Non-oil sector growth slows sharply, raising concerns over Ghana’s economic outlook – Minority

The Minority has questioned the strength of Ghana’s economic recovery, pointing to a significant slowdown in non-oil sector growth as evidence that underlying economic activity is losing momentum.

Ranking Member of Parliament’s Finance Committee, Dr Mohammed Amin Adam, said non-oil GDP growth declined from 8.2% in the first half of 2025 to 5.9% over the corresponding period in 2026.

He said the slowdown raised concerns about the breadth and sustainability of the country's economic expansion, particularly as the government targets overall GDP growth of at least 5.2% in 2027.

According to him, the headline growth figures do not adequately reflect the difficulties confronting productive sectors of the economy. Agriculture growth, for instance, fell from 6.8% to 3.9% in the first half of 2026, while fishing contracted by 22.5%.

Dr Amin Adam also noted that government consumption grew by 9.3%, questioning whether the current growth pattern was sufficiently driven by productive investment and activities capable of creating sustainable employment.

He argued that the government's 2027 growth projection offered limited prospects for addressing the country's unemployment challenges.

“The Minister does not believe in the budget. It does not offer hopes as this paltry growth cannot provide the jobs the youth are waiting for,” he said.

The Minority said the government needed to demonstrate how its proposed economic programmes would reverse the slowdown in non-oil activity and deliver stronger growth across productive sectors.