Accra, Ghana – President of the Republic of Ghana, H.E. John Dramani Mahama, has announced that the government is ready to implement its flagship 24-Hour Economy Policy, with plans to transform the Volta Lake into a key transport corridor and decentralize the policy’s implementation nationwide.
Speaking at a multi-sectoral stakeholder engagement at the Jubilee House, President Mahama disclosed that he has reviewed and approved the final draft of the policy, describing it as a comprehensive framework poised to deliver impactful results.
“The 24-Hour Economy is not just a vision; it is a structured and actionable plan designed to create jobs and drive inclusive economic growth,” the President stated.
He explained that the policy identifies priority value chains across all regions, focusing on sectors such as agro-processing, pharmaceuticals, textiles, light manufacturing, tourism, digital services, and the creative economy.
Each sector, he noted, faces unique challenges, and the policy outlines targeted solutions to address them.
To support infrastructure needs, the Ghana Infrastructure Investment Fund (GIIF) will lead the development of industrial parks, logistics hubs, and upgrades to transport networks, including the revitalization of Volta Lake transport for cargo and passenger use.
On the financing front, the Development Bank of Ghana and the Venture Capital Trust Fund will provide tailored financial support to SMEs, cooperatives, and agribusinesses operating within these key value chains.
President Mahama emphasized that this ambitious policy is rooted in regional equity and practical outcomes.
“Every region has a role to play. The 24-Hour Economy will function as a national engine for productivity, resilience, and opportunity,” he said.
Read the Full speech by President John Mahama below:
I know you are all busy accomplished leaders in your respective sectors and your time is very valuable. I therefore sincerely thank you for honoring this invitation and I promise to be brief and focused in my remarks.
This meeting is a crucial part of our national reset. It concerns the rollout of the 24-hour economy policy, specifically the 24H Plus program and the Accelerated Export Development Framework, which many of you have already adopted and supported in many ways.
Let me begin by offering a clear lens to understand the 24-hour vision. It is both a destination and a program. As a destination, the 24-hour economy policy reflects a state where Ghana’s productivity and capital utilization will become so high that we will have to operate in multiple shifts across day and night, maximizing the return on infrastructure, on human resources and innovation.
This idea captured the public imagination during the 2024 campaign and remains at the core of our drive towards full employment and inclusive economic growth. As a program, the 24-hour economy demands a deep and deliberate restructuring of our productive economy.
We must re-engineer our production systems from top to bottom, boosting volumes and diversity and shifting from reliance on raw materials towards the export of value-added products, wholesome foods, pharmaceuticals, garments, industrial inputs and digital services.
Earlier this month, I received the complete draft of the 24-hour economic policy from my advisor, Mr. Goosie Tanoh. I have reviewed it and I’m confident we now have a coherent and actionable framework with which to deliver the results.
An effective catalyst for the 24-hour economy policy is a stable macroeconomic environment which we are achieving through close coordination between the monetary and fiscal authorities.
But the program goes beyond macroeconomic stability, which already, like I said, is being pursued by the Ministry of Finance and the Bank of Ghana, and focuses sharply on production, enterprise, jobs and exports. At its core, it’s an integrated value chain transformation approach.
This approach addresses structural bottlenecks not in isolation but comprehensively through infrastructure, finance, land systems, logistics and skills development. One of its boldest proposals is the development of the Volta Lake Economic Corridor.
This corridor, centered on the Volta Lake and the Volta Basin, will become a national production zone and logistics fund.
The plan envisions cultivating over 2 million hectares of arable lakeside land, revitalizing the fishery sector on the lake, and creating a chain of industrial parks that produce goods for domestic and regional markets.
To support this corridor, the lake will be activated as a transport highway, moving food, people and goods more efficiently than our congested roads allow us to do currently. New floating assets, lake ports and long-term investment partnerships will be developed in coordination with the Volta River Authority and the private sector.
We must move beyond just hydropower and unlock the broader economic potential of this beautiful national asset. But the Volta Lake Corridor is only part of the broader plan.
The 24-hour economy program identifies priority value chains across all regions, and these include agro-processing, pharmaceuticals, textiles, light manufacturing, tourism, digital services and the creative economy.
Each one has specific bottlenecks, and the program outlines targeted solutions. On infrastructure, the Ghana Infrastructure Investment Fund will lead efforts to develop industrial parks, logistics hubs and upgrade transport links.
On financing, the Development Bank of Ghana and the Venture Capital Trust Fund will scale up value chain finance for SMEs, cooperatives and agribusiness in priority sectors.
On land, we will develop local land banks, zone-titled and investment-ready to reduce any delays and uncertainty to investors.
On skills, the Aspire24 sub-program of the 24-hour economy policy will be launched to train young people for shift-based work, digital roles and entrepreneurship.
And on incentives, we’ll introduce tax reliefs on machinery and inputs, fast-track regulatory approvals and export facilitation.
The 24-hour economy program is not a top-down model. It is decentralized. Each district will establish its own 24-hour implementation task force, housed within the district and municipal assemblies, and aligned with our local economic development policy.
This decentralized approach will allow each region to define and lead its path of industrial transformation, based on its natural comparative advantages.
Ladies and gentlemen, this is no longer just a vision. It is a structured, sequenced and inclusive plan, and its implementation is beginning. I’ve authorized the 24-hour Secretariat to begin detailed program design and investment packaging.
The draft program document will be released publicly on Tuesday for broader consultation, and I will invite you to help us finalize it. We’ll officially launch the 24-hour PLUS program in July this year, most probably on Ghana’s Republic Day, which is a symbolic day for a bold new national agenda.
To guarantee institutional stability, I’m working with Parliament to establish the 24-hour Economy Secretariat as an independent authority, reporting directly to the President and backed by legislation.
This will ensure strong coordination, investor confidence and delivery continuity. Let me end by returning to where I started, that is gratitude.
To thank you for your input, for your partnership and your patience. And thank you for believing in Ghana’s ability to reset, retool and rise to the occasion.
The 24-hour economy policy is not just a policy, it is a national compact for shared growth, for decent jobs, for competitive exports, for thriving local economies and long-term prosperity.
We now have to move to the hard work of delivery together. Let us make Ghana a nation where opportunity never sleeps. I thank you and may God bless our homeland, Ghana.
Story by: Emmanuel Romeo Tetteh(#RomeoWrites
) / Ahotoronline.com | Ghana 
