ACCRA— Ranking Member on Parliament’s Trade, Industry, and Tourism Committee, Michael Okyere Baafi, has delivered a scathing critique of the government’s flagship 24-Hour Economy policy, labeling it a theoretical exercise that fails to address the operational realities of Ghana’s struggling manufacturing sector.
Speaking on the health of the local economy, the New Juaben South MP argued that the policy remains confined to policy documents and political rhetoric, while frontline manufacturers continue to battle high production costs, crippling energy tariffs, and sluggish demand.
Policy Disconnect vs. Operational Realities
Afenyo-Markin’s colleague on the Minority frontbench insisted that introducing extra work shifts cannot succeed in a vacuum without fixing the structural bottlenecks crippling local industries.
“You cannot run a 24-hour manufacturing operation when electricity tariffs remain prohibitively high and access to affordable credit is virtually non-existent,” Okyere Baafi stated. “What was sold to Ghanaians as an immediate economic driver has turned out to be a policy that exists only on paper.”
The lawmaker pointed out a sharp divergence between the campaign promises surrounding the initiative and the implementation blueprint presented to Parliament. He noted that while voters were led to expect an immediate rollout of a three-shift working system to absorb unemployed youth, the actual policy framework relies heavily on long-term infrastructure projects—such as proposed industrial parks along the Volta basin—that offer no immediate relief to existing factories.
Structural Bottlenecks Choking Local Manufacturers
Outlining the key challenges facing the sector, Okyere Baafi cited high utility rates, unreliable transportation networks, and fierce competition from cheap imports as the primary threats to factory survival.
He warned that without targeted energy subsidies, aggressive enforcement of local consumption policies, and cheaper capital for Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (SMEs), pushing companies into round-the-clock operations will only accelerate their collapse.
