Why we need a CEO-Gov’t Compact to accelerate economic transformation

By Edward EFFAH

Given the circumstances in which our country finds itself in, there could be no timelier theme for this Summit than ‘The CEO-Government Compact 2026: Catalyzing Private Sector Leadership for Ghana’s Economic Transformation’. Ghana now needs more than stability. Ghana needs a Big Push for economic transformation: a bold national agenda that brings government and business into a structured partnership to build the future we want together. That is the case for the CEO – Government compact. The timing is now for the following reasons:

Macro-economic stability

The first reason is simple: Ghana has regained macro-economic stability and that changes what is possible. Two years ago, many of today’s gains would have seemed beyond reach. In 2025, the Cedi appreciated significantly, inflation has fallen to 3,3percent, GDP growth reached 6percent in 2025, gross international reserves rose to US$13.8billion, equivalent to 5.7 months of import cover and debt to GDP declined to 45.3percent.

These are not routine gains. They reflect discipline, sound leadership and choices made in the national interest. In that regard, His Excellency the President and his economic managers deserve commendation for the fiscal discipline and monetary policy soundness that has made this progress possible. And for voluntarily opting to transition to IMFs Policy Coordination Instrument.

Ladies and gentlemen, stability has been restored. It is now time for transformation. Stability creates the conditions for progress, but it does not guarantee progress. When Ghana completed the IMF Structural Adjustment Programme in the mid 90s, we were told that stability had been achieved, and the country was ready for take-off, like a plane taxiing before take-off. But that take off never came.  To turn macroeconomic stability into jobs, investment, exports and rising incomes, we need a Big Push for economic transformation, driven by a deliberate partnership between government and the private sector. That is why this Compact is a national imperative.

Youth unemployment & human capital development

The second reason is that, we are running out of time on youth unemployment. In addition to the 1.5million young Ghanaians who are not in employment, education or training, another half a million will enter the labour market every year for the next decade and only about half are likely to be absorbed under current conditions. This means that in a few years’ time there could be 5million or more unemployed youths if we do not act now.

If we are to create jobs at the scale this moment demands, then it cannot be business as usual. The compact must prioritise job creation, technical and vocational education, digital skills development, entrepreneurship training, and serious industry and academia partnerships delivered at scale.

Regional trade opportunities

The third reason is the scale of the regional opportunity before us. Ghana sits at the heart of a West African consumer market of more than 400million people with an estimated regional GDP of US$650billion. Urbanization is rising. Digital adoption is expanding. The middle class is growing, and consumer demand is deepening.

The African Continental Free Trade Area is widening these opportunities further. Ghana is well positioned to be a leader in ECOWAS in the manufacturing of pharmaceutical products, financial services, education, healthcare, energy, logistics, consumer goods and digital infrastructure. But opportunity does not automatically become advantage. We will capture the opportunity, if and only if we are intentional, coordinated and ambitious in a common transformation agenda.

Digital transformation

The fourth reason is that the next chapter of Ghana’s economic transformation will be driven significantly by technology, data, analytics, artificial intelligence and digital platforms. Technology will shape our competitiveness, productivity and growth. That is why the recent launch by His Excellency The President of a National AI Strategy, with a clear vision to position Ghana as a leading Ai Hub in West Africa is such an important step.

The National Information Technology Agency has also proposed a NITA Bill, along with several other bills, which are forward looking and demonstrate a renewed sense of commitment to creating a modern regulatory environment. However, aspects of the NITA Bill are not private sector friendly, start-up friendly or innovation friendly. If the vision to position Ghana as a leading Ai hub is to be achieved, aspects of the NITA Bill will need to be looked at again.

Ghana has led the way in West Africa in several areas of digital transformation. These include the recent launch of the eVisa, mobile money and digital payments, where the country is widely recognized for interoperability between wallets and bank accounts; digital financial inclusion where 26million Ghanaians today have active MOMO wallets, many of whom were previously not in the formal financial sector; digital identity, anchored by the Ghana Card; digital public service delivery through online government platforms; digital addressing; paperless port systems that have improved trade processes and revenue collection; and the growth of a vibrant fintech ecosystem.

