By Issah Olegor
President John Dramani Mahama has openly celebrated what he describes as an unexpectedly rapid turnaround in Ghana’s economy, saying the pace of recovery within his first year in office has surpassed both his own expectations and those of international financial institutions.
His remarks, delivered at the First Sky Group 23rd Thanksgiving Service on Sunday, January 25, 2026, at the Acctra International Conference Centre have reignited national debate over economic management and political credit.
The President’s comments come against the backdrop of a difficult economic inheritance following years of fiscal stress marked by high inflation, currency depreciation, rising debt and the return to an International Monetary Fund (IMF) support programme.
When his administration assumed office, President Mahama said the scale of the crisis was such that he anticipated at least two years of painful adjustments before any meaningful improvement could be felt by citizens.
Speaking to the congregation, the President said events have unfolded differently.
According to him, the speed with which key macroeconomic indicators have improved has been startling, even to global partners who had been closely monitoring the performance under economic reforms.
He said officials from the IMF and the World Bank have expressed disbelief at how quickly the country has stabilised.
The President highlighted a sharp decline in inflation—from 23.8 percent to 5.4 percent within a year—as one of the clearest signs of recovery.
He also pointed to the performance of the Ghanaian cedi, which he said has appreciated by about 37 percent over the same period, a development rarely seen in recent economic history.
Mahama attributed the gains to a mix of policy discipline, leadership experience and what he described as divine intervention.
Drawing from his previous tenure as President, he said the current recovery was faster than anything he had imagined possible under the circumstances his government inherited.
He framed the turnaround as an “Ebenezer moment,” suggesting that Ghana’s progress had gone beyond human calculation.
The President’s confident tone has been interpreted by political observers as a direct contrast to the economic narrative of the previous New Patriotic Party (NPP) administration, under which former Vice President Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia served as head of the Economic Management Team.
While supporters of the ruling government see Mahama’s comments as validation of new leadership and direction, opposition figures argue that the improvements are partly built on reforms and fiscal tightening measures introduced before the change in government.
The venue of the remarks also carried symbolic weight. The First Sky Group Thanksgiving Service, marking 23 years of the Ghanaian-owned conglomerate, brought together political leaders, business executives, traditional rulers and religious figures, creating a platform for the President to link economic recovery with faith, private enterprise and national resilience.
