Former Finance Minister Dr Mohammed Amin Adam accused the Mahama government on Friday, November 13, 2026, of repackaging its 24-Hour Economy programme as the New Economy Programme, saying the 2027 Budget largely recycles policies Ghanaians have already seen.
Speaking on the Asaase Breakfast Show, the Minority lawmaker said six of the pillars in the New Economy match programmes set out in the 24-hour economy policy booklet launched in July 2025, according to GhanaWeb.
Six pillars, one old programme
Dr Amin Adam listed agriculture, textiles, pharmaceuticals, tourism, culture, technology and energy as the areas where the overlap is clearest. He compared the 24-hour economy booklet with Section Three of the 2027 Budget, which focuses on the New Economy.
So if you put the 24-hour economy booklet, which was launched in July 2025, and match it against Section Three of the budget, which focuses on the New Economy, you will see that six of the pillars in the New Economy match the 24-hour economy programmes.
He pointed to the Afram Plains and Volta Basin irrigation, mechanisation and processing projects, which have reappeared as rice development hubs under the New Economy. Greenhouse and urban vegetable farming initiatives, he said, have been renamed vegetable enclaves and protected cultivation.
These are all programmes under the 24-hour economy booklet which have been repackaged, rehashed under the New Economy, and some of them have actually been renamed.
Was the 24-Hour Economy a failure?
The former Kubre NPP lawmaker for Karaga went further and framed the rebranding as an admission of failure. The Minority had raised the same concern before the budget presentation, an assertion government officials initially dismissed, as Rainbow Radio Online reported.
The 24-hour economy has failed, and the government just simply needed to come and rebrand it with a new slogan.
His sharpest challenge concerned money. The New Economy is expected to cost $10 billion, compared with an estimated $4 billion for the 24-hour economy. Dr Amin Adam asked how a government that could not deliver the cheaper programme would finance the bigger one, a question MyJoyOnline also highlighted.
We said a government that could not deliver a $4 billion 24-hour economy is admitting that it has failed, and now it has renamed it as New Economy, which now costs $10 billion. How can that government get the money to do the $10 billion New Economy?
Do the budget numbers add up?
Dr Amin Adam also questioned the allocations to the ministries expected to implement the programme. The Ministry of Food and Agriculture received GH¢2.9 billion, including GH¢515 million for fertiliser and seeds, while the Ministry of Trade, Agribusiness and Industry got GH¢188 million. He asked how those figures could support a proposed $3 billion agricultural pillar.
The tourism pillar tells a similar story. The government proposes $1 billion for tourism, yet the Ministry of Tourism, Culture and Creative Arts received GH¢186 million.
He saved a pointed question for the 24-hour economy secretariat, which still received GH¢165 million even though its programmes have supposedly been folded into the New Economy.
You've collapsed the programme. You've moved the 24-hour economy programmes to the New Economy, and then you allocate money to the secretariat of the 24-hour economy. To do what?
What this means for Ghana's reform agenda
For a country that needs credible execution more than fresh slogans, the exchange matters beyond partisan point-scoring. Ghana's private sector, from agritech startups in Tamale to garment producers eyeing export markets, depends on predictable, funded policy rather than renamed initiatives.
Dr Amin Adam said the Minority would welcome the successful implementation of the New Economy, but he remained sceptical about the government's ability to fund and execute it. Citi Newsroom reported that he described the initiative as a rebranding of a policy he considers failed.
The ball is now in the government's court: publish the financing plan, clarify the fate of the 24-hour economy secretariat, and show Ghanaians whether the $10 billion New Economy is a real programme or a new label on an old promise.
FAQ
What did Amin Adam accuse the government of?
He accused the Mahama administration of rebranding the failed 24-Hour Economy programme as the New Economy Programme in the 2027 Budget, with six pillars repeating earlier policies.
How much will the New Economy cost?
The New Economy is expected to cost $10 billion, compared with an estimated $4 billion for the 24-hour economy programme, according to Dr Amin Adam.
Which programmes overlap between the two initiatives?
He cited the Afram Plains and Volta Basin irrigation and processing projects, now presented as rice development hubs, and the greenhouse and urban vegetable farming initiatives, renamed vegetable enclaves and protected cultivation.