Ghana in Focus Budget Special: What it means for you!!

Prices have been biting, businesses have been leaving, and confidence has felt fragile. Now a new budget promises a reset: six nuisance taxes abolished, inflation pulled into single digits, and a growth path built around food security, infrastructure, and a 24-hour economy. 

We unpack what actually changes for families at the market, entrepreneurs battling red tape, and diaspora investors weighing property and agribusiness in Ghana.

We start with the macro turn: debt reined in through restructuring, a steadier cedi to cool import costs, and a growth outlook that leans on services, agriculture, and ICT. Then we get practical. What does the removal of e-levy and other charges mean for cash flow and hiring? How do farm-to-market roads and contractor arrears payments translate into lower food inflation and faster delivery? And can a 24-hour economy thrive without fixing power sector arrears and reliability?

Food sovereignty takes centre stage with the Feed Ghana programme targeting grains, vegetables, and a major push to raise poultry self-sufficiency toward 75 percent. We map investable niches across cold chains, feed mills, hatcheries, storage, and processing, and explain how better logistics can stabilise prices and widen margins.

For the diaspora, we outline how stabilising policy, tax reform, and local banking platforms could shift money from remittances to real investments with community impact.

Not everything hits the mark. We challenge the case for a women-only investment bank versus investment in a local solar car manufacturing venture  that could fuse women's empowerment with export potential and the 24-hour economy drive . 

Finally we call out the glaring omission from the budget: no credible plan to ease a housing deficit in the millions, with prices far beyond 95% of Ghanaians. 

The stakes are clear—deliver on execution as well as implementation and post-IMF discipline, and Ghana’s “open for business” mantra gains traction.

If this breakdown helps you plan your next move, follow and subscribe for more grounded analysis, share with a friend who needs it, and leave a review with the question you want answered in our housing deep dive next week.

Chapters

• 0:03 Budget Special: Why It Matters
• 0:46 Subscribe, Follow, And Support
• 2:01 Consultancy For Doing Business
• 2:41 Big Picture: Stabilise And Grow
• 4:21 Debt, Discipline, And Inflation
• 8:34 Tax Abolitions And Business Relief
• 10:15 Energy Woes And Road Push
• 13:02 Cost Of Living And Social Spend
• 16:54 Diaspora Pathways To Invest
• 21:04 Food Security As Economic Backbone
• 26:36 A Missed Bet: Women’s Bank Vs Industry
• 36:15 Risks Post‑IMF And Outlook
• 38:54 Housing Gap Teaser And Wrap

