In a bid to save costs, the new president of Ghana, John Mahama, has trimmed down his government’s ministries.
- President John Mahama has reduced the number of government ministries in Ghana to save costs.
- The new administration will work with 23 ministries instead of the previous 30.
- This cost-cutting strategy is part of an austerity policy under the International Monetary Fund agreement.
President John Mahama, who came into office on the 7th of January 2025, recently disclosed via an email that he has scrapped 7 ministries, as a cost-cutting strategy under the austerity policy of the International Monetary Fund.
This move denotes that the current administration will work with 23 ministries as opposed to 30, to keep to the agreement Ghana had reached with the IMF.
On May 17, 2023, the executive board of the International Monetary Fund authorized a $3 billion, three-year loan request for Ghana.
Prior to receiving the loan, Ghana has been trying to secure financing from the IMF since 2022.
This was a result of the country’s deteriorating economy which had raised inflation figures and depreciated its currency significantly.
As is typical, the IMF’s loan to the West African Gold Coast came with several prerequisite commitments, including the scaling down of the government.
While John Mahama won the presidential election on the promise of restoring the country’s economy, he did mention that he would do so partly with the aid of the IMF’s preexisting loan.
During the period he was president-elect, he noted that he wanted to review the $3 billion IMF loan, but he had no plans to do away with the loan.
“When I talk about renegotiation, I don’t mean we’re jettisoning the program,” Mahama said, earlier in the month.
“We’re bound by it but what we’re saying is within the program, it should be possible to make some adjustments to suit reality,” he added.
Source: Bloomberg
John Mahama
Much like America’s President-elect Donald Trump, John Mahama secured another opportunity to lead his country and is set to continue the work he began in 2012.
The 65-year-old, who presided over Ghana from 2012 to 2017, is among the country’s most seasoned politicians, having held positions as president, vice president, minister, deputy minister, and member of parliament.
Mahama’s path to the presidency began while serving as vice president under President John Atta Mills.
However, only three years into their rule, tragedy struck when Mills died unexpectedly at the age of 68. Hours after his unexpected death, Mahama, 58, was sworn in as Ghana’s president.
