The Deloitte Africa Lead for Infrastructure, Capital Projects and Economic Advisory, Yaw Appiah Lartey, is calling for a robust accountability structures in the public sector as well as a review of the national debt sustainability framework to address the debt distress cycle that Ghana and other African countries go through.

He also wants to see the introduction of more efficiency in government administration including expenditure rationalisation, improved revenue mobilisation and a private sector participation in energy distribution.

Mr. Lartey who doubles as the Financial Advisory Partner for Deloitte Ghana, disclosed this at the 2025 Crystal Ball Africa Forum in Accra. The conference brought together over 500 business leaders, policy makers and professionals from Africa across the various sectors of the economy.

Mr. Lartey who was a panel member of a session identified some major causes of fiscal challenges and debt overhang to recurrent of large fiscal deficits, debt mismanagement and high debt service costs, government inefficiency as well as global socio-economic developments.

He therefore urged African governments to live within their means, but discover innovative means to accelerate development, particularly infrastructure.

Avoiding Trade War

On how a trade war between China and USA could impact Africa governments economic policy following the inauguration of Donald Trump as US President, Mr. Lartey proposed trade policy adjustments as well as financial market and investment policies to limit its impact on the economies in Africa.

He called on countries to intensify their efforts to diversify trade partners and strengthen economic ties with other regions to reduce dependency.

He also urged African governments to consider imposing stricter controls on foreign investments to manage the potential capital flight caused by market instability.

Stronger Regional and Economic Collaboration

Mr. Appiah Lartey also advocated for a strong regional & economic community collaboration among African governments as well as a stronger currency policy, inflation control and debt sustainability measures to stabilize African economies in 2025 and beyond.

On the stronger currency regime, he advocated for import substitution, tariffs on imports and deliberate policy support for local businesses.

For debt sustainability, he urged African governments that have defaulted on their loans to renegotiate with their creditors, widen the tax net and adopt innovative financing solutions such as more Public Private Partnerships and green financing solutions.

Mr. Appiah Lartey who is passionate about the growth of local businesses into giants also proposed a purposeful tax incentive for companies operating in Ghana that will embrace the government’s 24-Hour Economy, aggressive export promotions and enhanced doing business.

He also urged businesses to adopt prudent financial management principles and optimise the cost going forward, employ technology to enhance business efficiency, among others.

Yaw’s panel were made up of Professor Godfred Bokpin of the University of Ghana Business School; Ben Boakye, Executive Director of the African Center for Energy Policy and Dr. Olufunso Somorin, Regional Principal Officer, African Development Bank.  

The Crystal Ball Africa is an annual Pan-African business forum held in January of each year, that provides deep insights on trends and issues that impact businesses in Africa.

It provides a platform for collaboration, networking and sharing insights on navigating the complexities of the African business landscape. As businesses prepare for the challenges and opportunities of 2025, the discussion for one day programme highlighted the importance of strategic partnerships, innovation and government support in driving economic growth across the continent.