59% of Ghanaians say Akufo-Addo leading Ghana in 'wrong direction' – Afrobarometer report

Fifty-nine per cent of Ghanaians say the Akufo-Addo government is taking Ghana in the wrong direction, according to Afrobarometre Survey of the Ghana Centre for Democratic Development (CDD).

The survey noted that citizens’ approval of the government’s economic performance has decline as Ghanaians’ approval ratings on indicators of the government’s economic performance have “declined sharply” compared to 2017.

The CDD said a “few citizens are content with the country’s economic situation and their personal living conditions, and a majority say the country is headed in the wrong direction”.

“Still, more than half are optimistic that things will get better in a year’s time”, the survey noted, adding: “Ghana has received positive reviews from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and World Bank and made important economic strides, including the successful completion of the IMF bailout programme and a clean-up of the financial sector. But so far, these successes appear not to have translated into concrete gains recognised by most citizens”.

Key findings

1. Only three in 10 Ghanaians (30%) describe the country’s economic conditions as “fairly good” or “very good,” a modest decline from 35% recorded in 2017.

2. Fewer than four in 10 (37%) say their personal living conditions are “fairly good” or “very good.”

3. And only 31% say the country’s economic condition has improved over the past 12 months. But more than half (54%) are optimistic that things will be “better” or “much better” in 12 months’ time.

4. Six in 10 Ghanaians (59%) say the country is “going in the wrong direction.”

The share of citizens who see the country as “going in the right direction” declined by 15 percentage points from 2017 to 35%.

5. Majorities of citizens say the government is performing “fairly badly” or “very badly” in narrowing income gaps (66%), improving the living standards of the poor (56%), and creating jobs (54%).

6. Approval ratings on indicators of the government’s economic performance have declined sharply compared to 2017, with approval on the management of the economy recording the steepest drop, by 20 percentage points.

Afrobarometre heads a pan-African, nonpartisan research network that conducts public attitude surveys on democracy, governance, economic conditions, and related issues across Africa. Seven rounds of surveys were completed in up to 38 countries between 1999 and 2018.

Round 8 surveys are planned in, at least, 35 countries in 2019/2020.

Afrobarometre conducts face-to-face interviews in the language of the respondent’s choice with nationally representative samples.