Ghana’s economic debate is being shaped by flawed assumptions, and until those are corrected, policy responses will continue to miss the mark. That was the central message from Joe Jackson, CEO of Dalex Finance, when the Chartered Institute of Marketing Ghana (CIMG) resumed at a high-level public lecture hosted by the.
Speaking on the theme “Ananse Stories about Ghana’s Economy,” Jackson argued that many widely accepted explanations about the country’s economic challenges are “clever, memorable, but not entirely true,” drawing parallels between folklore and modern economic thinking.
At the heart of his presentation was a blunt assertion: Ghana’s problem is not only about policy choices, but how the economy itself is interpreted.
Debunking the currency myth
Jackson took aim at one of the most entrenched narratives, which is that the cedi’s persistent weakness is driven primarily by high imports and weak exports.
Citing trade data, he noted that Ghana has consistently recorded positive trade balances, raising a fundamental question about the conventional explanation.
“Why is the cedi under pressure when trade balance is persistently positive?” he asked.
According to him, the real issue lies in structural leakages that drain value from the economy. These include profit repatriation by foreign firms, rising debt servicing obligations, service imports, and limited domestic participation in key sectors.
“The cedi problem is less about import appetite and more about weak domestic retention of export value,” he said.
Rethinking SMEs as growth drivers
Jackson also challenged the long-standing policy focus on small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) as the primary engine of growth.
While acknowledging their role in employment and economic activity, he argued that the current approach has failed to deliver meaningful transformation.
“If launching SME programs created growth, Ghana should be an economic superpower by now,” he said.
He pointed out that most SMEs in Ghana are survival-driven rather than growth-oriented, with low productivity levels and fragmented access to capital.
Drawing comparisons with economies such as South Korea and Singapore, Jackson stressed that sustained growth is typically driven by a relatively small number of highly productive firms, rather than a broad base of small enterprises.
A deeper structural question: ownership of the economy
Beyond macroeconomic indicators, Jackson framed Ghana’s core challenge as one of ownership and control within the economy.
He warned that without building strong domestic companies capable of scaling and retaining value, Ghana risks remaining dependent on external actors.
“Until Ghana builds companies that own, control, and scale value, we will remain tenants in our own economy,” he said.
He called for a strategic shift toward building national champions, increasing local participation in extractive industries, mobilising domestic capital, and moving up value chains.
Implications for policy and business
Jackson cautioned that misdiagnosing economic challenges has far-reaching consequences, including ineffective policy interventions, persistent currency instability, limited job creation, and what he described as an “illusion of progress.”
His message to policymakers and business leaders was direct: recalibrating the narrative is essential to achieving meaningful economic transformation.
“We are solving the wrong problem,” he said.
The lecture, hosted by CIMG, brought together policymakers, business leaders, marketers and finance professionals, many of whom described the session as a necessary challenge to conventional economic thinking.
The event concluded with an interactive discussion, as participants engaged with the implications of Jackson’s analysis for Ghana’s economic strategy and long-term growth trajectory.
