real impact of growth on businesses and households, Ms Cindy Nortey, a Development Economist, has warned.
Ms Nortey, an Economic and Policy Research Fellow at the Policy Initiative for Economic Development (PIED Africa), said although the country had made significant gains in stabilising the economy, structural challenges and inequality were still limiting the benefits of growth, especially for small businesses and low-income households.
In an economic review paper, she commended the government for recent macroeconomic improvements but cautioned that the recovery remained fragile due to global economic uncertainty and domestic fiscal constraints.
She explained that between 2022 and 2024, Ghana experienced severe inflationary pressures, with inflation peaking at 54.1 percent before dropping to 36 percent in 2023.
The high inflation, she said, significantly increased the cost of doing business, pushed up household living costs and forced many small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) to cut jobs or shut down operations.
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According to her, SMEs, which contribute about 70 percent of Gross Domestic Product (GDP) and employ up to 85 percent of the workforce, were among the hardest hit by the economic crisis.
She added that women-owned businesses, which make up about 44 percent of micro, small and medium enterprises, were disproportionately affected due to limited access to credit and collateral.
She noted that although macroeconomic indicators had improved since 2025, the benefits were yet to reach a large section of the population.
She cited data showing that Ghana’s economic growth rose to about six per cent in 2025 from 5.8 percent in 2024, while inflation declined sharply to 3.3 percent in February 2026 from 23.1 percent a year earlier.
Ms Nortey also pointed to improvements in the exchange rate and monetary policy conditions, including the cedi trading at about GH¢10.68 to the dollar and a reduction in the Monetary Policy Rate to 15.5 percent, as signs that the economy was stabilising.
Despite these gains, she questioned whether the improved figures reflected the real economic conditions facing ordinary Ghanaians, especially in areas such as employment, access to healthcare and income growth.
She said inequality remained a major concern, noting that while the Free Senior High School policy had expanded access to education, access to healthcare was still limited for many low-income households.
She added that unemployment continued to persist despite improvements in some economic indicators, largely due to a fast-growing labour force, weak manufacturing performance and declining attractiveness of agriculture to young people.
Ms Nortey further warned that limited access to finance was still constraining SMEs, as many financial institutions continued to prioritise short-term lending while demanding high collateral, making it difficult for small businesses, particularly women-led enterprises, to expand and create jobs.
She stressed that growing inequality could undermine Ghana’s long-term economic stability if not addressed, explaining that disparities in income and opportunity directly affected access to quality education, healthcare and employment.
With only a few years left to achieve the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), she urged policymakers to ensure that the country’s economic recovery translated into tangible improvements in the lives of citizens.
Ms Nortey said although the recent macroeconomic gains were encouraging, the real test of the recovery would be whether the improvements translated into stronger businesses, higher household incomes and better living standards across the country.
