Dennis Miracles Aboagye, Director of Communications for the Mahamudu Bawumia campaign, has criticised government claims that Ghana’s economy has become resilient, arguing that the country remains structurally weak and heavily reliant on imports.
Speaking on Saturday, March 21, Aboagye challenged President John Mahama’s assertions, insisting that current evidence does not support claims of economic resilience.
“The Ghanaian economy has one major problem — lack of local production. We are too import-dependent,” he said, highlighting what he described as a fundamental structural weakness.
He noted that the New Patriotic Party (NPP) government itself had previously acknowledged the problem and proposed boosting domestic production through private sector investment, expanded industrial capacity, and growth in local manufacturing.
Aboagye emphasised that while short-term measures may stabilise the economy, increasing domestic output is critical for long-term resilience. Yet he questioned whether any tangible progress has been made.
“While the government is touting all these plans, can they show us specifically what has been put in place?” he asked, suggesting that meaningful structural transformation remains largely absent.
He drew a clear line between aspirations and reality, warning against overstating achievements. “There is a difference between saying we are becoming resilient and saying we are resilient. The government’s position now is that we are resilient,” he said.
To illustrate the problem, Aboagye described Ghana’s economy as operating on an “80–20” basis, where the majority of spending leaks out of the country through imports. “Any ten cedis you hold in this country, eight cedis goes back to the dollar. A lot of the money we earn is spent on imports,” he explained.
He argued that a truly resilient economy would require a dramatic reversal, with as much as 80% of goods consumed locally produced within Ghana. Without this shift, the country remains highly vulnerable to external shocks.
Aboagye also pointed out that Ghana’s recent macroeconomic improvements depend heavily on external factors, particularly international gold prices. “All the macroeconomic indicators being celebrated are anchored in the gold buying programme. We are relying on external factors,” he said.
He warned that the economy remains sensitive to currency fluctuations. “If we wake up tomorrow and the dollar spikes sharply, this economy is finished,” he said, describing the situation as fragile. He also referenced warnings from the central bank governor that global geopolitical tensions, including developments involving Iran, could negatively affect Ghana’s economic outlook.
Dismissing claims that government policy has significantly influenced fuel prices, Aboagye said global market forces remain the dominant factor. “Only small components are within the government’s control,” he noted.
In a pointed message to the President, he urged caution in making unsubstantiated claims. “The President should take it easy. He has already won an election. He doesn’t need to tell us things to make us happy. He just has to work,” he said, warning that such statements risk creating unrealistic expectations.
Aboagye concluded that Ghana’s economy cannot yet be described as resilient, citing the absence of concrete domestic policy measures and continued dependence on external forces. “What the President is telling us is not true. It is not factual. The evidence on the ground does not show that we are resilient,” he said.
He called for a renewed focus on building domestic productive capacity as the only credible path to long-term economic strength, insisting that without such reforms, Ghana remains vulnerable to future shocks.