The World Bank has thrown its weight behind Ghana’s flagship 24-Hour Economy and Big Push Agenda, describing both as transformative policies capable of significantly reducing poverty and propelling the country toward upper-middle-income status, if backed by strong governance and decisive implementation.
Speaking at the launch of the World Bank’s 2025 Policy Notes themed “Transforming Ghana in a Generation”, Mr. Robert Taliercio O’Brien, the World Bank Country Director for Ghana, Liberia, and Sierra Leone, said the two policies present a “historic opportunity” to undertake ambitious reforms that would drive resilient economic growth, create jobs, and boost productivity across sectors.
“Our research shows that with ambitious reforms, Ghana could more than triple per capita income by 2050, moving decisively toward upper-middle-income status,” he said.
He emphasised, however, that achieving this transformation depends on robust institutions, transparent governance, and collective national effort.
“Transformation is a collective endeavour. It demands unwavering commitment from government, innovative spirit from the private sector, active participation from civil society, and the sustained partnership of the international community,” he added.
According to Mr. O’Brien, these initiatives could unlock new pathways for industrialisation, trade expansion, and urban development, while strengthening the link between infrastructure and employment generation.
Poverty Reduction Challenges
Presenting key insights from the report, Stefano Curto, the World Bank’s Lead Country Economist, observed that Ghana’s poverty reduction progress has stalled over the past decade, largely due to slow structural transformation and overreliance on natural resources.
He noted that while new jobs have been created, most remain concentrated in low-productivity sectors such as informal services, mining, and agriculture.
“Income per capita has stagnated at around US$2,200 for the past 10 years, and poverty now afflicts more than one-quarter of the population,” Mr. Curto said.
He added that the twin shocks of the COVID-19 pandemic and the Russia-Ukraine war have reversed many of the country’s earlier poverty reduction gains, pushing more households into economic vulnerability.
“The subsequent increase in food and fuel prices substantially affected household purchasing power, especially among the poor and even the middle class,” he explained.
Seizing a New Window of Opportunity
The World Bank economists believe that the next four years present a pivotal opportunity for Ghana to reset its development trajectory by linking economic recovery efforts to structural reforms.
Mr. Curto said the incoming administration is “uniquely positioned” to lay the foundation for broad-based, inclusive growth through strategic investment and reforms that target both productivity and equity.
The 24-Hour Economy, which promotes continuous operations in key sectors such as manufacturing, logistics, health, and services, is expected to enhance competitiveness and attract private capital into the formal economy.
Meanwhile, the Big Push Agenda aims to accelerate infrastructure development, close logistics gaps, and create thousands of skilled and unskilled jobs nationwide.
World Bank’s Call to Action
The World Bank urged Ghana’s policymakers to focus on governance reforms, institutional capacity building, and private sector partnerships to ensure that these flagship programmes deliver lasting benefits.
“If implemented with discipline and transparency, the 24-Hour Economy and the Big Push Agenda could be the twin engines that power Ghana’s next phase of growth and poverty reduction,” it said.
