Accra, Friday, February 6, 2026 — Parliament has passed the 24-Hour Economy Authority Bill, 2025 into law, providing statutory backing for the implementation of the government’s flagship 24-Hour Economy and Accelerated Export Development Programme.
The passage of the Bill marks a major legislative milestone for the governing National Democratic Congress (NDC) administration led by President John Dramani Mahama, under whose leadership the 24-Hour Economy agenda has been positioned as a central pillar of Ghana’s economic transformation strategy.
The Bill establishes the 24-Hour Economy Authority, mandated to coordinate, oversee, and drive the implementation of the 24-Hour Economy programme across strategic sectors of the economy.
Rationale for the Bill
Presenting the rationale for the legislation at a press conference just after the passage of the Bill, the Majority Leader, Hon. Mahama Ayariga argued that Ghana’s economy continues to grapple with deep-seated structural challenges, including over-reliance on low-value raw material exports, high dependence on imported finished and intermediate goods, weak domestic value addition, and high production and logistics costs.
According to the memorandum accompanying the Bill, these structural weaknesses have resulted in significant value leakage from the economy, contributing to recurring economic crises and constraining sustainable national development.
The 24-Hour Economy programme, the memorandum notes, is designed as a comprehensive response to these challenges by restructuring production systems, strengthening supply chains, and developing labour capacity to support continuous economic activity.
Three-Pillar Approach
The programme is anchored on three interlinked pillars.
The first pillar focuses on production systems transformation, aimed at increasing the volume, quality, and diversity of domestic production. It targets strategic value chains where Ghana can localise production from start to finish, with emphasis on food security, import substitution, value addition, employment creation, and export growth.
The second pillar centres on the development of supply chain and market systems, addressing infrastructure bottlenecks and misalignments across critical national systems such as energy, finance, management services, and information and communication technology. Government contends that inefficiencies in these systems have significantly increased the cost of goods and weakened economic integration.
The third pillar addresses labour development, with a focus on skills enhancement—particularly digital skills—work discipline, and national mobilisation to rebuild productivity and community-based problem-solving capacities.
New Institutional Framework
The passage of the Bill formalises the establishment of the 24-Hour Economy Authority, transitioning the programme from its previous administration under a Secretariat within the Office of the President to a legally constituted body.
Government officials argue that the Authority is necessary to ensure sustained coordination across multiple value chains and sectors, moving beyond traditional silo-based approaches that have characterised public sector interventions.
The programme is described as a State-led initiative implemented largely through organised private citizens, cooperatives, companies, industry associations, and community-based organisations, rather than solely by public servants. Financing is expected to come primarily from private institutions, including development banks, pension funds, multilateral partners, and private foundations, rather than the national budget.
Parliamentary Consideration
During deliberations, Members of Parliament examined the scope, structure, and mandate of the proposed Authority, as well as its implications for governance, coordination, and accountability. The Bill was ultimately approved after consideration by the relevant parliamentary committee and subsequent debate on the floor of the House.
Looking Ahead
With the Bill now passed into law, the government is expected to operationalise the 24-Hour Economy Authority and roll out full implementation of the programme nationwide.
The passage of the legislation positions the 24-Hour Economy as a long-term national development framework, with government insisting that statutory backing is essential to insulating the programme from political transitions and ensuring continuity in addressing Ghana’s structural economic challenges.
Source: Clement Akoloh||parliamentnews360.com
