An Economist at the University of Ghana Business School, Prof Lord Mensah has argued that the implementation of a 24-hour economy has the potential to enhance Ghana’s GDP and create employment opportunities, particularly for the youth.

This comes after the National Democratic Congress flagbearer, John Mahama pledged to implement a 24 hour economy to address the prevailing rate of youth unemployment in the country.

Speaking on JoyNews’ AM Show on August 13, Prof Mensah explained that extending operational hours to 24 hours a day could contribute to the country’s economic growth.

“Having extended hours, going into 24 hours tells me that you can add on to the GDP that we have. From where I sit, if you are going to have existing structures that can operate 24 hours then add on more jobs, obviously that would be something that I would go all out for,” he said.

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According to him, Ghana’s infrastructural investments, funded through loans, are underutilised due to limited operational hours.

“For instance, Ridge Hospital, we cannot continue to operate it for only 8 to 12 hours. We may be under utilising the facility. So if we have borrowed for some time and we have used these monies for infrastructural developments, why don’t we change our policy orientation so that we can optimally utilise this facility to create jobs and improve on economic output of the country,” he said.

According to him, the shift to a 24-hour economy should be a collaborative effort between the government and the private sector.

He stated that a well-implemented 24-hour economy policy could drive economic growth and job creation, benefiting both public and private sectors alike.

“It shouldn’t be a policy that would be owned by the government like some experience we had in the past where the government rolls out policies, and it gets confused and doesn’t even know whether the policy is owned by government or the private man. I think it’s a policy that will help the economy,” he said.