President John Dramani Mahama has identified high electricity costs, inconsistent power supply, import duties on machinery, and corporate taxes as major hurdles slowing the growth of Ghana’s manufacturing sector.

He warned that these challenges threaten the country’s competitiveness in the West African region.

Addressing business leaders in Accra, the President stressed the urgent need for structural reforms to revive the sector.

“For over five decades, Ghana’s manufacturing sector has contributed around 10% to GDP. Meanwhile, emerging Asian economies, starting from a similar baseline, have expanded manufacturing to 20%–30% of GDP,” he said, highlighting the risk of falling behind regional peers without decisive action.

To address these issues, President Mahama outlined measures aimed at lowering energy costs and easing financing constraints.

“No industrial nation thrives under structurally high costs of power,” he said, announcing plans to restructure energy sector debts, expand renewable energy production, implement off-peak tariffs for industrial users, and improve electricity transmission efficiency.

The President also pledged to improve access to industrial financing through collaboration with the Bank of Ghana and development finance institutions, reinforcing that these are not incremental tweaks but structural reforms critical to transforming the sector.

“These reforms are necessary to change our trajectory,” he added.

The initiatives are part of a broader strategy to raise manufacturing’s share of GDP from 10% to at least 15% by 2030 and create 500,000 industrial jobs, positioning Ghana as a leading manufacturing hub in West Africa by removing longstanding barriers to investment and industrial expansion.