President Mahama Declares “Ghana Is Back and Ready for Business” in 2026 State of the Nation Address
President John Dramani Mahama delivered an optimistic and assertive 2026 State of the Nation Address (SONA) to a joint sitting of Parliament today, Friday, February 27, proclaiming that Ghana has regained macroeconomic stability, restored investor confidence, and is firmly “back and ready for business.”
Speaking before Members of Parliament, government officials, the diplomatic corps, traditional leaders, and invited guests, the President adopted an upbeat tone while reviewing the administration’s first-year performance and outlining priorities for the year ahead.
Key Highlights from the Address
Economic Revival and Tough Choices President Mahama recalled his previous SONA pledge to pursue bold reforms despite short-term pain:
“I told this august house then, when I appeared before you last year, that we needed to take tough decisions to restore credibility and stability, and I can say with confidence today that Ghana is back and ready for business.”
He emphasised that achieving stability required deliberate choices:
- Discipline over waste — Reducing unnecessary expenditure, enforcing value-for-money in public spending, and eliminating inefficiencies.
- Reform over excuses — Confronting structural challenges directly rather than attributing difficulties solely to external factors.
- Stability over speculation — Rebuilding trust in institutions and the cedi through consistent policy implementation.
The President highlighted “firm leadership and sacrifice” as essential to the turnaround, noting visible improvements in key fundamentals.
Major Gains Cited Drawing on Ghana Statistical Service data, he announced:
- Over 1 million Ghanaians found employment between Q1 and Q3 2025.
- Approximately 950,000 people exited multidimensional poverty in the same period.
He described these figures as evidence that “our economy is gaining strength and resilience on the global stage,” with the shift “from planning to action” now underway on flagship initiatives like the 24-hour economy.
External Sector Strength The President reported a dramatic improvement in the external accounts:
- The current account recorded a surplus of $9.1 billion by December 2025 — equivalent to 8.1% of GDP — up sharply from 1.8% in 2024. He credited strong performance in gold, cocoa, non-traditional exports, and higher remittance inflows.
Looking Ahead While the address focused heavily on recovery and stability achieved so far, the President signalled that 2026 will be a year of accelerated implementation across:
- Economic consolidation and job creation
- Health and education reforms
- Agriculture (with emphasis on cocoa sector revival)
- Infrastructure acceleration
- Youth empowerment and creative industries
He reiterated the administration’s commitment to fiscal discipline, structural transformation, and inclusive growth, promising that the difficult decisions of the past year are laying the foundation for sustained prosperity.
The speech, delivered under Article 67 of the 1992 Constitution, sets the legislative tone for the year and is expected to frame budget discussions, policy debates, and government priorities in the months ahead.
Minority Leader Alexander Afenyo-Markin and other opposition figures are anticipated to respond during parliamentary debate, with particular focus likely on job quality, poverty metrics, cocoa sector challenges, power supply reliability, and the pace of promised reforms.
