By Issah Olegor
The Economic recovery efforts are being redirected toward long-term industrial transformation, as President John Dramani Mahama unveils a bold national target to expand the country’s manufacturing sector to at least 15 percent of Gross Domestic Product (GDP) by 2030, anchored by the creation of 500,000 quality industrial jobs.
The policy direction was announced during the Presidential Dialogue with the Private Sector, on Monday, February 23, 2026, at the Jubilee House, with a parallel high-level engagement also taking place at the Kempinski Hotel Gold Coast City Accra.
The meetings brought together business leaders, investors, policymakers and government officials to assess Ghana’s economic recovery and chart a new development path.
While acknowledging recent signs of macroeconomic stabilisation, President Mahama warned that fiscal calm and currency stability should not be mistaken for genuine economic transformation.
According to him, the current indicators—improved investor confidence, renewed private capital inflows, strengthened business sentiment, and relative currency stability—represent recovery, not restructuring.
He attributed the recent improvements to policy actions such as fiscal consolidation, VAT rationalisation, and the removal of distortionary levies that had weakened confidence in the economy.
However, he stressed that these measures, though necessary, are insufficient to deliver sustainable growth without deep structural reforms.
“For more than five decades, Ghana’s manufacturing sector has remained around 10 percent of GDP,” the President noted, describing the figure as too weak to drive industrialisation, mass employment, or export competitiveness.
He contrasted the performance with emerging Asian economies that started from similar economic conditions but achieved manufacturing contributions of between 20 and 30 percent of GDP through deliberate industrial policy and export-oriented growth strategies.
Against this background, President Mahama announced a new national benchmark: manufacturing must contribute at least 15 percent of GDP by 2030, supported by the creation of 500,000 quality industrial jobs.
He emphasised that achieving this goal will require “structural reform, not incremental adjustments,” signalling a shift away from short-term economic fixes toward long-term industrial planning.
The industrial target forms part of a broader government strategy focused on value addition, industrial expansion, export competitiveness and sustainable job creation. Central to this vision is a stronger partnership between government and the private sector, which the President described as the true engine of growth, innovation and employment.
“No government can succeed without a strong private sector,” Mahama stated, adding that economic transformation can only happen through collaboration, trust and policy consistency.
He said the dialogue platform will be institutionalised as an annual engagement mechanism to allow continuous consultation between the state and industry on constraints to business growth and industrial development.
Historically, the economy has remained heavily dependent on raw commodity exports such as gold, cocoa and oil, with limited value addition and weak industrial processing capacity.
Previous industrialisation efforts have struggled due to policy inconsistency, infrastructure deficits, energy challenges and limited access to long-term financing for local manufacturers.
