‘What happened to 24-hour economy?’ – Kwesi Pratt questions government

Veteran journalist Kwesi Pratt Jnr has questioned the John Dramani Mahama-led government’s commitment to its flagship 24-Hour Economy Programme following the introduction of the New Economy agenda by the Minister of Finance, Dr Cassiel Ato Forson.

Speaking on Metro TV’s Good Morning Ghana on November 11, 2026, Pratt said the government needed to explain what the new economic agenda meant and whether it represented a departure from the promises the National Democratic Congress (NDC) made ahead of the 2024 general elections.

He said Ghanaians voted the NDC into power based on specific promises and expected the government to demonstrate how it intended to fulfil them.

Pratt expressed concern that the introduction of a new economic direction could suggest that the government was moving away from the commitments on which it secured its mandate.

"What he (Ato Forson) is bringing tomorrow is something called the new economy. And I'm wondering, what is that? The new economy, what is that? Is that a departure from the promises which were made before the 2024 elections?" he asked.

He argued that if the government had realised that some of its campaign promises were no longer achievable, it owed Ghanaians an explanation rather than introducing a new agenda without adequately clarifying its implications.

"If at any point the government realises that those promises cannot be fulfilled, government needs to come back to us and say, 'Look, you gave us a mandate to do this.'" We've been in office, we've seen that the promises we made were not realistic. We are abandoning it and going for something called the new economy," he stated.

The media practitioner also questioned who had taken the decision to introduce the new economic agenda, asking whether it was a change in the NDC's programme or simply a new slogan for the government's economic plans.

New Economy will transform Ghana’s economic structure - Dr Ato Forson

He suggested that the term could be another catchy political expression commonly introduced ahead of budget presentations, but insisted that Ghanaians deserved clarity if it represented a fundamental change in policy direction.

Pratt said that after two years in office, the government should be using its budget presentation to account for the progress made towards implementing the policy and outline what remained to be done.

"We want the mandate to establish the 24-hour economy. That was supposed to be the main vehicle for generating employment. We've been in power for two years. These are the things that we have done to make sure that the 24-hour economy promise, which was a game-changer, is on course," he said.

Pratt maintained that the government's economic direction must be measured against the commitments made to voters, stressing that any significant change to those commitments required an explanation.

The New Economy Programme is a framework designed to transition the country from post-IMF economic stability to private-sector-led job creation and industrial growth.

It will focus on nine employment-generating priority areas, including agriculture/agribusiness, textiles, pharmaceuticals, manufacturing, tourism, logistics and trade facilitation.

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