President of the Association of Ghana Industries (AGI), Seth Twum Akwaboah, has cautioned against expectations of an immediate transformation under the government’s 24-Hour Economy policy.
He said the policy should not be judged by its name or slogan but by the specific programmes and interventions government puts in place to change the current state of Ghana’s economy.
Speaking in an interview, Mr Twum Akwaboah said the 24-hour economy initiative must be assessed based on how it was developed, the level of consultation involved and the practical measures being introduced to make it work.
“For me, I don’t bother so much about the clichés you create, whether it’s 24-Hour Economy or 1D1F; that’s not really the issue for me. It is more of what you do within those policies.”
He said the effectiveness of any government policy depends largely on the processes behind its development and the activities selected to achieve its objectives.
“You can come up with any policy, but then, when you develop the policy, what has gone into the policy development? How consultative was its nature? What are the key policies or activities within the policy that you are trying to implement to change the status quo?”
Mr Twum Akwaboah acknowledged that there had initially been uncertainty about what the 24-hour economy meant, but said discussions with government have helped to bring greater clarity to the initiative.
“I think we are making good progress because now it’s coming clearer. Government is defining.”
According to him, the policy should be viewed as a long-term vision rather than an intervention capable of producing instant results.
“When you hear a cliché, when you hear a mention of something like that, sometimes the expectation is that overnight things will change and everything will be a 24-hour economy. It doesn’t happen like that.”
He drew a comparison to the One District, One Factory (1D1F) initiative, saying that announcing a policy should not create the expectation that its ultimate goal will be achieved immediately.
“The same thing I said is that when we had the 1D1F. All of a sudden, you think that every district is going to have an industry? Government has mentioned it. It’s an intention. It’s a vision. How do we work towards it?”
He stressed that the 24-hour economy requires clear policies, programmes and activities that can gradually move the country towards the intended transformation.
“The same thing applies to the 24-hour economy. So I’m not expecting that things will change overnight like that. But then we need to define the specific activities and policies and programs we are going to do to make that happen.”
Mr Twum Akwaboah said he is encouraged by recent efforts by government to provide more detail on the policy, including the launch of a blueprint outlining some of the proposed interventions.
“And gradually they are coming to that point where now they’ve launched a blueprint, and then in it there are a lot of interesting ideas.”
He believes the success of the initiative will ultimately depend on implementation.
