11 Reasons Why Mahama Is Seriously Misinformed About The Economy
Last week, at a meeting with labour unions to discuss his government’s derisory 10% upward adjustment of basic public salary, President John Dramani Mahama caused a stir by launching scathing attacks on the economic management record of his predecessor, accusing the erstwhile government of “criminally managing,” Ghana’s economy under its watch.
In comments some analysts have described as unfounded and unpresidential, Mahama said Ghana’s economy was a “crime scene” under the Akufo-Addo government, thus seriously branding the government and its assigns, who managed Ghana’s economy in the past eight years virtually as criminals.
Mahama’s comments, clearly, was a deliberate ploy to basterdise the economic management of the Akufo-Addo government, and also paint a picture of a terrible economic situation, for the labour unions to accept and appreciate his paltry and much maligned 10% base pay rise.
While Mahama’s choice of words has been criticised, the forum he used to make the comments has also brought the President’s sincerity into question, as far as economic management records of the country, including that of his first government, between 2012 and 2016, are concerned.
For a man who has been President before, and whose economic management record is indelibly recorded in economic journals , many have called the President out for his daring posture, and likened it to a case of the pot calling the kettle black.
The truth is that, record of Mahama’s economic management, during his first stint as President, was very bad; in fact incomparably worse than the Akufo-Addo government he has baselessly brandes as criminally-managed.
Considering the unenviable economic management record of Mahama’s first government, one wonders how President Mahama is able to boldly go public and basterdise another regime’s record, whose key economic indicators are far better, and expose his government’s incompetence.
In almost all key economic indicators, Mahama’s first government posts terrible numbers, which expose his first government’s inability to address challenges, leading to his humiliating record as the only sitting President in the 4th Republic, to have lost an election.
Mahama’s penchant for painting the Akufo-Addo government black in terms of economic management, when his own record stinks, leaves many to make the following conclusions: either President Mahama, with all due respect, does not understand these key economic indicators in terms of comparative analysis; or he is doing it deliberately because he thinks Ghanaians have forgotten about his own poor record eight years ago; or he is sadly misinformed, or misled, by his economic aides.
From the above scenarios, I believe strongly that President Mahama is being misinformed by his economic aides, because if he knew the poor economic indicators his first governemnt registered between 2012-2016, and the debilitating impact on the economy then, he would have stayed clear of attacking the better record of the NPP government.
Here are 11 incontrovertible reasons I have analysed, which expose Mahama’s strange position:
1. ECONOMIC GROWTH
President Mahama’s terrible management of the economy when he was President between 2012 and 2016, is summed up in the stunted economic growth his government superintendent. In spite of not facing any global economic crisis, the Mahama Government plunged the country’s economy to declining GDP growth levels throughout his term in office, exiting with an unimpressive 3.4% growth rate, after losing the 2016 election.
Before leaving office with a low 3.4% GDP Growth rate in 2016, Mahama’s government, without any global economic crisis, had plummeted the country’s growth rate to 2.1%, in 2015, the lowest by any government in 32 years.
Having inherited a growth rate of 3.4% from Mahama, the Akufo-Addo government steadily grew the economy, achieving a growth rate of 6.51% in 2019, before covid-19 ravaged the global economy in 2020. The pandemic severely hit the Ghanaian economy and reduced the 2019 6.51% growth rate to 0.51% in 2020.
The Akufo-Addo government, however, bounced back remarkably with a 5.08% growth rate in 2021, but another crisis which impacted the global economy, the Russia-Ukraine war, further drew the economic growth back to 3.82% in 2022 and 2.95% in 2023 respectively.
Remarkably, the Akufo-Addo government, in the midst of the global economic crisis it faced from 2020, left office with a far better growth rate of 7.2%, above the pre covid-19 growth rate of 6.51%.
And from the data, the 3.82% growth rate the NPP government registered in 2022, during the height of the global economic crisis, was better than the 3.37% growth record Mahama handed over to Nana Akufo-Addo in 2017.
2. PER CAPITA INCOME
Per capita income, which is calculated by dividing a country’s national income by its population, is used to measure a population’s standard of living.
Just as the Mahama regime of 2012 – 2016 performed worse in economic growth against the Akufo-Addo government, so it did, in per capita growth.
Mahama left office with a per capita record of GHC 5,933 or $1,412, while the Akufo-Addo government left office with a per capita record of GHC 24,544, or $2,066 (latest record for 2023).
3. AGRICULTURE GROWTH
Agriculture is a key driver of the Ghanaian economy, making a significant contribution to the GDP. It is therefore, a key determinant of economic growth under any government.
In this key sector, however, the first Mahama administration of 2012 – 2016, declined agriculture growth, exiting office at low growth rate of 2.8%.
The Akufo-Addo government, through its Planting for Food and Job policy, increased agriculture growth to different annual growth rates, going up or down, but never recorded a lower growth rate than the 2.8% it inherited from Mahama.
The Akufo-Addo government left office with a 5.7% agriculture growth rate, far better than Mahama’s 2.8% growth rate. Also the agric sector made a contribution of 24.5% contribution to Ghana’s GDP in 2024, against Mahama’s 18% he handed over to Akufo-Addo.
4. AVERAGE INFLATION RATE
This is one area which has attracted significant attention, and rightly so, due to the unprecedented inflation the world has seen since 2022.
But an objective analysis of global development, makes a fair conclusion of which of the two leaders, Mahama and Akufo-Addo, managed inflation better.
