Why Ghana Keeps Reliving the Same Economic Problems.

(by Kofi Sasraku)

I first realised Ghana was stuck in a loop one quiet afternoon in Kumasi, sitting in a small chop bar behind the Kejetia market. A woman who sold tomato paste was arguing gently with the owner about why her ingredients now cost more than they did the week before.

She didn’t use the word “inflation.” She simply said:

“Every time I think I’ve caught up, the prices go ahead of me again.”

There was nothing dramatic about the moment, no TV cameras, no economists, no politicians. Just an ordinary conversation in an ordinary place.
But that is exactly where Ghana’s economic story truly lives.

A friend later told me over the phone from Tamale that fuel prices there had gone up twice in one week, and that even the fuel attendants were tired of rewriting the board.

Different places. Same feeling.

That was when it became clear to me:
Ghana’s economy doesn’t “decline.”
It repeats.

We built an economy that trades more than it produces

Walk through any town, whether it’s a large city or a quiet district  and you’ll notice the same pattern:

Shops full of imported goods.
Market stalls filled with items we could make but don’t.
Warehouses stacked with things we consume but never produce.

We’ve created a country where buying feels easier than building, and trading feels safer than manufacturing.

And as long as imports remain our national instinct, our economy will remain vulnerable.
No currency can stay stable when the country depends on foreign goods to survive.

We depend on commodities that move like the weather

Our economic confidence rises and falls with three things:

• Cocoa
• Gold
• Oil

These are gifts, but they are also traps.
One bad harvest, one dip in global prices, one disruption in supply chains, and suddenly the national budget trembles.

This creates a cycle where prosperity has nothing to do with strategy — only with luck.

Nations cannot rely on weather-dependent wealth and expect long-term stability.

We borrow to survive today, not to secure tomorrow

Almost every government since independence has borrowed with good intentions to stabilise the budget, finish projects, support households, and ease pressure.

But the problem is simple:

We borrow to maintain ourselves, not to transform ourselves.

If loans don’t turn into factories, power supply, mechanised agriculture, efficient transport, or skills development, then we are just paying interest on repetition.

A country can borrow its way into development.
But it cannot borrow its way out of habits.

Our politics is built on short-term promises, not long-term discipline

Election seasons reveal the fundamental structure of our economy:
Everything becomes urgent, everything becomes emotional, everything becomes political.

We measure governments in four-year cycles, but nation-building requires decades of continuity.
Projects start with enthusiasm and end with silence.
Policies shift because administrations shift.
Initiatives stall, restart, or disappear entirely.

You cannot build an economy on foundations that reset every few years.

Institutions remain too fragile to enforce the reforms everyone agrees we need

We know what needs to be done:

• strengthen local industries
• reduce import dependency
• reform taxation
• expand agriculture
• discipline public spending
• empower agencies to act independently

But institutions do not grow strong by magic.
They need protection, protection from politics, from interference, from patronage, from fear.

Where institutions are weak, discipline is optional.
And where discipline is optional, economies drift.

So why does Ghana keep reliving the same problems?

Because the conditions that created the problems are still intact.

The conversations I hear in Accra are echoed in Tamale.
The frustrations in one region are mirrored in another.
The national mood rises and falls with the same pressures, inflation, cedi depreciation, rising costs, and import dependence.

Ghana is not cursed; we are consistent.

We repeat our economic problems because we repeat our economic behaviours.

Change is possible — but not if we expect different results from the same habits

If we want a different story, we need:

• long-term planning that survives elections
• institutions that enforce discipline
• investments that build capacity, not comfort
• an economy rooted in production, not importation
• leadership that values continuity more than applause

Until then, the cycle will continue.
And ordinary people will continue feeling its weight long before the experts measure it.

Ghana doesn’t need a new slogan.
It needs a new rhythm.