President John Dramani Mahama has set an ambitious target to increase manufacturing’s contribution to Ghana’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) from about 10 per cent to 15 per cent by 2030, backed by the creation of 500,000 quality industrial jobs.
The announcement was made at his maiden Presidential Dialogue with the Private Sector held in Accra, fulfilling a campaign promise to institutionalise annual engagements with business leaders. The President described Ghana’s economic transformation as a “joint enterprise,” stressing that neither government nor the private sector could succeed without a strong partnership.
While noting signs of economic stabilisation — including relative currency stability, improved investor confidence and renewed private capital inflows — President Mahama cautioned that stabilisation alone does not amount to transformation. He said Ghana must pursue structural reforms rather than incremental changes to alter its industrial trajectory.
A key concern raised during the dialogue was the high cost and unreliable supply of energy, which the President described as the single most dominant constraint facing industry. He acknowledged reports from the Ghana Chamber of Mines indicating that Ghana is losing competitiveness to regional peers such as Benin, Côte d’Ivoire and Nigeria.
To address this, the President announced plans to accelerate energy sector debt restructuring, expand renewable generation capacity, introduce differentiated off-peak industrial tariffs, improve transmission efficiency and promote embedded power generation within industrial enclaves. He also signalled reforms in industrial water supply, including private sector participation.
On financing, President Mahama noted that although interest rates have fallen from previous highs, rates of 18 to 20 per cent remain prohibitive for industrial growth. He pledged to establish dedicated financing windows for manufacturing, expand credit guarantee schemes, develop special purpose vehicles for SMEs and deepen long-term capital market instruments in collaboration with the Bank of Ghana and development finance institutions.
The President commended Elizabeth Ofosu-Adjare, Minister for Trade, Agribusiness and Industry, for extensive stakeholder consultations that have shaped current policy direction.
He concluded by reiterating that affordable long-term capital, energy reform and tax competitiveness would be treated as structural priorities, positioning Ghana to compete effectively within the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) and beyond.