Transcript

SPEAKER_00: 0:03

Welcome to this week's episode of Ghana in Focus with myself, Kwame, Ghanaian writer, broadcaster, journalist, entrepreneur, podcaster, and historian. And in this week's episode of Ghana in Focus, it's a budget special. So we are analyzing the budget that happened in the last week in Ghana. And particularly to you, as somebody that lives in the diaspora, Ghanaian or African diaspora, what that means for you if you want to invest in Ghana and do business in Ghana, and also what it means for the all the Ghanaian living in Ghana. So that's the thing for today. So before we start the show, as usual, if you like what you hear, please share to your friends, your family, social media networks, subscribe to Ghana, African Fix on YouTube. You want to get a lot more subscribers on YouTube, so please tell your friends and family to subscribe to Ghana, stroke African folks on YouTube. Uh hit the notification bell, uh, meaning that every time we upload a new podcast, YouTube will notify you of that. Also, subscribe to Ghana, African Fix on Spotify. Uh, hit the follow button, meaning that Spotify will notify you each and every time we upload a new podcast. All right, so subscribe to Ghana, African Fix on YouTube and also on Spotify. And if you'd like to donate to the show to help us to continue bringing great content from uh Ghana and also from the African content, uh, you can donate as little as three U dollars a month. That could be either as a one-off payment or you can do it as a monthly subscription to entit it to yourself. So if you'd like to donate, you can just hit the donate uh button on the funnest of the show. All right, so uh let's get into the show and uh let's look at the budget. But before we do so, if you still want to do business in Ghana and following the budget, you may want to do that. We do do a consultancy session uh whereby we can give you a lot of advice and sign painting to uh some important instances that could help you. So I've got more than 10 years' experience of doing business in Ghana, and um we can give you a lot of good advice that you may not get anywhere else. So if you want to uh book an hour consultation myself, which costs 30 US dollars for the hour or 20 for a half-hour briefing session, then you can just email me uh to book your consultation, and my email address is on the footnotes to the show. All right, so let's get into the podcast, looking at the recent budget in Ghana, uh, looking about the main takeaways and what it means for you, uh, as somebody you know who wants to come to Ghana to do business, to live, you know, work, and even you know, uh set up entrepreneurship in Ghana, and also what it means for you guys living in Ghana, um, you know, typically with the cost of living and also taxes as well. All right, so uh so the the Ghana's 2025 budget under President John Jamani Muhammad, this is his first budget of his second term, and finance minister Atoforson essentially focused on stabilizing the economy from the from the tatters of the last MPP government under the leadership of Nana Adnan Kwa Kufu Ado and uh Dr. Mahmo Bamir, reducing inflation, easing the tax burden, also reducing the debt burden that Ghana uh is in, and also creating a pro-growth environment that will allow businesses to uh flourish and develop. Now, for ordinary Ghanaians, it promises relief on the cost of living crisis that I've talked about a lot this year, also reforms to make businesses easier, stronger growth prospects, and also deliberate measures to attract diasporic investment. So, in nutshell, that's what the that's what the budget was focused on. Now, we're gonna give you some main takeaways from the 2025 budget. Now, in line with the reset theme, uh, the budget was presented under the theme resetting the economy for the garden we want. Yeah, so signaling a shift from you know crisis management that the uh Akufadu government had left the John Jamani Muhammad government to recovery of the economy and to exert or instill further growth in the economy. Okay, so one of the key riders of the budget was debt and financial discipline. Now, uh when the government came into power on January 7th this year, yeah, Ghana's debt was more than 900 billion Ghana cities divided by you know current rates, so divided by 11 to a dollar and divided by 15 to a pound. So you get how high Ghana's public debt stood. Yeah, and at the time that was run about between 90 and 100% of GDP, yeah. As of the budget, which was read last week, last Thursday, public debt so that 726.7 billion Ghana says that's a whopping 200 billion cities plus that's been removed from the debt, meaning that today, as we speak, Ghana's GDP debt ratio is now gone from the 90s to 61.8 percent. Yeah, which is which is very, very good considering what you know position Ghana was in this time last year. Yeah. So given this, then the government of John Giovanni Muhammad has pledged aggressive fiscal consolidation, cutting waste, and also restructuring debt. Now, inflation and grief target. So, inflation, which was at roughly 25% uh a year ago and went to about 25% at the beginning of the year, is now currently at 9%, so it's single-digit. Yeah. But it's targeted to fall to about 11.9% by the end of the year. Yeah, because obviously we're in the Christmas season now, and uh that's you know, people are going to import a lot of good and services into the country, so that's going to have an effect on inflation. But you know, even if it goes to 12%, it's much, much better than 25% that this current