Abdul Nasser Alidu, Head of Strategy and Programmes at the 24-Hour Economy Secretariat, has emphasised the pivotal role of the private sector in the upcoming 24-Hour Economy initiative, set to be officially launched by the government on July 2, 2025.
Speaking ahead of the launch, Mr. Alidu explained that the programme is designed to enable businesses to tap into a more vibrant and responsive economic environment.
“A big part of what we are doing with the 24-hour economy is to create the environment and create a mechanism by which the private sector can take advantage of the macro economy that we are building,” he said.
He noted that financing would be a crucial component in ensuring private sector participation and success, adding that the Secretariat is actively exploring ways to attract funding without overburdening the government’s fiscal resources.
“With that, you will get to see some of the ways we are looking at to bring in financing to support the private sector to be able to drive this agenda,” he stated.
Mr. Alidu further clarified that the financial strategy for the programme is deliberately designed to avoid adding pressure to the national budget, especially as the country remains under an International Monetary Fund (IMF) programme.
“The way we have built the programme is to build on the government balance sheet. So, financing for this programme is not going to be the kind that you will put on the government balance sheet. This is important because we are currently in an IMF programme, and even after we go off, there are obligations that we need to build,” he explained.
“Those obligations constrain the government’s ability to mobilise all the financing that we need to drive the agenda. So we need to find ways of bringing in the financing for the private sector,” he added.
The 24-hour economy, one of the National Democratic Congress’s (NDC) campaign promises during the 2024 elections, is aimed at tackling unemployment and boosting productivity by promoting continuous, round-the-clock economic activity.