Throughout Mahama’s administration, inflation worsened, peaking at 15.4%, which he handed over to Akufo-Addo.
The Akufo-Addo government, having inherited an inflation rate of 15.4% from the Mahama government, remarkably managed the economy, consistently keeping inflation down at single digit, including a 19-year-old best of 7.6% in 2019, just before the covid-19. Even during the covid-19 pandemic, the Akufo-Addo government kept inflation at single digit (9.97% in 2021) better than Mahama’s best (11.19% in 2012).
In 2022, however, the world was hit by severe inflation, following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, adding to the covid-19 crisis. This resulted in unprecedented inflation around the world and Ghana was not spared, leading to an unexpected 31.26% and 38.11% in 2022 and 2023 respectively.
With global oil prices increasing by over 100% and cost of freight (shipping) increasing by over 300%, Ghana was severely hit, just like many countries, eading to an unexpected inflation rate of 31.26% and 38.11% in 2022 and 2023 respectively. Around this time, the likes of Germany, UK and the US all suffered highest inflation rates in decades.
At the time of leaving office however, there were signs of recovery with inflation coming down at 23%.
5. CUMULATIVE EXCHANGE RATE DEPRECIATION
Like rate of inflation, the Akufo-Addo government had managed the depreciation of the Cedi so well until the covid-19 pandemic and the global economic shock of 2022.
Having inherited the Cedi to the US dollar at 4.2, the government kept the Cedi at 6.2 for six years, before the global external factors unexpectedly hit the Cedi hard in 8 months in 2022.
Again, the over 100% rise in global fuel price and the over 300% rise in cost of shipping, abnormally brought pressure on Cedi, as demand for more US dollars reached a record high. Having started the year, 2022, at 6.2, the exchange rate ended 2022 at 10:20. It continued to surge and fluctuate downward, between 2022 until the government left office with the exchange rate at 14.6% in January 2025.
6. INDUSTRY GROWTH
After a declining rate of industrial growth by the Mahama government, it handed over a low growth rate of 3.31 to the Akufo-Addo government.
The Akufo-Addo government grew the sector by a rate of 4.12 in 2023 and 8.9% by the end of the 3rd quarter of 2024, far better than what Mahama handed over.
7. BUDGET DEFICIT/GDP
Here too, the Mahama 1 government has an inferior record to the Akufo-Addo government.
Mahama handed over an economy with a budget deficit of 6.7%, while the Akufo-Addo government slightly improved it at 6.55% by 2023. However by quarter 3 of 2024, the Akufo-Addo government had reduced the budget deficit to 3.4%.
8. TRADE BALANCE
Another key indicator, which the first Mahama administration performed badly and handed over a poorer record to the Akufo-Addo government was trade balance to GDP, which measures a country’s total exports against its total imports.
This indicator is one of the most important indicators of a government’s performance because it indicates whether a country is exporting more than it is importing, which gives a surplus trade balance, or whether a country is importing more than it’s export, which registers a negative trade balance.
Mahama handed over an economy with a negative trade balance of – 4% to the Akufo-Addo government. Remarkably, the Akufo-Addo government, inspite of the global economic challenges, improved Ghana’s trade balance to 2.8% by 2.8%.
By the 3rd quarter of 2024, Ghana’s trade balance had moved to 3.0%, the best record by any government in 50 years.
9. PRIMARY BALANCE
The Mahama government also handed over a declined primary balance, (difference between a government’s revenue and its non-interest expenditure) to the Akufo-Addo government.
Mahama handed over a primary balance of -1.31%, but by quarter 3 of 2024, Ghana’s primary balance was at 0.5.
10. CURRENT ACCOUNT BALANCE
A current account balance, which measures an economy’s net foreign transactions, that is is, the value of all goods and services traded abroad, payments on investments abroad, and foreign cash transfers.
As a major indicator of a country’s economic performance, the Mahama administration of 2012 to 2017, again performed poorer.
It handed over a primary balance of -7% to the Akufo-Addo government, which improved it to 2.26% in 2023 and 2.6% by the 3rd quarter of 2024.
11. GROSS INTERNATIONAL RESERVES
In this important indicator, which measures the total value of country’s foreign assets, which include foreign investments, gold, foreign exchange, etc.
The Mahama administration left government with a gross international reserves of 5.784b US dollars to the Akufo-Addo government, which, inspite of facing global economic crisis in 3 years, improved it to 8.982b US .
CONCLUSION
From the above comparative analysis of key economic indicators, one wonders the basis for which President Mahama thinks he managed the economy better when he was President?
How does President Mahama think he managed the economy better when he handed over the economy, with a 3.37% growth rate, without global economic crisis, and could not keep the lights on, could not pay NHIS arrears, could not pay nursing and teacher trainees, could not fully pay salaries of workers who had worked for a year?
How is Mahama’s final 3.7% growth rate record (without global economic crisis) better than Akufo-Addo government’s final growth rate record of 7.2%?
Clearly, President Mahama’s bold attacks on the economic management record of the Akufo-Addo government, which is far better his, could only have been made from a misinformed position, especially when the data is so clear.
If there is any economic management record which should be described as “criminally managed”, it is none, but Mahama’s first administration, which could not even meet basic financial obligations in 2016, including providing money to the GES to buy chalk for basic schools.
Source: Dr. Margaret Coomson/Development Economist
