Dr Joshua Jebuntie Zaato is a Political Science Lecturer at the University of Ghana
Dr Joshua Jebuntie Zaato, a Political Science Lecturer at the University of Ghana, has described the National Democratic (NDC’s) 24-hour Economy policy as a “mirage”.
He added that there is no concrete evidence of its implementation, months after the NDC assumed office, though it was promoted as a major development agenda.
Speaking on TV3’s Key Point on December 20, 2025, he said, “I’m saying that the 24-hour economy is still a mirage. It’s not there.”
Dr. Zaato recalled his earlier description of the policy as hollow, arguing that many questions remain unanswered regarding its substance.
“One of the defining policies of the last election was 24 hour economy. I sat here, and I said that policy was hollow; there was nothing in it. People came up to me up to today, I’m saying, what is in the 24-hour economy?, he questioned.
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He further compared the policy to that of the New Patriotic Party’s Free SHS policy, saying,” The leading issue the NPP campaigned on in 2016 to get power was free SHS. By December 2017 December, free SHS was in full swing. There’s nobody who can say that by the 20th of December 2017, free SHS was not in full swing. Where is the 24-hour economy?”
He added, “Hon. Guzitano is supposed to be leading it. We sat here, and we looked at it, and we said, look, if you look at the 24-hour economy, whatever it has, a lot of it was copied from what Honorable Alan Kyrematen was doing with 1D 1F, and trying to use incentives and others.”
Dr Zaato asserted that economic activity is based on demand, emphasizing that producers in rural communities would not work 24 hours unless there is demand for their services.
He also questioned the existence of the policy, which had been described as a solution to significantly reduce unemployment through multiple shifts.
“The woman who is selling food in chop better in Tumu is not going to open because there’s a 24-hour economy. No, she’s going to open and close because there is demand. Where is the 24-hour economy that was supposed to give people three jobs, one job, three schedules? So if the Ghana Commercial Bank in Tumu is to open three times. Then people get jobs. Wait, that was the biggest antidote to unemployment that the NDC sold us?”
He further condemned the absence of the promised Women Development Bank, which was used as a key pillar to the 24-hour economy to promote women’s access to income, adding that no timeline has been given for the establishment of the bank.
“They sold us the Women’s Development Bank. That’s another game changer because see, women can be the engine of growth. One of the issues, because of cultural, social, and other things, women are restricted in their access to capital. So men have more, relatively more access to capital to invest than women do. This was what women were supposed to kill. It was supposed to be one of the things that would come in and say, look, you know what? Let’s make it relatively easier for that young woman, for that mother, for that sister, for that daughter to be able to get access to capital to invest and expand.
” Where is the 24-hour economy? I said, When the government has a priority, they make sure they find a way to fund it. How much money was given for the Women’s Development Bank? That is. You were going to establish the bank. How many years does it take you? There’s nothing. Where’s the bank? If you see the bank show me after this, I will drive there,” he stressed.
He concluded that the NDC has failed to materialize both policies, describing them as a “scam” and a “mirage.”
“So these were supposed to be the two pillars of development. So far, we are seeing that both the 24-hour economy and the women’s development bank are a scam; it’s a mirage. None of them exist. And precisely because these issues are exacerbating. And because there’s nothing tangible, concrete that you can point towards them, they have contributed.”
Watch video below:
Unemployment Rate: “The 24-hour economy is still a mirage, and the Women Development Bank is a scam; that is why these issues (unemployment) are escalating.”
– Dr Joshua Jebuntie Zaato, Political Science Lecturer at the University of Ghana #TheKeyPoints #TV3GH pic.twitter.com/N6m4RlJtKj
— #TV3GH (@tv3_ghana) December 20, 2025
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