Dennis Miracles Aboagye, aide to former Vice President Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia, has criticised President John Dramani Mahama’s newly launched 24-Hour Economy initiative, describing it as a recycled version of previous government policies, particularly the Ghana Beyond Aid agenda.
Speaking on Channel One TV’s Breakfast Daily on Wednesday, July 9, Aboagye argued that the new policy lacks originality and merely repackages ideas from earlier administrations without offering practical innovations to address Ghana’s current economic challenges.
“They’ve launched a document and called it a 24-Hour Economy, but it’s essentially a footnote of the Ghana Beyond Aid framework,” he said. “If you examine the documents published under President Akufo-Addo and even earlier under President Kufuor, you’ll see the same strategies reflected in this so-called new policy.”
President Mahama launched the 24-Hour Economy policy on July 2, positioning it as a transformative strategy aimed at enhancing productivity, job creation, export expansion, and national competitiveness through extended working hours across key sectors.
However, Aboagye rejected the notion that simply providing funding or incentives will drive businesses to operate around the clock. “Giving money to a business doesn’t mean it must or even can operate 24 hours. If there’s no demand or need, forcing them into that model could lead to collapse,” he cautioned.
The 24-Hour Economy has been promoted by the current administration as a flagship intervention to stimulate economic growth by encouraging round-the-clock operations, particularly in manufacturing, logistics, and health.
But Aboagye believes the policy is nothing more than a bureaucratic exercise that lacks real-world feasibility. “You promised something bold, but delivered a recycled strategy with little clarity on implementation,” he noted.
He referenced the Ghana Beyond Aid initiative, introduced by former President Nana Akufo-Addo, as a more comprehensive and structured economic framework focused on long-term self-reliance, industrialisation, and private sector-led development.
Aboagye concluded that without a genuine shift in approach, the 24-Hour Economy risks becoming yet another policy lost in execution.
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