24-Hour Economy is more of a campaign slogan than policy – Afenyo-Markin

The Minority Leader in Parliament and Effutu MP, Alexander Afenyo-Markin, has criticised the Mahama administration’s proposed 24-hour economy policy, describing it as more of a campaign slogan than a carefully thought-out policy initiative.

He questioned the rationale for passing a Bill to establish a 24-hour economy authority.

“This so-called 24-hour economy, I think they themselves understood it more as a campaign slogan than a policy. From all that is happening, I saw the Bill; they brought it and passed it, creating a 24-hour authority. Another bureaucracy? I’m sorry. What do you need a Bill for?” he queried.

He argued that if the objective is job creation, the focus should be on empowering the private sector rather than expanding government structures.

Mr Afenyo-Markin suggested that the government could instead strengthen existing initiatives, such as the One-District-One-Factory programme introduced under former President Nana Akufo-Addo.

“You have the Trade Ministry, what they should have done was to continue former President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo’s One-District-One Factory, a very super economic policy for the private sector. You reduce import taxes, specifically for the private sector.

“They could have reviewed the One-District-One-Factory and continued the rollout. There’s so much uncertainty in the private sector,” he said.

According to him, easing import taxes and reviewing the implementation of One-District-One-Factory would have been more effective in promoting job creation and supporting businesses than creating a new bureaucratic structure.

Mr Afenyo-Markin made the remarks in an interview on Channel One TV on February 16, 2026.

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