Government and the private sector must now work together to build on this leadership and develop a future ready national digital strategy, with both sides committing to invest boldly in digital infrastructure, in skills and in our innovation ecosystems. A decisive push in digital transformation will accelerate national economic transformation and create jobs at scale.

Industrialization through private sector leadership

The fifth reason is industrialization. If Ghana is to transform economically, our industrialization must accelerate. We must build value-added industries in agribusiness, manufacturing, pharmaceuticals, renewable energy, financial technology, and digital services under an integrated national programme that matches ambition with execution.

The Moment

As Shakespeare wrote in Julius Caesar, “There is a tide in the affairs of men, which, taken at the flood, leads on to (great) fortune.” The tide is here. We have macro-economic stability, demographic pressure, a regional opportunity, a technology window, and a government willing to lead. The question before us is simple: will we seize this moment or let it pass us by?

What the Compact looks like

A successful private sector – government Compact must function less like a traditional policy document and more like a national delivery system; clear in purpose, disciplined in execution, and accountable for results. There is much to learn from international models such as Singapore’s Economic Development Board, the United Arab Emirates’ diversification platform, the Rwanda Development Board, Saudi Arabia’s Vision 2030, Malaysia’s Economic Transformation Programme and Vietnam’s Doi Moi Programme. In all of the above examples, the goals they set themselves were big and audacious. In each and everyone of them, the private sector played a major role in making it happen.

Our goal is clear: To position Ghana as West Africa’s industrial hub, as the region’s AI-enabled financial and digital economy, as a leader in SME productivity and growth, as a major agro-industrial exporter, and as a competitive energy, logistics, and manufacturing platform.

Tier One: The National Economic Transformation Council

To deliver the Compact, global best practice suggests that we establish a body like a National Economic Transformation Council, ideally chaired by His Excellency the President. This should be the highest-level platform, aligning political will with execution. It should bring together senior government leaders, key agencies involved in transforming the economy and private sector leaders. Its leadership and coordination role should be to set the big vision, set national targets, remove bottlenecks, fast-track reforms, approve flagship projects, and monitor delivery. This is the political tier, and it provides the political will that a transformation programme requires.

Tier Two: The Transformation Delivery Unit

The second tier is operational. A Transformation Delivery Unit that is professionally staffed, properly resourced and empowered to coordinate the agenda across sectoral platforms covering agribusiness, technology and digitalization, industrialization and manufacturing, energy and infrastructure  and our financing strategy. It is proposed that each sector platform is co-chaired by a senior government representative and a private sector leader, with clear time-bound deliverables. Business leaders in different sectors of the economy are ready to contribute their time to these sector platforms. Strategy matters but it is delivery and execution that changes nations.

Governance and continuity of the Compact itself

No Compact can succeed if it is built only for the present administration. It must be designed to endure. Three principles should guide that architecture.

The first is statutory grounding. The Transformation Delivery Unit should be established by an Act of Parliament, with cross-party support, so that it is not dismantled by the political weather. Institutions such as Singapore’s Economic Development Board and Rwanda’s Development Board have endured because they were built to outlast governments.

The second is operational independence and accountability. The Unit should be led by a Chief Executive appointed for a fixed term, with protected funding and the authority to convene across ministries.

The third is transparent reporting. The Compact should publish a public annual scorecard against agreed targets, so that progress is visible, measurable and credible.

What the private sector brings to the table

If the private sector is given a clear agenda, credible priorities, and a stable framework, it will respond with capital, innovation and execution. It has done so before and can do so again. Let me offer a few examples:

In 2020, when Ghana faced the shock of the COVID pandemic, private sector leaders came together to establish the COVID 19 Private Sector Fund and raised a total GH¢48million to complement the government’s efforts in fighting the pandemic. The Fund delivered several important interventions, including Feed a Kayaye, through which 146,000 hot meals were distributed to vulnerable people in Accra and Kumasi during the lockdown. The fund also built within 100 days, the Ghana Infectious Disease Centre, a state of the art, ultra-modern 100-bed hospital with a 21-bed intensive care unit, which was then gifted to the state.

