24-Hour Economy Funding Comes Under Scrutiny as Expert Describes $4 Bn Cost as Inadequate

Amid the excitement and public support for the flagship 24-Hour Economy initiative, a finance expert is raising critical concerns about the funding and the source of funding for the “ambitious” programme.

The Head of Finance at Merban Capital, Nelson Cudjoe, is raising crucial questions about the estimated cost of the programme and the earmarked sources of funding. In his view, without clear and feasible funding, the transformational policy will be like other economic polices in the past that only existed in names.

The 24-Hour Economy Secretariat has announced that the programme is estimated to cost about $4 billion in the initial stages. Presidential Adviser on the initiative says the government has also pledged to commit $300 million as a seed fund for the programme. The rest of the amount will be funded by the private sector through the Ghana Infrastructure Investment Fund (GIIF).

For Nelson Cudjoe, considering the ambition of the project and its capital intensity, the $4 billion cost is not adding up. In his estimation, the projected amount is not adequate to undertake a transformative initiative.

“How is the government going to fund this policy?,” he quizzed in an interview with Accra-based Channel One TV, adding that “Per what President John Dramani Mahama said, about $4 billion is the cost that they envisage for the implementation of the programme. But if you look at how ambitious this project is, $4 billion may not be sufficient to roll out.”

He also questioned how feasible the private sector funding and the GIIF initiative will be in helping the state realise the total amount for the programme.

In his view, a dedicated source of funding is the surest way to safeguard the implementation of the policy that promises to change the development trajectory of the country.

“The government said it will be committing $300 million as seed money for the initial rollout of the programme. The question that we need to ask ourselves is how the private sector or the Ghana Infrastructure Investment Fund will raise this money. “Where are they going to raise this money?,” he further queried.

He suggested that, “We must have a secure source of funding to make implementation easy. The issue is that anytime programmes or policies are rolled out in this country, we don’t have a dedicated source of funding for the programme.”

To the ordinary Ghanaian, this concern strikes a familiar chord. Time and again, governments have unveiled grand policies, free education, housing projects, one-district-one-factory, only for the programmes to stall or underperform due to a lack of reliable, long-term funding.

For many citizens, economists, and experts, the 24-Hour Economy sounds like a potential game-changer, promising more jobs, more productivity, and a stronger economy that works round the clock.

However, without clear, dependable funding, it risks becoming another beautiful dream lost in the pages of political history.

The finance expert says infrastructure upgrades, energy reliability, security enhancements, labour shifts, and tax incentives will all cost money, serious money. So while $4 billion sounds big on paper, in real-world implementation, it may just be the beginning.

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