Mahama’s FUND24 lacks credibility, may jeopardize economy — APL warns

The Africa Policy Lens (APL) has issued a critical assessment of FUND24, the key financial engine powering former President John Mahama’s 24H+ economy policy, describing it as fundamentally flawed and misaligned with Ghana’s economic realities.

FUND24, a cornerstone of the National Democratic Congress’ 24-hour economy blueprint, promises to deliver affordable capital for SMEs, large-scale infrastructure development, and extensive job creation. However, the APL, in a comprehensive policy review, argues that the fund’s current design is overly reliant on foreign capital and built on unsustainable financial assumptions.

“FUND24 was sold to Ghanaians as a bold transformation strategy. But behind the grand design lies a shaky framework,” APL stated.

The policy’s structure rests on three operational pillars:

• Enterprise financing via institutions like the Development Bank Ghana (DBG) and Venture Capital Trust Fund (VCTF)
• Infrastructure development channeled through Ghana Infrastructure Investment Fund’s (GIIF) Special Purpose Vehicles (SPVs)
• Technical assistance provided by the 24H+ Secretariat

FUND24 aims to raise $4 billion by 2030 through blended finance and foreign institutional investment. While the goal sounds ambitious, APL insists it’s incompatible with current macroeconomic conditions.

“Let’s confront the elephant in the room: Ghana’s debt crisis,” the report states. “With public debt soaring to $49.5 billion, or 55% of GDP as of March 2025, international development finance institutions (DFIs) remain cautious. Ghana received zero funding from the $3.59 billion Sub-Saharan Africa infrastructure pool in 2022.”

APL warns that this lack of DFI confidence could collapse the fund’s capital base. Compounding the risk is the cedi’s historic 40% depreciation in 2022, making any foreign-denominated borrowing highly volatile.

“If DBG borrows in dollars and lends in cedis, a wave of SME defaults could drown the entire program,” APL noted.

The group also condemned the proposal to invest pension funds—valued at GHS 42 billion—into SME equity as reckless.

“Pension funds exist to protect retiree livelihoods, not to bankroll fragile startups. One wrong bet and the retirement security of an entire generation could vanish.”

APL further described the infrastructure track as equally unstable, citing land tenure issues as a fundamental barrier to planned industrial parks.

“The touted Agbledu Parks may never materialize due to Ghana’s chaotic land tenure system, where over 80% of land is informally owned and legally untraceable.”

Regarding the digital loan initiative under FUND24, APL called it disconnected from reality.

“Only 58% of Ghanaians are online. That’s not a digital revolution—it’s a digital delusion. You can’t run a loan portal on dreams when nearly half the population is digitally excluded.”

As an alternative, APL recommends a homegrown financing model, driven by domestic capital, regulated pension fund investments, and diaspora bond issuance.

“Ghana must unlock its own capital markets. Pension funds can play a role—but through low-risk allocations, similar to South Africa’s Regulation 28. And instead of chasing phantom foreign investors, the government should partner with local economic giants like MTN, Dangote, and GOIL.”

APL also emphasized the urgency of land reform and local-currency-based lending to make financial inclusion realistic and sustainable.

“FUND24 is not just flawed. In its current form, it is dangerous,” the report concluded. “Overdependent on DFIs, blind to Ghana’s ground-level realities, and built on weak assumptions, it is the most brittle pillar of the entire 24H+ economy.”

Without significant revisions, the APL warned, FUND24 risks becoming “just another entry in Ghana’s growing archive of failed economic experiments.”