ISODEC Welcomes New Economy Intentions but Warns Implementation Will Determine Success

A policy analyst at the Integrated Social Development Centre (ISODEC) has welcomed the Mahama government’s US$10 billion New Economy programme as a potentially transformative initiative, but cautioned that its success hinges on a clear implementation framework and the effective mobilisation of financial resources to support domestic production.

Dr. Adamu Braimah Abille, speaking on Channel One TV’s The Big Issue with Umaru Sanda Amadu on Saturday, November 14, 2026, said the policy direction was commendable but required practical measures to deliver its objectives.

“The New Economy, the intention is very good, we have to say, but how is it going to be implemented?” he asked .

The Credit Allocation Problem

At the heart of Dr. Abille’s concerns is the disconnect between fiscal policy and the financial system’s lending behaviour. He called for stronger coordination between monetary and fiscal policies to ensure that credit from the banking sector is channelled towards sectors identified as critical to Ghana’s economic transformation.

“The government must make sure that the financial system that we are having… [has] coordination between the monetary policy and the fiscal policies to make sure that the credit is actually directed to where it’s supposed to go,” he said .

Without such coordination, Dr. Abille warned, the programme could struggle to achieve its objectives, particularly if bank lending continues to be concentrated in commerce and trade rather than productive sectors. He cited agriculture as a stark example: the sector accounts for only 11 per cent of credit to the private sector, a figure he described as incompatible with meaningful structural transformation.

“We have to make sure that a high percentage of [bank lending] goes into the critical sectors that we are talking about currently,” he said .

Dr. Abille pointed to Germany’s community banking model as a reference point, where local financial institutions play an important role in directing credit to areas that support economic development. Ghana, he argued, needs to establish an effective mechanism to determine how credit is allocated to businesses and enterprises in the priority sectors.

Missing Job Targets

Beyond credit allocation, Dr. Abille raised concerns about the programme’s accountability framework, specifically the absence of measurable employment targets across all eight pillars.

“Structural transformation can be measured not by the size of the $10 billion announcement,” he said. “It is about how many sustainable jobs are generated or created from the transformed economy” .

He noted that the government had provided job figures for only three of the eight pillars, leaving employment projections unclear for the remaining five. ISODEC and its partners had submitted 28 expectations to the Ministry of Finance ahead of the 2027 Budget, along with a job guarantee implementation manual. Their assessment found that five proposals were fully met, 15 partly met, and eight not addressed .

The Programme’s Architecture

The New Economy programme, announced by Finance Minister Dr. Cassiel Ato Forson in the 2027 Budget Statement presented to Parliament on Thursday, November 12, is a four-year, US$10 billion initiative running from 2027 to 2030. It is designed to reposition Ghana as a production-driven economy through investments in eight key areas: Macroeconomic Stability and Affordable Finance; Commercial Agriculture; Energy Infrastructure; Critical Minerals Value Addition; Tourism, Culture and Creative Arts; Textiles and Garments; Pharmaceuticals and Biomanufacturing; and the Technology Economy .

For 2027, the government has earmarked GH¢30 billion, representing 1.5 per cent of GDP, for the programme . The funding strategy relies on retained primary surplus and enhanced revenue measures rather than fresh external borrowing, with the government committing to no new taxes .

Specific sectoral commitments include US$3 billion for commercial agriculture, targeting eight value chains including rice, sugar, poultry, and cocoa value addition; US$2.2 billion for energy infrastructure, including a 1,450-megawatt thermal plant and a 600-megawatt solar facility; and US$1.5 billion for critical minerals value addition, with a target of refining 70 per cent of artisanal gold locally by December 2027 .

What Comes Next

Dr. Abille’s intervention reflects a broader scrutiny of whether the programme’s ambitious architecture can translate into tangible outcomes. He questioned how the government planned to fund the proposed investments, asking how much would come from public resources and private-sector participation, and whether fiscal space alone would suffice or public-private partnerships might be necessary .

For ISODEC, the ultimate test is straightforward: whether investment commitments produce sustainable employment and meaningful structural transformation. As the government moves from announcement to implementation, the pressure will be on to demonstrate that the New Economy is more than a well-funded slogan.