Accra, Ghana — The World Bank’s tenth Ghana Economic Update, ‘Reset for Growth: Sustaining Macroeconomic Recovery and Unlocking Transport for Transformation ’, has urged Ghana, as a matter of urgency, to turn its recent strong economic recovery into quality jobs and lasting growth.
According to the report, which was launched in Accra today, Ghana’s economy has made significant progress in restoring macroeconomic stability, but sustaining the recovery and translating it into more jobs and better livelihoods would require continued fiscal discipline, stronger revenue mobilisation, and reforms to unlock the country’s transport sector.
The report found that Ghana’s recovery deepened in 2025, with real GDP growth reaching 6.0 per cent, supported by services and agriculture. Inflation fell sharply, gross international reserves strengthened, and the fiscal position improved, with a primary surplus exceeding the program target.
It added that public debt declined substantially following progress on the comprehensive debt restructuring.
Despite these gains, the report cautioned that the recovery remains incomplete. Growth has not yet generated enough quality jobs to absorb Ghana’s expanding working-age population, poverty remains elevated in parts of the country, and external risks — including commodity price volatility, higher energy and fertilizer costs, and tighter global financing conditions — could test the durability of recent progress.
Speaking at the launch, the World Bank Division Director for Ghana, Liberia, and Sierra Leone, Robert Taliercio, said: “Ghana has made important progress in restoring stability after a difficult period, but the next phase must be about making the recovery durable and more inclusive”.
“Maintaining fiscal and monetary discipline, strengthening revenue mobilisation, and protecting priority social and infrastructure spending will be essential to ensure that macroeconomic gains translate into better jobs and improved welfare for Ghanaians.”
The report projected growth to moderate to 4.8 per cent in 2026 as post-crisis adjustment gains taper off and external pressures persist, before converging toward Ghana’s medium-term potential of around 5 per cent.
Inflation is expected to remain within the Bank of Ghana’s target band, provided monetary easing remains data-dependent and external price shocks are carefully managed.
The Update’s special focus examined Ghana’s transport sector, identifying chronic under-maintenance, fragmented governance, weak multimodal integration, and limited climate resilience as binding constraints on productivity, trade, and job creation.
Roads carry more than 95 per cent of passenger and freight traffic, yet much of the network remains unpaved or in poor condition. Rail freight has declined sharply over decades, increasing pressure on roads, while ports and inland logistics systems remain insufficiently connected.
World Bank Transport Specialist and co-author of the report, Akua Pokuaa Timpabi, who co-reviewed the report at the launch argued: “Transport is not only an infrastructure issue; it is central to Ghana’s growth, jobs, and inclusion agenda”.
She continued: “Better-maintained roads, stronger rail and port linkages, safer urban mobility, and climate-resilient infrastructure can reduce the cost of doing business, connect farmers and firms to markets, and expand access to jobs.”
The report highlights six priority transport reforms to help Ghana turn infrastructure investment into stronger growth and job creation.
These include funding road maintenance sustainably, improving coordination across transport agencies, revitalising rail freight along key trade corridors, treating road safety as an economic priority, integrating climate resilience into transport planning and financing, and expanding digital logistics systems beyond Tema to improve port, inland terminal, and road asset management.
The report argued that Ghana’s 2026 infrastructure ambitions, including the Big Push Infrastructure Program, can support productivity and employment if capital investment is accompanied by stronger maintenance systems, better project preparation, improved governance, and credible financing frameworks.
For World Bank Senior Economist and co-author of the report. Tamoya Christie, “The policy window is open”.
“Ghana can use the current stabilisation gains to build a more diversified economy and employment-intensive economy, but doing so will require sustained reforms that protect fiscal stability while removing structural bottlenecks to private investment and market access.”
Commenting on the report in a speech, Ghana’s Minister of Finance, Dr Cassiel Ato Forson, welcomed the report and thanked the World Bank for the insightful report.
He also assured that “the Government of Ghana takes the findings and recommendations of the report seriously and it is already engaging with them”.
The Coordinating Director (Technical) at the Ministry of Finance, Samuel Danquah Arkhurs, who read the minister’s speech, noted that the country’s recovery is a story of difficult choices to make and the results, as confirmed by the Mid-year Review, are encouraging.
“Because inflation that stood stubbornly at above 20% in two consecutive years has come down to 4.6% as at the end of July 2026”, he said.
Real GDP grew by 6.4% in the first quarter of 2026, while gross international reserves now cover five months of import cover, he added.
For a country like Ghana, between three and 3.5 months of import cover plus or minus would be the threshold, Mr Arkhurs indicated.
In a panel discussion, Dr Andrews Kwablah, a civil engineer and transport planning expert; Dr John Asafu-Adjaye, a Senior Fellow at ACET; Samuel Seth Passah, seasoned urban planner; Francis Dormenyo Ahlidza, a civil engineer; David Ofosu-Dorte, founder of AB & David Africa; and Daniel Amofa, a Chief Analyst (Monitoring and Evaluation) at the National Development Planning Commission, said the government needs to do more to solve the country’s transport and economic challenges of the country.
The Ghana Economic Update is an annual World Bank publication that reviews recent economic developments, assesses the medium-term outlook, and provides analysis on selected development priorities. This tenth edition focuses on sustaining macroeconomic recovery and unlocking transport as a platform for transformation.
