Afrobarometer has named Ghana’s biggest problem and it is not corruption or unemployment

Infrastructure and roads are the most frequently cited problem that Ghanaians want government to address, a new Afrobarometer survey indicates. For the first time since 2002, infrastructure/roads top the list of citizens’ priorities, beating out unemployment.

Citizens’ ranking of their most important problems is fairly consistent regardless of respondents’ region, age, or urban-rural location, but the groups’ relative emphasis on these problems varies.

Concerns about infrastructure and roads are highest in three of the newly created regions – Bono East, Oti, and North East – and lowest in Greater Accra and Upper East.

Older and rural residents place a higher premium on infrastructure and roads, while youth and urbanites prioritize unemployment. The survey also shows that only a few Ghanaians say government has done “a lot” or “somewhat” in addressing their most important problems since it assumed office in January 2017.

Government’s 2020 budget has earmarked GH¢9.3 billion for infrastructure projects. These survey findings are expected to inform Parliament’s current debate on the budget statement, and provide a basis for Parliament and citizens to monitor government’s disbursement of the funds allocated for infrastructure projects to ensure that citizens’ aspirations are met.