Director of Communications for the Bawumia campaign, Dennis Miracles Aboagye, has delivered a critique of government claims that Ghana’s economy has become resilient, arguing that the country remains structurally weak and heavily dependent on imports.

Speaking on Newsfile on Saturday, March 21, Mr Aboagye questioned the basis of assertions by President John Mahama that the economy is now resilient, insisting that the evidence does not support such conclusions.

Mr Aboagye said the central challenge confronting Ghana’s economy is its longstanding reliance on imports, which he described as a fundamental structural weakness.

He noted that the New Patriotic Party (NPP) government itself had previously acknowledged this issue and proposed boosting domestic production as a solution.

This, he said, included plans to stimulate private sector investment, expand industrial capacity, and grow local manufacturing.

“The Ghanaian economy has one major problem — lack of local production,” he stated. “We are too import-dependent.”

According to him, increasing domestic output was intended to provide a long-term solution, even as short-term measures were used to stabilise the economy.

Despite these policy intentions, Mr Aboagye questioned whether tangible progress had been made.

“Whilst the government is touting all these things, can they show us specifically what has been put in place?” he asked, suggesting that there is little visible evidence of meaningful structural transformation.

He drew a clear distinction between aspirations and reality, warning that the government risks overstating its achievements.

“There is a difference between saying we are becoming resilient and saying we are resilient,” he said. “The government’s position now is that we are resilient.”

To illustrate his point, Mr Aboagye described Ghana’s economy as operating on an “80–20” basis, where the majority of spending leaks out of the country through imports.

“Any ten cedis you hold in this country, eight cedis goes back to the dollar,” he argued. “A lot of the money we receive goes back into importation.”

He maintained that a truly resilient economy would require a dramatic reversal of this pattern, with as much as 80 per cent of goods consumed locally produced within Ghana.

Without such a shift, he warned, the country remains highly exposed to external shocks over which it has no control.

Mr Aboagye further argued that Ghana’s recent macroeconomic improvements are largely dependent on external factors, particularly the performance of gold in international markets.

“All the macroeconomic indicators you are mentioning have been anchored in the gold buying programme,” he said. “You are relying on external factors.”

This dependence, he noted, undermines claims of resilience, as any downturn in global commodity markets could quickly erode the gains made.

Highlighting the economy’s sensitivity to currency movements, Mr Aboagye warned that a significant depreciation of the cedi could have severe consequences.

“If we wake up tomorrow and the dollar spikes sharply, this economy is finished,” he said, describing the current situation as fragile.

He also referenced remarks by the central bank governor suggesting that global geopolitical developments—including tensions involving Iran—could negatively affect Ghana’s economic outlook.

Mr Aboagye dismissed suggestions that government policy has significantly influenced fuel prices, arguing that global market forces remain the dominant factor.

“When we said fuel prices have little to do with what the government has done, the evidence shows that only small components are within their control,” he stated.

In a pointed remark, Mr Aboagye urged the President to avoid making what he described as unsubstantiated claims.

“The President should take it easy. He has already won an election. He does not need to tell us things to make us happy. He just has to work,” he said.

He accused the government of making statements that are not borne out by facts on the ground and warned against setting unrealistic expectations.

Mr Aboagye noted that Ghana’s economy cannot yet be described as resilient, citing the absence of concrete policy measures and the continued dominance of external influences.

“What he is telling us is not true. It is not factual,” he said. “The evidence on the ground does not show that we are resilient.”

He called for a renewed focus on building domestic productive capacity as the only credible path towards long-term economic strength, insisting that without such reforms, Ghana remains vulnerable to future shocks.