President John Dramani Mahama has formally launched Ghana’s 24-Hour Economy and Accelerated Export Development Programme, declaring it a “bold strategic shift” intended to overhaul the country’s production and export model, and reposition the private sector at the centre of national economic growth.
Rebranded as the “24H Plus Agenda,” the programme forms the cornerstone of the government’s long-term industrial policy and aims to transform Ghana from a raw commodity exporter into a value-adding, job-creating economy. The strategy prioritises productivity expansion across multiple sectors through coordinated public-private investment, regulatory reform and infrastructure development.
“This is more than a policy initiative, it is a national reset,” Mahama said at the launch. “A bold strategic shift to unlock our country’s full productive potential. Today we reclaim our founders’ vision of a self-reliant, industrious and inclusive African nation that works with organized creativity and ensures prosperity for all.”
The programme includes a portfolio of sector-specific initiatives:
- Grow24 to boost agricultural output and food security
- Make24 to scale up manufacturing and agro-processing
- Build24 to accelerate construction and public infrastructure
- Show24 to develop tourism and creative industries
- Connect24 to improve logistics, energy and digital systems
- Fund24 to unlock credit and financing for enterprises
- Aspire24 to enhance workforce skills and digital capabilities
- and Go24, a civic mobilisation effort across public institutions
The government has identified export expansion and industrial competitiveness as the central focus of the agenda.
“The 24H Plus Agenda is not simply about extending working hours,” Mahama said. “It is about unleashing productivity, expanding opportunity, accelerating exports through well-structured, multisectoral and inclusive interventions.”
A key component of the programme is the Volta Economic Corridor, a national anchor project centred around Volta Lake. It is expected to drive growth through irrigation of over 2 million hectares of farmland, the creation of agro-industrial zones for textiles and pharmaceuticals, and a logistics corridor linking the north to the south. “We are recreating Kwame Nkrumah’s dream,” Mahama said. “We will turn the lake into a central transport corridor that connects the north to the south and the east to the west.”
The programme follows six months of national consultations led by the President’s advisory team. Stakeholders from industry, labour, agriculture, diaspora investors and traditional institutions contributed to the design of the rollout plan. Government ministries and agencies have also aligned institutional frameworks to support policy implementation.
“The private sector will lead the 24-hour plus program. Government will facilitate and not dominate,” Mahama said. Financing will combine public infrastructure investment with blended finance, development finance institutions and commercial lending. The 24H Plus Secretariat is expected to evolve into an autonomous authority reporting directly to the presidency, designed to outlast changes in government.
“This policy is made for Ghana in the future,” the president said. “It will report to the next President and the next President and the next President.”
Mahama positioned the policy as a long-term framework for inclusive growth, job creation and economic diversification. “The 24-hour plus program will be the catalyst for Ghana’s economic growth. And we are sure that it will make Ghana prosper,” he said.
The government has yet to announce the full fiscal envelope for the initiative, but Mahama indicated that state funding would serve only as catalytic capital, with the bulk of enterprise financing sourced from private capital markets.
The policy is launching amid mounting pressure on Ghana’s economy, which is currently under an IMF-backed recovery programme. Mahama acknowledged the challenges ahead. “We are under no illusions. The path is going to be challenging. But we will succeed. And we will succeed with discipline, coordination and shared purpose.”
The launch concluded with the unveiling of the official 24H Plus logo, what the president called “a bold visual expression of our ambition to build a resilient, self-reliant and productive Ghana.”
