What is a 24-hour economy? - Explainer on Mahama’s 'game-changing' policy proposal

The newest economy politico-economic ‘jargon’ that has been making news headlines in Ghana’s media landscape over the past few days is ‘24-hour economy’.

This phrase is being used by almost every politician, economist and technocrat after the presidential candidate of the National Democratic Congress (NDC), former President John Dramani Mahama listed it as one of the policy measures, he would be implementing should he be voted into office again.

Mahama’s ‘24-hour economy’ proposal, which was being touted by many experts, including the general secretary of Ghana’s Trade Union Congress (TUC), Anthony Yaw Baah, as a ‘game changer’, is aimed at helping solve Ghana’s unemployment challenge.

Some Ghanaians, mostly from the ruling New Patriotic Party (NPP), including the presidential candidate of the party, Vice President Dr Mahamudu Bawumia, however, are not so enthused about the former president’s proposal.

They argue that the policy is not novel because it is already being implemented in some sectors of Ghana’s economy and accuse Mahama of not understanding his own policy proposal.

But what extract is a 24-hour economy? Would it help solve Ghana’s unemployment challenge? Is it feasible in Ghana? This article aims to help readers of GhanaWeb gain some insight into the policy.

What a 24-hour economy is

The 24-hour economy is simply an economic strategy that involves putting measures in place to ensure that businesses across various sectors in an economy operate both at night and in the day. In order words, there would be a night economy and a day economy.

The strategy is aimed at ensuring that the economy is as vibrant in the day as well as in the night so as to create more employment opportunities.

So essentially, businesses are to put measures in place to ensure that they are in operation every hour of the day. These measures include employing more staff and running a shift system.

The benefit of a 24-hour economy has been touted in countries like the UK and the US where it is practised.

In the UK for instance, the night-time economy in London is said to add between £17.7 billion to £26.3 billion to the UK economy. An estimated 723,000 direct jobs and 1.26 million indirect jobs have been created by the night economy in London, according to rereoygroup.com.

In the United States of America, an estimated two out of every five employees are under the 24-hour economy system, working mostly during evenings, nights, weekends, or on rotating shifts outside the traditional 9-to-5 workday. In Sydney, Australia, the night economy added $27.2 billion to the economy and created 234,000 jobs in 2017.

Despite the employment benefit, the 24-hour economy is also fraught with some challenges including its effects on the health and family time of workers who have to work long hours.

Mahama’s proposal:

Former President John Dramani Mahama said that the next NDC government would put measures in place to encourage businesses in Ghana to operate for 24 hours.

He explained that the policy measure would include giving businesses incentives to operate both night and day; possibly in three shifts which means more jobs for the teeming youth of Ghana.

He added that paramount to the implementation of the 24-hour economy strategy is a police service that can ensure the protection of business during the night economy.

“A new NDC administration will work urgently to equip our youth with the entrepreneurial knowledge and skills needed for a sustainable future. We will introduce a 24-hour economy with incentives and tax breaks for manufacturers who will run extra shifts to create more room for employment,” he said.

To conclude, it is evident and quite logical that a 24-hour economy would lead to the creation of more jobs.

The question Ghanaians should be asking is the feasibility of the implementation of the police.

Whether the behaviour of Ghanaians would ensure that the policy works? Whether the Ghana Police Service would be up to the task of ensuring that businesses are protected.

BAI/NOQ

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