Executive Director of the Institute of Economic Research and Public Policy (IERPP), Professor Isaac Boadi, says that despite Ghana’s impressive headline growth numbers, the country’s primary and secondary sectors remain far behind, raising questions about how sustainable and inclusive that growth really is.
Prof. Boadi noted that recent economic indicators show strong overall expansion, but this has been driven mainly by gains in select parts of the economy. Agriculture, mining, manufacturing, and industry, he warned, are not keeping pace — a gap that threatens the balance and inclusiveness of Ghana’s economic progress.
Primary Sector Held Back by Old Problems
According to Prof. Boadi, the primary sector — spanning agriculture, forestry, fishing, and parts of mining — continues to be weighed down by low productivity, weak investment, climate pressures, and limited access to modern technology. These constraints, he said, have slowed growth and reduced the sector’s ability to create jobs and drive national development.
The secondary sector hasn’t fared much better. Prof. Boadi pointed to high production costs, unreliable power supply, expensive financing, and a rising tide of imports undercutting locally made goods as key factors stalling manufacturing and industrial output.
“A Great Honour” — Dr. Ohene-Afoakwa Leads CIB Ghana
While Ghana’s services sector has become the economy’s main growth engine, Prof. Boadi cautioned that leaning too heavily on services cannot guarantee lasting economic transformation. Real, sustainable development, he argued, depends on stronger productive sectors capable of generating large-scale employment and adding value to the country’s natural resources.
Prof. Boadi urged policymakers to roll out targeted interventions to revive agriculture and industry — through greater investment, better infrastructure, affordable credit, technological innovation, and supportive government policy.
He maintained that strengthening these sectors would diversify the economy, boost export competitiveness, cut import dependency, and improve livelihoods nationwide — ensuring that growth figures translate into shared prosperity and lasting resilience.