Policy analyst Stephen Apolima has called on the government and Bank of Ghana to pursue long-term structural reforms rather than relying on short-term dollar injections to stabilize the cedi, warning that Ghana’s economy continues to suffer from deep-rooted fragility that periodic forex interventions cannot cure.
Speaking in an interview with the Ghana News Agency, Apolima deployed vivid metaphors to illustrate his concerns about the central bank’s approach to currency management. “The Bank of Ghana, in its anxious bid to stabilise the cedi, often behaves like a physician who soothes a fever without curing the infection,” he said. “Each injection of foreign currency into the veins of the market cools the patient economy momentarily, yet the sickness remains untouched, pulsing quietly beneath the surface.”
His critique arrives at a particularly sensitive moment for Ghana’s economic managers. The Bank of Ghana recently announced plans to inject $1.15 billion into the forex market during October 2025 through twice-weekly, price-competitive auctions, continuing an aggressive intervention strategy that has seen unprecedented levels of market involvement this year.
The scale of these interventions tells its own story. The central bank sold $1.4 billion in foreign exchange during the first quarter of 2025 alone, surpassing the total $1 billion injected across all of 2023. Such massive market involvement has drawn scrutiny from international financial institutions, even as it contributed to the cedi becoming one of the world’s best-performing currencies this year.
Apolima argues that this approach addresses symptoms rather than causes. He explained that Ghana’s economic structure remains vulnerable because it relies heavily on imports and external financing, with weak local production and minimal value addition to exports. His assessment echoes longstanding concerns about Ghana’s economic model that date back to the colonial era.
The analyst used stark imagery to describe the country’s trade imbalance. “Our economy inhales imports and exhales dependency,” he remarked. “The industrial base, weak and weary, can scarcely support the weight of our consumption. Our exports, modest and often raw, tell a story of a country that sells its inheritance for daily bread.”
This dependency creates a vicious cycle where forex interventions become necessary but ultimately insufficient. According to Apolima, the nation’s approach to currency stabilization resembles a desperate person clutching a cane that cannot bear their weight. It provides temporary steadiness but doesn’t address why they’re stumbling in the first place.
The debate over forex interventions has intensified throughout 2025. The World Bank warned in its 9th Ghana Economic Update that while the Bank of Ghana’s interventions contributed to the cedi’s remarkable appreciation, excessive involvement could distort market dynamics and undermine long-term economic stability. The IMF has similarly urged the central bank to adopt a more rules-based and transparent framework.
Yet defenders of the policy point to tangible results. The World Bank’s Africa Pulse Report ranked the Ghana cedi as Africa’s best-performing currency after the first eight months of 2025, appreciating by more than 20 percent since January. This dramatic turnaround from 2024’s depreciation has been attributed to fiscal discipline, sound monetary policy, and renewed investor confidence.
Apolima acknowledges these gains but questions their sustainability. He advised the central bank to “dream beyond the next balance sheet” and focus on strategies that strengthen productivity, local manufacturing, and sustainable resource management. Without these foundational changes, he suggests, today’s successes risk becoming tomorrow’s crises.
His vision for lasting stability centers on domestic production capacity. “The cedi will not find peace in the vaults of foreign banks but in the quiet hum of Ghanaian factories; in the cocoa that is processed here, not shipped raw; in the minerals refined, not smuggled; in the rivers restored, not ruined,” Apolima said, linking economic resilience to both industrial development and environmental stewardship.
The environmental dimension of his argument represents a less conventional approach to economic policy. Apolima urged policymakers to recognize that environmental protection constitutes key economic policy, not a separate concern. When natural resources are depleted or degraded, he argues, it weakens the very foundation upon which sustainable economic growth must be built.
His recommendations align with broader calls for economic transformation that have emerged from various quarters. Recent studies suggest Ghana’s economy has the potential to grow at nine percent annually from 2025 to 2043 if structural problems are addressed through industrial diversification and value addition to raw materials.
The challenge lies in implementation. Building domestic manufacturing capacity, developing export-oriented industries, and processing raw materials locally require substantial investment, technical expertise, and sustained political commitment. These reforms take years to bear fruit, while currency pressures demand immediate responses.
This tension between short-term crisis management and long-term structural change has defined Ghana’s economic policy for decades. Apolima’s intervention adds another voice to those arguing that the country must break this cycle. Forex interventions may be necessary in the short run, but they cannot substitute for the hard work of building a resilient, productive economy.
Bank of Ghana officials have defended their approach, arguing that interventions target market stability rather than artificial manipulation. Deputy Governor Dr. Johnson Asiama Pandit explained that the central bank operates under a flexible exchange rate management framework focused on smoothing excessive volatilities rather than controlling the exchange rate.
The fundamental question remains whether Ghana can transition from dependency to self-sufficiency while managing immediate economic pressures. Apolima believes the answer lies in building resilience from within through investment in production, innovation, and value addition. Only then, he suggests, will the cedi achieve lasting stability without requiring artificial resuscitation.
For now, the debate continues as policymakers navigate between competing pressures. The October forex injections will proceed as planned, providing short-term support to the currency. Whether they’re accompanied by the deeper structural reforms Apolima advocates could determine whether Ghana’s recent economic gains prove durable or ephemeral.
