Finance Minister Dr Cassiel Ato Forson recently stated that Ghana has experienced a remarkable economic recovery since the current government took power in January 2025.
Speaking at the 13th African Fiscal Forum’s High-Level Roundtable, he claimed that Ghana’s recent experience demonstrates that African economies can not only navigate crises but also leverage them as opportunities for deep structural reform.
Economic recovery
Dr Forson explained that a combination of bold policy measures was instrumental in restoring macroeconomic stability and rebuilding the fundamentals of the economy.
There were strong improvements across key macroeconomic indicators: Real GDP growth rose to six per cent in 2025, up from 5.8 per cent in 2024, while inflation declined sharply from 23.8 per cent in 2024 to 5.8 per cent in 2025, falling further to 3.2 per cent as of March 2026. During this time, in addition, Ghana experienced a significant stabilisation of the cedi, appreciating by more than 40 per cent against the US dollar in 2025, with gains continuing into 2026.
Democratic decline
Economic recovery has been accompanied by continued democratic decline. Data from Afrobarometer’s Round 10 survey – conducted in Ghana in August 2024, that is, before the change of government – indicate a complex, in some areas, declining view of democracy.
This is despite democracy being most Ghanaians’ preference, compared to other sorts of rule, including military government, the current arrangement in several of Ghana’s neighbouring countries, including Burkina Faso, Niger, Mali and Guinea.
What don’t Ghanaians like about the country’s current democratic arrangement?
Ghanaians are very concerned about corruption. In August 2024, 74 per cent believed that corruption had increased in the previous year.
In addition, 82 per cent believed that the Akufo-Addo government was handling the fight against corruption ‘fairly badly’ or ‘very badly’.
There was also widespread distrust of public institutions: 63 per cent believed that ‘most’ or ‘all’ police officials are corrupt, with 54 per cent seeing widespread corruption at the Presidency and 51 per cent among MPs.
Finally, only a quarter of Ghanaians believed they could report corruption without fear of retaliation.
Turning to general trends, citizens still indicated a clear preference for democracy.
Yet, Afrobarometer findings have over the last few years, consistently indicated a decline in satisfaction with the quality of Ghana’s democracy and government performance over the last few years.
There is also a gap between the democratic ideals citizens want and the actual performance of public institutions, particularly in managing corruption and economic conditions.
Overall, there is a need to strengthen democratic practices.
Democracy and economic satisfaction
I should remind readers that Dr Forson’s comments about Ghana’s economic recovery were made in April 2026, whereas Afrobarometer reported findings from August 2024, that is, 21 months earlier.
It is not clear in the absence of more recent data whether Ghanaians’ satisfaction with democracy has increased since the NDC took power or whether they trust this government’s ability to stop economic decline and lead the way to sustained economic recovery.
The wider point is that many people believe that democracy is the key to both economic growth and a fairer distribution of economic resources.
While there is no guarantee that democracy will immediately lead to high economic growth, modern empirical evidence suggests that in the long run, democracy is a strong driver of sustained economic growth.
Recent studies indicate that countries that switch from non-democracy to democracy achieve, on average, 20 per cent higher GDP per capita over the following 30 years compared to those that remain under autocratic rule.
Ghana has been a democracy since 1993; thus, more than 30 years have passed since its reintroduction.
What difference democracy has made to economic growth in Ghana over that time is unclear.
It is worth recalling that Ghana experienced significant economic growth and stabilisation during the Provisional National Defence Council (PNDC) rule (1982–1992).
After inheriting what many saw as a collapsed economy, the PNDC adopted an Economic Recovery Programme in 1983, backed by the World Bank/IMF, which reversed negative growth rates and initiated consistent economic development.
The lesson seems to be that unless economic growth is channelled correctly into improvements that citizens can see, feel and experience, then their satisfaction with governance, whether democratic or not, is likely to be problematic.
The current government should seek to ensure that sustained economic recovery translates into increased citizen satisfaction with democracy.
The writer is an Emeritus Professor of Politics, London Metropolitan University, UK.
Source:
www.graphic.com.gh