government inherited when it came in January this year. So it shows you a rapid um transformation as well as you know, economic management, yeah, that this current government has done to ensure that inflation has now, you know, hit you could say respectable levels of between nine and twelve percent. Yeah, and so GDP growth is projected at four percent overall, and then four point three percent for non-oil sectors. So, um sorry, I beg your pardon, four point eight percent for non-oil sectors, yeah. So this again is good. So in Britain, Britain is trying to get one percent, yeah, and Ghana's getting between four and four point eight percent. So it shows you how strong uh Ghana's economy is becoming, and it's it signifies that there's that this year has been a period of recovery, and then next year is to try and consolidate that recovery as Ghana exits the uh IMF um arrangement, which I believe ends in May 2026, but we keep an eye on that. So that's the projection for Ghana's um overall growth for the year coming. Now, taxes. Now, taxes was a big, big pain inversion campaign, and and and this taxes contributed to the um A cost living crisis, and also B, you know, why a lot of big businesses left Ghana last year. As you call, I did the podcast as to why a lot of big companies were leaving Ghana. So you had big, dark and lovely, you know, um Shopright, they've gone. Um, many, many big companies left Ghana last year because of that, the high taxes, yeah, that was stifling business growth and development. Yeah, so under this budget, six taxes were abolished, and those taxes include the controversial e-levy, the controversial cover levy, and also the uh emissions levy. Yeah, so these taxes that have now been released uh eased A ease the cost of living crisis, okay also helps household budget because households can now um you know um budget particularly for their local shop, meaning that they're not gonna spend as much as they were before because these taxes have been uh removed, and also it's going to help businesses spare production because now the businesses are not going to pay as much tax as they were. So that's this extra money could be used to inject growth within their businesses and also increase local production as well. So the budget also highlighted a 24-hour economy, and I'll come on to some of that later on. So this uh 24-hour economy is a flagship policy uh by the John Germany Mohammed government to uh expand job opportunities and productivity by encouraging around the clock economic activity. All right. Uh also within the budget, there was energy and infrastructure um development. So energy, if you if you live in Ghana and if you've been listening to Ghanaian focus, you know that there's been problems with Dumsa, uh, which is which is the light-off light on that Ghana experienced a lot last year. And uh and that's because of the huge debt the electricity company of Ghana and its subsidiaries owe uh which apparently uh is 21 billion Ghana cities. Um I beg your pardon. Um it's about it's around about yeah, it's around about 21 billion uh Ghana, so divide that by um 11 to a dollar and divide by 15 to a pound, and you get how much you know uh Ghana is you know, ECG O's is owed by uh the state and by other agencies, which is causing entry resident in Ghana. Also, uh the budget also has a commitment to clear arrears, and that amounts to some 2 billion Ghana cities that is owed to sorry, 2 billion uh US dollars uh that is owed to road contractors. Yeah, so that's a very positive development out there because a lot of road products have stalled recently uh because of the uh colossal amount of money that is owed to road contractors. So the government now has earmarked some money to ensure that those contracts are paid and so that a lot of the major road products uh are now being able to uh get back to full capacity. And I know that this year, I mean, or over a year coming, Mama has targeted that a lot of the roads in Ghana are going to be built, are redone, and he says that Ghana is going to become one massive you know road you know network or road road traffic site, and it is Ghanaians to be patient with uh him for the next two years as he um commits to improving uh Ghana's road uh network. And there's a lot of roads in Ghana that are going to be addressed, particularly a crowdkamatsi uh you know highway. Apparently, it's going to be a new expressway. We hope that's going to be built because since K4's time, you know, every government since 2004, or since yeah, since 2000, sorry, has made a commitment to dualize their Kraokumazi Road, and that hasn't been done in 25 odd years. So we hope and pray that their Kraokumazi Expressway now, touted by the Muhammad government, uh it you know, um it does uh since the night of day because that is a big, big road project because that that connects the two main cities in Ghana, uh Krawn Kumatsi, and a lot of business is done within those two cities, and a lot of traffic is also done within those two cities. So, you know, apparently, you know, we you know, we do here on the Great Vine that is going to be at the Krao Kumati Expressway. That is going to be you know potentially uh a six-lane, three lane, three lane, three lane, and to reduce uh the time which currently stands between anywhere between five and six hours from a crowd to Kumati, uh to reduce that reach to reduce that time to between three and three and a half hours. So uh we do hope and pray that a lot of these road contractors uh road products that are going to be done, uh particularly their