President John Dramani Mahama has told Ghana’s business community that the government’s focus on fiscal discipline is delivering results, pointing to a markedly improved economic environment as evidence that the country’s recovery is taking hold.
Addressing over 1,200 participants at the Kwahu Convention Centre in Mpraeso on Saturday, April 4, Mahama said the economic landscape has improved considerably from where it stood before his administration took office in January 2025. He used the platform to call on business leaders to match that progress with greater corporate accountability, particularly around tax compliance.
“I encourage all of you, the big businesses, don’t hide. Go and stand there with GRA and let them receive your cheque. Let’s see that you are paying your taxes and that you are good corporate citizens,” the President said, addressing major business operators directly and urging them to publicly demonstrate their commitment to the Ghana Revenue Authority (GRA).
The appeal reflects a broader effort by the government to rebuild fiscal credibility while expanding the tax base. Ghana’s inflation fell to 3.3 percent in February 2026, its lowest level in nearly three decades, while Treasury bill rates have declined to around 10.7 percent, the lowest in 14 years. Real Gross Domestic Product (GDP) growth averaged 6.1 percent in the first three quarters of 2025, and the Bank of Ghana (BoG) has cut its policy rate by 14 percentage points since July 2025, bringing it to 14 percent.
Mahama also used Saturday’s session to raise the issue of business continuity, calling on Ghanaian entrepreneurs to take succession planning more seriously. He noted that many enterprises collapse when their founders are no longer able to lead them, and argued that sustainable businesses require institutional planning that extends beyond individual ownership. “Businesses rise and collapse, new ones come and collapse again. We need sustained businesses, and that requires planning beyond the founder’s lifetime,” he said.
The Kwahu Business Forum, now in its third edition, was convened under the theme “The Future of Business: The Role of the Financial Sector.” The event, initiated by President Mahama and Chief of Staff Julius Debrah, drew entrepreneurs, financial sector leaders, development partners and policymakers over two days of discussions on access to capital, industrialisation and enterprise growth. Saturday’s programme also featured a special address by the Governor of the BoG, Dr Johnson Pandit Asiama, and closed-door sessions between banking chiefs and the central bank on economic matters.
The forum comes at a pivotal moment in Ghana’s fiscal recovery. The government recently returned to the domestic bond market for the first time since the Domestic Debt Exchange Programme (DDEP), successfully raising GH¢2.7 billion through a seven-year bond issued at a 12.5 percent coupon rate, a move widely seen as a test of investor confidence in Ghana’s economic turnaround. The government is targeting GH¢15.2 billion in domestic market fundraising between March and June 2026. Mahama said the International Monetary Fund (IMF) programme has been a framework for discipline, but stressed that fiscal responsibility would remain a priority even after the programme concludes.
