Professor of Finance at the University of Ghana, Godfred Bokpin, has advised the government against creating new institutions or secretariats to implement the 24-hour economy, warning it could lead to wasteful spending and politicization.
According to the finance expert, Ghana already has the necessary infrastructure to support the policy without additional bureaucracies.
“We have the Ghana Statistical Service, Ministry of Finance, Bank of Ghana, and decentralized local government systems. Why create new units?” he asked while contributing to discussions on TV3’s the KeyPoints on July 5.
He expressed concern that creating parallel units could open the door for party-based recruitments and bloated administrative costs, drawing parallels with other government institutions.
“Check the National Health Insurance Authority. Nearly 44% of its allocation goes into administrative costs,” he noted.
He emphasized that the mindset, not new structures is what will make the 24-hour economy work.
“The police shouldn’t need a special 24-hour unit to enforce security at night. It’s about mindset,” he stressed.
Prof. Bokpin also warned of the danger of politicizing public service and creating institutions that die with regime change.
“Today we’re changing CEOs, tomorrow we’ll be changing cleaners. The loss of institutional memory is hurting us. If someone isn’t performing, fire them. But let’s not duplicate effort and cost to please party interests,” he urged.
Prof. Bokpin described the policy as “bold” but stressed that if it is truly to become the framework for Ghana’s fiscal and monetary policies, it must be treated as an economic development instrument, not just a policy idea.
“You can’t run a development instrument without real costing, clear KPIs, data reporting structures, and accountability timelines. If we want a mindset shift, we need to start with building ownership and defining who does what and by when.”
Prof. Bokpin believes that refining the current 24-hour economy policy document into a binding economic blueprint with clearly laid out timelines, performance reviews every six months, and public reporting will make it more effective.
Without this, he warns the program could lose steam. “In Ghana, we start projects but we don’t sustain them. Without clear KPIs and consequences, this will die down after six months,” he stressed.