crowd to Kamaxi one uh will be completed. And I think Mohammed has given at least two years for many of the road projects that are evident now to be completed by the close of 2028, but their crowd commands to be gathered will be um completed around about mid or the end of 2029. So we look forward to that uh infrastructure development, road road network development going on in the country. Now, in terms of how the budget would affect the cost of living, so these tax cuts and abolishment, so the removal of six taxes directly reduces household expenditure and business costs, as I mentioned in the day one. So inflation control targeting inflation at between 9 and 12 percent means stable stabilizing food prices. Because, as again, if you're listening to the show, you will be aware that food prices have been a big issue in the last year, 18 months. And so low inflation will hopefully mean stable food prices so that Ghanaians can afford to buy three square meals a day, and also transport costs as well, because transport was getting expensive as well, in terms of filling up your car and also uh paying for public transport. So this means that transport should be stabilized as well, which also helped in the you know the cost of goods and services, and also housing costs, which have been the major pain points for Guyanese, will also be easy as well. So, in terms of social programs, as I mentioned, you know, the road infrastructure is a key one, but also you know, increased spending on education and health. So, in terms of education, uh the current government plans to finish all the schools uh that the Akufuado uh government didn't finish and to complete the new ones because Ghana has a rapid young population, a school-aged population, and uh you know the infrastructure at the moment does not cater to that you know population of school children. So the government are going to spend a lot of money to build new schools and to finish the ones that were left behind by the last government. So that's a very positive development, and also uh in terms of health, to build the new hospitals agenda one-on-one that were left by the Alcofado government. So this will also uh help reduce the burden on those costs for families who are on lower or middle income. Now, in terms of doing business, and this is this is why I said if you want to do business in Ghana, this could be important for you. Yeah, uh, so a tax system. So there's plans for that reforms and also a tax amnesty programs to encourage compliance and also reduce penalties for businesses, yeah, because there's a lot of red tape in Ghana right now in terms of business development and also trying to um establish a business and also the taxation of that business will pay. But by having these tax amnesties and also that reforms, it will encourage uh business stimulation and also business group and development. Yeah. So again, in terms of currency stabilization, you know, the government um has stabilized the city, so that's going to you know stabilize the exchange rate that will make importers not pay too much when they go and bring things into a country, and also reducing, like I said, the um forex risk for local businesses. Okay, so in terms of the wide economy and growth, so as I mentioned already, uh the World Bank uh has upgraded Ghana's growth for this year to forecast the ban about 4.3 percent, uh citing strong growth in the service sector, which which will be uh up by 9.9% in the second quarter of next year. Also, in terms of the wide economy, uh that what the budget has highlighted, and also in the last year, in terms of the account management of uh Ghana, is actually um increased investor confidence because, like I said, a lot of businesses left Ghana last year because they were not confident in the outlook of the wide economy, but in the year, just you know, the year that we're in, you know, vast changes a lot happened in in the last year, and so you know the mid-year data showed GDP growth of about 6.3 percent. Yeah, and that's has surpassed targets, and that is driven mainly by agriculture, which is very, very good, and also ICT. Yeah, so a fiscal surplus. So, a primary surplus of about 2% of GDP is expected, and that's signifying an improved physical health as compared to the debt crisis uh that was inherited by the government earlier this year. So, in terms of diaspora, you you from the diaspora listening to this podcast, what does it mean for you then? Now, check this down. So, Ghana hosted major diaspora summits this year, shifted focus from remittances to actually structural investments. Yeah, and also you know, government and its partners, i.e. Fidelity Bank and others, are creating platforms for diaspora entrepreneurs to channel funds into local innovation. Now, the budget emphasized stability, debt restructure, and growth, making Ghana more attractive for the diaspora, and also returnee seeking property, business or community investments. So that's how you, as somebody from the diaspora, a Ghanaian from a Ghanaian, you know, born and raised in the UK or outside of the outside of uh of Ghana, Europe and North America, this is what it signals for you. And also, if you're African wanting to do business in Ghana, you know, this is what the budget means for you, yeah? Making it more attractive for you as African from the diaspora to do business in Ghana. And I mean short, the 2025 budget is designed to ease daily cost of living, which will help a lot of Ghanaians at home, make businesses more competitive by removing these nuisance