Former Finance Minister, Dr Mohammed Amin Adam, has accused the government of deceit over the 24-Hour Economy, demanding to know where the jobs it promised Ghanaians are, just a day before the Finance Minister presents the 2027 Budget.

In a scathing open letter released ahead of the budget, Dr Amin Adam said Ghanaians were sold a transformative 24-Hour Economy with big promises of jobs, expanded production and new opportunities built on the 3:1:1 shift promise yet the government has failed to provide any convincing and independently verifiable account of how many jobs were actually created, how much investment was mobilised or which businesses were transformed.

"Not long ago, the NDC government promised a transformative 24-Hour Economy, backed by ambitious investment and employment targets. Ghanaians were promised jobs, expanded production and new opportunities.

"Yet the government has not provided a sufficiently convincing and independently verifiable account of jobs created, investments mobilised or businesses transformed under that programme. Now comes the “New Economy.” What exactly is new, beyond the branding?"

He said the deception is exposed by the government’s own reality on the ground. The KPMG pre-budget survey released today shows 71% of Ghanaians say jobs and youth employment are the top national priority, while 54% cite the cost of living proof, he said, that the promised jobs never materialised.

Dr Amin Adam warned that the government is now trying to cover up the failure with an even bigger promise - a US$10 billion New Economy programme without explaining where the money will come from, why it is weakening the primary surplus target from 1.5% to 0.5% of GDP, or why Ghanaians should believe a US$10 billion promise when the US$4 billion 24-Hour Economy promise has not been accounted for.

“Ghana does not suffer from a shortage of economic slogans,” he wrote. “Jobs are not created by press conferences. Prosperity cannot be legislated into existence.”

He added that while the government celebrates macroeconomic figures, the pocket economy is hurting, with inflation rising back to 5.5% in October from 3.2% earlier in 2026, the cedi depreciating 9.5% by September 2026, and non-oil growth slowing from 8.5% to 5.4%.

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