In 2015, when Ghana’s energy crisis created significant indebtedness across the sector, the private sector, the banks and the BDCs, came together, designed the Energy Sector Levies Act, worked with government to pass it into law, raised GH¢10billion in ESLA Bonds and helped clear the indebtedness of ECG, VRA, banks, BDCs and trade debtors.

With a clear direction and bankable priority projects, the private sector will bring capital. New investment can then be deployed into priority sectors of this Compact over the next five years, tracked transparently and reported publicly.

Second, the private sector will create measurable new direct employment over the same period, supported by structured apprenticeship pathways for young Ghanaians entering the labour market.

Third, under a structured transformation agenda, the private sector will help deepen domestic supply chains and strengthen Ghanaian SMEs.

Fourth, the private sector brings deep industry insights, execution capability and the discipline required to turn strategy into results. This is what the private sector brings to the table.

The investment ambition

For any economic transformation programme to succeed, there must be a significant increase in investment. Under this Compact, Ghana should aim to mobilise in the order of US$25billion dollars of investment into priority sectors over the next five years. This is equivalent to about 5percent of GDP per annum over 5 years.

If we are to absorb half a million new labour market entrants each year, sustain 7 to 10 percent economic growth, and double our manufacturing and export base, then the investment envelope must be of that order of magnitude. The sectoral split, the financing instruments, and the phasing will be worked out by the Delivery Unit and the Finance Platform. What matters today is that there is broad agreement on the scale of the ambition.

The financing model should be deliberately blended. Government can support foundational infrastructure such as special economic zones, and targeted programmes such as training. The commercial banks will lend at scale to established businesses operating under the Compact, supported by considered tax and regulatory incentives. Our local development finance institutions, the Development Bank Ghana, GIIF and Venture Capital funds can be tasked to deploy risk capital into priority projects. International development finance institutions, the IFC, DEG, FMO, AFC, and the African Development Bank among others, can support energy, digital infrastructure, and large-scale projects.

Additional risk capital can come from local and foreign direct investment, while our development partners can help fund inclusion programmes. The investment ambition is very achievable if we put in place a compelling transformation agenda.

Local capital

Ghana does not lack local capital. Our deeper challenge is capital allocation. Historically, too much of our local savings has been channeled into treasury bills, government bonds and non-productive assets, while the sectors that can transform the economy remain underfunded. In a high-interest rate environment, individuals and businesses all find it attractive to invest in government securities and commercial banks have limited incentive to lend to the productive sectors. Our pension and insurance regulations also tend to favour government securities over equity investment. That is why it is critical to preserve fiscal discipline, sustain the low-interest rate environment and make it easier and more attractive to invest in productive sectors of the economy. The Compact should help drive that shift.

Critical success factors

For this Compact to succeed, four conditions must be met. Sustained political support, a well-resourced Delivery Unit, focused relentlessly on execution, strong private sector buy-in at the highest level, and clear strategic direction so that every actor understands their responsibility and results.

What success looks like

If we get this right, success will be unmistakable: sustained GDP growth of between 7 and 10 percent; a significant increase and diversification of our export base within five years; a major expansion of our manufacturing base; a significant decline in youth unemployment; a stronger tax base; foreign exchange stability and Ghana firmly established as the digital and industrial hub of West Africa. Above all, it will mean a decisive reduction in poverty. That is the prize, and it is within reach.

Let me conclude by commending His Excellency the President for his vision for The Big Push for Infrastructural Development. Let’s complement that Big Push with a Big Push for Economic Transformation through a genuine government and private sector partnership to transform Ghana, create jobs, expands opportunity, delivers prosperity for all and build the Ghana we want.

>>>the writer is Founder & Advisor to the Board of Fidelity Bank Ghana

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