taxes, hence restore growth and actively call that spur capital. So, you know, this budget has shown that you know, Ghana is ready for business, as the uh Ataforson said, the finance minister, Ghana is ready for business, and that Ghana wants to attract a the best talent into the country, and also B, you know, the Daspora to come to Ghana to you know set up business and also you know increase the uh technological advancement that the country is making. So if you're somebody from the Daspora, listen to this, now is a very good time to come to Ghana and invest in Ghana and do business in Ghana. There are many, many opportunities, as you know, uh throughout this year. I've talked about some of the business opportunities that there are in Ghana. And now, particularly after this budget, particularly after the removal of those taxes, yeah, the environment is now very, very conducive towards the business agenda in Ghana. Okay, so for me, one of the core key things that I was happy about the budget was you know the area of food security. I've talked about that a lot this year in Ghana, you know, on Ghanaian focus about food security and why Ghana needs to be more food secure. Yeah, because like I said before, food can be used as a weapon, yeah, to you know derail a country's progress. Yeah. And it's important that a country can feed itself rather than relying on imports of food from other countries. Now, you know, the budget placed food security at the center of this economic reset with major allocations. Now, check this out, major allocations to agriculture programs to boost local production and infrastructure investments to reduce food inflation. Yeah, because like I said before, food inflation has been very, very high for most of this year, particularly last year as well, but for most of this year, food inflation is high. It's only the last quarter that food inflation is beginning to come down to acceptable levels. Now, the government is betting on initiatives like the Feed Ghana program, poetry self-sufficiency projects, and improved farm-to-market roads to cope with us and imports and stabilized food prices. Now, this is very important because the road network, particularly within the rural areas, is very, very bad. And as part of the road program that Jama Hama is pursuing, they intend to improve the road network within the farming communities to ensure that food from the hinterland to the cities is much much easier, and also hence you know, reducing the burden on reducing the burden on um taxpayers. So Ghana being free secure is a very, very important thing, and this is something that Ibn Churaway or Burkina Faso have done to make Burkina Faso free secure by investing a lot of money and also equipment and technology to revitalize Burkina Faso's agricultural sector. And I'm very happy that within this program, you know, you know, Ghana is doing the same. So what they've done, they have allocated 1.5 billion Ghana cities to agriculture, and that entails modernizing agriculture under the Feed Ghana program and aimed at local food production and also minimizing imports. And also the Feed Ghana program is focusing on grains, vegetables, and livestock. And this program is designed to expand domestic food supply and create more jobs within the agricultural sector. Now, the incococo in Kentin Kiti poultry project is a flagship initiative to raise Ghana's poultry self-sufficiency from 12% to 75% by 2028, reducing dependence on imported chicken and strengthening household nutrition. This is very, very, very important development because a lot of the chicken that's coming to Ghana is imported. And unfortunately, a lot of the chickens are either genetically modified or heavily laced with chemicals, like you know, you know, um, I even I think some rumors that arsenic has going to be imported chicken. So we don't know the quality really and the nutrition value of the chickens. But what I do know is that organic chicken in Ghana is much better and much nutritious than a lot of the imported chicken that Ghanaians are eating. And so the Incoco Inkitin Kitchen program is a very, very recommendable and worthwhile project from the Ghana from the government to Ghana to reduce our dependency on importation and to increase local uh production from 12 to 25 percent by 2028, which is when the next one will be. And that would be a great achievement if that is done. So for me, you know, uh it's a very, very, you know, because agriculture is the breadbasket of Ghana. And so other developments also include oil palm development, which is a long-term plan, uh 2026-2032, to transform Ghana's red gold into major agro-industrial driver, diversifying food and spot earnings. Again, palm nut in Ghana is a very, very big business, again, and there's rich potential to diversify, even even use palm oil for energy, yeah, like like fuel to put in your car. But that's for another time. But I'm happy that the government has got this oil development plan to transform uh Ghana's red gold into a major agro-industrial driver. Now, in terms of logistics and infrastructure, like I said, farm to market roads. So the government has announced plans to construct a thousand clean meters of roads in the agriculture enclave with 820 million Gandhi cities allocated to reduce spoilage and transport costs that drive food inflation. Another commendable initiative. Also, storage and value chains with emphasis on agro-industrial value chains to reduce post-harvest losses and add value to local production. So, how does this help Ghanaians in Ghana? And