Mahama Declares Ghana Open For Business In Joyous State of the Nation Address: “Ghana is Back”
- President John Mahama declared Ghana's economic gains in his 2026 State of the Nation Address in Parliament
- The president noted as an example that Ghana's GDP is projected to reach $133 billion, marking an 86% increase
- Policy analyst Alfred Appiah challenged some of the lofty figures touted by the president during his address
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President John Mahama used the 2026 State of the Nation Address to declare gains from his party's reset agenda, which he said has turned Ghana around.
Mahama held that Ghana's credibility was improving after the economic crisis under the Akufo-Addo administration.
Source: Facebook
The current administration inherited a country which was constrained by an IMF programme after it defaulted on its debts.
“I told this august house then, when I appeared before you last year, that we needed to take tough decisions to restore credibility and stability, and I can say with confidence today that Ghana is back and ready for business."
“The fundamentals are improving, and the path to sustain acceleration is very clear to everyone. From the outset, we resolved to choose discipline over waste, reform over excuses, and stability over speculation.”
Touting strides made in 2025, Mahama said Ghana's GDP is expected to reach $133 billion, an increase by 86% from 2024.
Mahama also said Ghana's reserves currently stand at $15.3 billion from $8.9 billion, which translates to about six months of import cover.
The president also said over one million Ghanaians found employment between Quarter 1 and Quarter 3 of 2025, and 950,000 people escaped multidimensional poverty in the same period.
In comments on this, policy analyst Alfred Appiah highlighted issues with Mahama's employment figures.
"...according to the GSS, employment growth between Q1 and Q3 2025 was 330,000. Where did the figure of over one million come from? If it’s a year-on-year comparison, Q1 to Q3 2025 versus Q1 to Q3 2024, then that framing is inhighlightedmy is generating more sustainable employment and moving people out of vulnerable employment is a more important indicator.
The data so far show increases in the share of people in vulnerable employment and declines in the share of wage employment. That should be a concern for policymakers."
How did Ghana's economy perform in 2025?
Ghana is coming off a 2025 in which it recorded overwhelmingly positive macroeconomic indicators across the board.
After inheriting an economy weighed down by inflation above 23%, interest rates north of 30%, and a sharply depreciating cedi, the Mahama administration entered 2026 in good standing.
Source: Getty Images
Treasury bill rates plunged from over 30% at end-2024 to about 11% in 2025.
For the first time in decades, the cedi recorded an annual appreciation against all major currencies, including 40.7% against the US dollar.
Trade balance posted a surplus of US$8.5 billion by the end of October 2025, up from US$2.8 billion a year earlier.
Mahama speaks on economic turnaround
On January 25, YEN.com.gh reported that Mahama expressed surprise at the improvement in key indicators of the economy.
He described the rapid recovery as only by the grace of God and had expected it to take about two years to see an economic turnaround.
After inheriting an economy weighed down by inflation above 23%, interest rates north of 30%, and a sharply depreciating cedi, the Mahama administration oversaw a significant reversal of the country's fortunes in 2025.
Source: YEN.com.gh
