Leading economists and business executives have warned that Ghana’s pattern of resetting government priorities every election cycle stalls economic development and imposes enormous costs on taxpayers through abandoned infrastructure projects.
Professor Peter Quartey of the Institute of Statistical, Social and Economic Research (ISSER) at the University of Ghana emphasized that the country has long been bedeviled by policy discontinuity, fiscal volatility, macroeconomic instability and investor uncertainty, especially during political transitions. His remarks at a high level breakfast meeting convened by Graphic Business and Stanbic Bank Ghana today underscored the systemic challenge that many view as a major barrier to sustainable growth.
Kwamina Asomaning, Managing Director of Stanbic Bank Ghana, questioned whether a nation can truly prosper if its development agenda resets every election cycle. He argued that inconsistent commitment from one administration to the next weakens both public trust and investor confidence, creating an environment hostile to long term planning and investment.
According to a recent Auditor General’s report, Ghana has 62 fully completed infrastructure projects including schools, health centers, market sheds and police stations that remain unused. The cost to the state for these idle facilities totals approximately GHC 52.9 million, representing wasted resources that could have supported other development priorities.
The 2020 audit of Metropolitan, Municipal and District Assemblies (MMDAs) found that abandoned and delayed local projects cost Ghana GHC 35.4 million, illustrating how funds are often committed without producing lasting value. These derailed investments directly undercut Ghana’s long term development ambitions, including Vision 2057, the government’s strategic blueprint for 34 year transformational growth.
Vision 2057 calls for sustained infrastructure development, resilient and inclusive institutions, and macroeconomic stability, goals fundamentally incompatible with patterns of abandoned local projects. The medium term development frameworks covering 2022 to 2025 that guide local assemblies are explicitly aligned with broader national strategies such as Ghana@100 and the Ghana Beyond Aid charter, which emphasize self reliance, equitable growth and long term structural transformation.
When local governments abandon projects that would have supported these frameworks, including health clinics, police posts or basic sanitation facilities, they erode the very foundation of Ghana’s future oriented vision. Research by Martin J. Williams at Oxford’s Blavatnik School of Government reveals that about one third of small public projects started between 2011 and 2013 were never completed.
According to Williams’ analysis, unfinished projects consumed almost 20 percent of all local government capital expenditure, representing huge inefficiencies in public investment. This pattern extends beyond district level initiatives to affect some of Ghana’s most high profile legacy projects that have also stalled due to political shifts.
The Saglemi Housing Project promised 5,000 affordable units but only saw 668 completed before stalling. The Accra SkyTrain, proposed as a $2.6 billion mass transit solution, never moved beyond the planning stage despite significant resources invested in feasibility studies and preliminary designs.
Asomaning emphasized that when citizens see national projects survive beyond election cycles, trust in both government and democracy deepens. Investors also gain confidence when they know that commitments made today will not be abandoned tomorrow, creating a more stable environment for both domestic and foreign investment.
The economic cost of abandoned or stalled projects extends beyond wasted money to lost opportunity. When infrastructure projects fail to reach completion or remain unused, the social returns such as better education, improved health and increased commerce never materialize, compounding the financial losses with foregone development benefits.
Experts at the meeting urged the government to institutionalize multi year development planning that transcends electoral cycles. They recommended more rigorous monitoring and oversight of public contracts, along with stronger incentives to ensure that once a project begins, it is completed regardless of political transitions.
The Parliamentary Select Committee on Local Government has echoed similar calls, urging assemblies to complete legacy projects before launching new ones. This approach would help break the cycle of starting ambitious initiatives that later face abandonment when administrations change and priorities shift.
Many in the business community argue that structural reform addressing policy discontinuity is not optional but essential for Ghana’s development trajectory. Without such reforms, each new administration risks repeating a costly cycle of grand promises, partial progress and wasted public funds that undermines both economic growth and public confidence.
The breakfast meeting highlighted growing consensus among economists, bankers and policy analysts that Ghana must develop mechanisms to insulate critical development projects from political cycles. This includes creating independent project oversight bodies, establishing binding multi year budget commitments and strengthening accountability frameworks that penalize project abandonment.