also, how does it help you in the diaspora? So, lower food prices, so that's that's very, very important because by cutting import dependence and improving logistics, the budget aims to stabilize food inflation, which has been a major driver of the cost of living crisis. Job creation, poultry, grains, and vegetable products will create hundreds of jobs across rural and urban communities in Ghana. And nutrition and security, boosting local production, ensures households have more reliable access to affordable protein and high nutrition stables, as opposed to the you know importation of food, rice and chicken that really does not have nutritional value. So, as I mentioned, the budget for Africans in the diaspora, agro-investment opportunities that spur opportunity that spore investment investors and entrepreneurs can plug into poultry, oil, palm, and vegetable value chains supported by government initiatives. Okay, property and community development, improved food systems and rural infrastructure, make agribusiness-linked estates and community projects more viable in terms of even the warehouse asilos that can be used to store food so that the food doesn't rot when they're out of harvest or out of season. Yeah. And this is a clear government commitment to food security and signal safer environment for diaspora returnees to invest in agriculture and related industries. So, in short, the budget's food security agenda is about self-reliance, affordability, and opportunity. It tackles Ghana's heavy import dependence, builds infrastructure to cut food inflation and opens space for diaspora led agribusin agribusiness ventures. Now, for me, the only the only downfall really into the This budget was the 400 million Ghana cities that the government has allocated to a women-only bank. Now, don't get me wrong, I'm all for women's empowerment. And again, if you know, if you listen to the show, you know I'm a fan for women's empowerment in Ghana. However, for me, you know, this setting inside the 400 million Ghana cities, which is about 30 million uh US dollars or sorry, sorry, 30 million pounds and 40 million US dollars, it's a hell of a lot of money. Yeah. Now that money, rather than spend it in the women's bank investment bank, that could be channeled, right, into a solar autumn-built industry in Ghana. Yeah. So Mohammed's talking about the 24-hour economy, yeah, and uh you know, wanting to create an air whereby, you know, Ghana is having factories 24-7 and police in 24-7 and having a workforce for 24-7. Yeah. That 400 million Ghana cities could be used to subsidize Kantanka, who is already making cars at a higher level that can compete with you know uh Korea cars, Japanese cars, American cars. Yeah, Kantanka is making great cars. Yeah, and Kantanka is Ghana's only indigenous car manufacturer. Like I said, he's got proven capacity in assembling vehicles and experimenting with solar stroke electric cars. Yeah. So rather than we import cars, electric cars from outside, and we I keep saying this, right? What is good for the European is not necessarily good for us as Africans, right? For example, their tyres that they use in Europe, right, that they import to us in Africa. That's for their climate. Yeah, the snow, the wind, the you know, the the wind, the rain. It doesn't send them in Ghana. Yeah? So the ties that they send to us in Ghana is for the European climate. We can make ties for our own climate in Ghana, particularly the heat. Yeah. And so we need to make solar power cars because right now, like I said, there's a dumb solution in Ghana. So why are we going to import these electric cars when there's no reliable electricity in Ghana? So rather than that, then we can invest in solar power cars and give that to give that winter Kamtanka. Yeah. So unlike imported electric cars, solar power cars could leverage Ghana's abundant sunlight because the sun signs in Ghana every day, even if it's the rainy season when it rains a lot, the sun still shines. Yeah. So solar power cars, like I said, could leverage Ghana's abundant sunlight. More importantly, reduce forests on imports and position Ghana. It can position Ghana as a unique hub in Africa for the production of solar power cars. Because outside and Burkina, I don't know of any African country that is investing in solar power cars. Yeah. So industrial sovereignty. Now investing 400 million in Cantanka, solar power cars, would mean that Ghana is not just consuming cars, it's producing them. So rather than assembling VW, Nissan and Peugeot, that is doing now. And then when it's going back to Nissan, Japan, to Peugeot, France, to VW Germany, right? We'll be producing them ourselves, owning the technology and exporting the innovation to other African countries. Yeah. Now, this is where Jande Parmon comes in. Now, the$400 million of cities that have been that could be used for solar power cars, there could be a quota for female engineers. Now you tie the investment to a mandate for female engineers and technicians, and that would merge the women's empowerment with industrial sovereignty. It would also push more women into science, technology, and engineering fields, breaking barriers beyond retail and marical finance. Yeah. And it also creates a multiple effect. So instead of just giving this to our women, yeah, women will gain if the money was given to Kantanka and female engineers, etc. Right, that women will gain skills, jobs, and leadership roles in the cutting-edge industry like technology. Yeah. So for me, you know, the 400 million for the women's