Prof Adei Warns Stability Alone Won’t Build Prosperity

Professor Stephen Adei, former Rector of the Ghana Institute of Management and Public Administration (GIMPA), has urged Ghana to move beyond economic stabilisation and pursue genuine structural transformation, cautioning that stability on its own will not deliver sustainable development.

Speaking at the 37th CIMG Annual National Marketing Performance Awards at the Labadi Beach Hotel on Saturday, October 17, 2026, Prof Adei described Ghana as standing at an “inflection point”,  a moment that demands bold action rather than complacency.

“I believe that in the past two years, Ghana has stabilised somehow in the economic area. But we are at an inflection point, and the challenge is how to translate stability into transformation because we cannot destabilise and stabilise,”he said. “When the time comes, we must transform.”

The former GIMPA rector pointed to several encouraging signs: economic growth of about 6 per cent, falling inflation, stronger foreign reserves, improved creditworthiness, and a recovery in both domestic and foreign investment. He noted that data from the Ghana Statistical Service and international institutions place Ghana among the faster-growing economies in Africa and globally, with the World Bank and IMF projecting growth between 4.8 and 5.7 per cent.

On inflation, Prof Adei highlighted the sharp decline from 54 per cent in 2022 to 5.2 per cent, though he acknowledged a slight uptick and projected the rate would end the year at 4.8 per cent if the trend is contained.

He, however, stressed the importance of public understanding of what falling inflation actually means. Political leaders, he argued, must clearly communicate that a decline in inflation does not translate into lower prices,  prices can continue to rise even as inflation falls significantly.

Turning to the external sector, Prof Adei noted considerable improvement in Ghana’s reserve position, with credit ratings from Moody’s and S&P also edging upward. He attributed much of the stabilisation to external windfalls and the government’s fiscal consolidation efforts, including the generation of a primary surplus.

But he was careful to temper the optimism, warning that the gains remain fragile. He pointed to signs that reserves had slipped slightly and questioned how the government intends to reach its reported target of 15 months of import cover by 2028, saying the strategy had not been adequately explained.

Prof Adei called for clarity on the measures needed to sustain the gains and steer the economy toward long-term development. While acknowledging the government’s flagship projects, he emphasised that the broader priority must be turning this period of stabilisation into a genuinely transformative phase for the country.