international bank, investment bank, sorry, is a missed opportunity because this can easily feed in to the 24-hour economy by providing 400 million and seed money for Kantanka to produce power cars. Notwithstanding that in Korea, the KIA, the Korean industrial automobile industry, was state sponsored. Samsung, the famous Korean uh phone company, was state sponsored before it became the brand, the global brand that we see today. Philips, the great Dutch company, was also government funded. Yeah. Even Japan, Sony, yeah, that began at a state company, Sony. Yeah, even India, Tata. The Great Tata conglomerate, that is now over all of Africa, Tata. And even in Europe, right, Tata. That was initially a state-sponsored program by the Indian government to work in line with the Tata family to produce cars. So this is why I'm saying that Muhammad has missed a trick with 400 million Ghana cities, rather than using it for the Women's Investment Bank, could be used to spearhead the 24 hour economy, right? By giving that money to Kantanka to produce solar power cars that can create massive employment in Ghana, help them in powerment, make sure the money stays in Ghana, and also export some of these cars to the other African countries. And Ghana could be a hub for solar technology. And so I'm in closing. Yeah. The budget was a very, very innovative budget. Ghana, it was a very, very innovative budget, a very, very creative budget that is putting at the center growth, empowerment, and more in particularly food sovereignty. Yeah. Also about you know uh building more schools and improving the dilapidated conditions that some of our children go into, improving their health uh set in terms of you know, building more up-to-date infrastructure and building more um up-to-date technology so that women don't have to suffer giving birth, so that we can we can get rid of prostate cancer and breast cancer in our people. Yeah. And also improving the world network so that it makes going up another country more easier, particularly amongst the media cities. And so the commitment to improving such infrastructure is very commendable. The commitment to lower inflation, the commitment to growth and development, and to encourage more business, you know, acumen and more diaspora investment is very, very key parts of this uh budget that the government has announced this recently. And so we you know, we hope that um you know uh the economy of Ghana will grow into next year. But my main fear is that when the government exits the IMF program in 2026, May, which will be the second quarter of next year, yeah, we'll see how well Ghana developed because historically, right, Ghana has always done well under an IMF program. When it comes out of the program, Ghana has difficulties. So, for example, I could find a government between 2000 and between 2008 and 2012, yeah, these first four years, Ghana was under the 9F program and the economy did very, very well. Yeah, so so not 2000, so so between 2016 and 2020, yeah, Ghana was in the IMF program, yeah, and the economy was doing very, very well. Yeah, from 2020 to 2024, yeah. Obviously, COVID withstanding, the economy began to tumble to create the crisis that we saw over the last, you know, particularly 23 and 24. And so I hope that you know, when Ghana exits the IMF program, uh second quarter of next year, that the economy will still continue for an upper trajectory. All right, so uh thank you for listening to this special edition of Ghana and Focus on Myself Kwame. But one thing, but one thing that the button again didn't happen before I go, one important thing that the budget mistake was housing. Yeah, I'm going to take this deeper next week. We're going to talk about housing crisis in Ghana. There's a massive housing source in Ghana, about three million units. And so the failure of the government, yeah, to actually not even have a plan, a strategy to build more affordable housing for Ghanaians was a very, very big mistake because 95% of Ghanaians cannot afford housing. Even you in the diaspora, yeah. A two-bedroom house in the nice area is a quarter of a million. How many of you in the diaspora got a quarter of a million to buy property? Yeah. So that's why the government missed another big trick on having a strategy like inkruma, like a champong, because believe it or not, in Kruma built Laborni, airport residential area, cantamments, yeah, Kanda, and obviously Tama as part of his housing program. And a champong, Keno Kutu Achampong, he built the biggest estate at the time in West Africa, down Summai. He also built Teshin Ngua Estate, and also the SNP flats. So those two leaders had housing as a key priority in nation building. It's sad that this government didn't do that in the budget, but like I said, we'll go into that deeper next week as to the housing question in Ghana. And so thank you for listening to this edition of Ghanaian Focus with Myself Kwami, looking at the budget, the pros and cons, and what was in the budget and what was not in the budget. And uh appreciate to your friends, your family, social media networks. Subscribe to Ghana, Afghan Fix on YouTube, subscribe to Ghana, Afghan Fix on Spotify. Alright. And next week's show, we'll be looking about the highest investment in Ghana. Again, how it affects you in Ghana, and also the diaspora community who want to buy property in Ghana or build in Ghana. Alright, so for myself, Krammy and all the crew here on Ghana in Focus. Thank you very much for listening. And we'll see you next week for some more Ghana in Focus.